Middle East Research and Information Project

Critical Coverage of the Middle East Since 1971

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Alexander Flores

Alexander Flores is coordinator of the postgraduate program for the Middle Eastern studies at the University of Erlangen, Germany.

MER Article

Secularism, Integralism and Political Islam

“The sheikh of al-Azhar should thank God profusely that the shari‘a is not in force in Egypt, for it it were he would certainly be in for a good flogging in punishment for smearing virtuous people,” wrote Farag Fawda in March 1988 -- thus contributing to a debate that had been raging since the begin

Alexander Flores • 20 min read

MER Article

Egypt: A New Secularism?

Arab political and social thought in the 1960s was dominated by secular conceptions, including Arab nationalism, Arab socialism and Marxism. Even after the 1967 war, when the attraction of these ideologies began to wane, the immediate “self-criticism after the defeat” (to cite the title of Sadiq al-

Alexander Flores • 12 min read