15. January 2017

Egypt’s Secularized Intelligentsia and the Guardians of Truth By Khaled Abou El Fadl Initially, I was tempted to write an essay wrestling with the question of why the liberal and secular intelligentsia betrayed the Egyptian revolution. There is an extensive list of Egyptian intellectuals such as Sa‘d al-Din Ibrahim, Ibrahim Eissa, Bassem Youssef and many others who have carefully constructed themselves into emblematic figures standing for secular and liberal values. But what has transpired...

26. July 2016

We are living through a time replete with malignant possibilities. As if it is not sufficiently frightening that someone with the temperament of Donald Trump is poised to rule the most powerful - not to mention belligerent - nation in the world, other Western and non-Western states are laying the seeds for what can only be a truly poisonous future. The real tragic irony is that unless more level-headed and reasonable minds prevail very soon, our post-secular world is very likely to deteriorate...

06. August 2015

By Khaled Abou El Fadl Ramadan is a month in which Muslims are supposed to retreat from the materiality of their existence into an effort to realize their superior perennial and luminous nature. It is a month in which the exercise in self-denial is supposed to unshackle one's sense of empathy for the suffering and oppression of others. It is supposed to be a month of worship and peace. Muslims are exhorted to expend an extra effort avoiding bloodshed, violence and all offensive behaviour. Other...

23. April 2015

It was once a simple dream that breathed life into the hope-starved spirits of so many. Ever since the French landed on the shores of Egypt in 1798, we have been in the grip of a past alienated from its history, an identity divorced from its memory, and insecure flashes of pride defeated by a deep sense of indignity. Then came the Arab Spring! So many thought the Arab Spring would allow the region self-determination, and would shift the gaze of the world away from the twin spectres of oil and...

18. December 2014

Failure of a Revolution: The Military, Secular Intelligentsia, and Religion in Egypt’s Pseudo-Secular State By Khaled Abou El Fadl[1] INTRODUCTION: Since the age of colonialism, legitimacy has become an elastic word that is exploited to invent and repress history; to construct and de-construct identity; and to uphold and deny rights. Legitimacy is possessed by no one but claimed by everyone, and it is enforced only through sheer power. In the absence of a transparent and accountable civil...

09. August 2014

The real tragedy of great power is that it is fundamentally at odds with ethical conscientiousness and judgment.

02. July 2014

Khaled al-Qazzaz, the former secretary of state of Egypt's only freely democratically elected government, has been disintegrating, as a human being, in solitary confinement in the ignoble 'Aqrab prison in Egypt. For those who do not know, the 'Aqrab prison was built under the reign of Hosni Mubarak to inspire terror and break the will of dignified human beings. It was built by Mubarak and has been filled beyond capacity under the equally ignoble reign of Abdul Fattah al-Sisi. Last week,...

09. January 2014

Human rights and terrorism both are grand concepts. Human rights is a grand concept of an ultimate or absolute good, in many ways, like the idea of divinity or like the idea of light. Terrorism, on the other hand, is a grand concept of an ultimate or absolute evil, very much the antithesis of divinity and the antithesis of light. Although we human beings, including theologians, jurists and philosophers, produce a remarkable variety of terminology to negotiate our idea of good and our repulsion...

09. April 2013

The Praetorian State in the Arab Spring[1] Khaled Abou El Fadl First, I have to say that it’s always emotional to come back to the place where you studied. I graduated from Penn Law School and although a lot has changed in the school since then, my years at Penn were amazing. I actually joined UCLA when the dean of UCLA Law School was from Penn as well. So Penn graduates, law school graduates, perhaps there is a future career for you in teaching law. But, moving along from the...

25. April 2011

HARVARD INTERNATIONAL LAW JOURNAL ARTICLE SERIES: Online APRIL 2011 Volume 52 The Language of the Age: Shari’a and Natural Justice in the Egyptian Revolution Download the PDF here An article in the series on the aftermath of Egypt’s February 2011 Revolution and the possibilities for legal and constitutional reform. Khaled Abou El Fadl I. INTRODUCTION One of the most memorable images of the Egyptian Revolution is that of hundreds of people lined up for Islamic prayer in Tahrir Square in...