The Road to New Islam: Mahfouz, Arkoun, Abu Zaid, Kassim, and Other Muslim and Non-Muslim Thinkers

The author, Akef R. Abadir, born in Tanta, Egypt, was living in Alexandria as the colonial period was drawing to an end in the 1950s and early 1960s. At the time, Alexandria, Egypt, was a multiethnic and cosmopolitan city. The social fabric was composed of an aggregate of Egyptians, Europeans, and other minorities. These different communities and denominations coexisted in relative peace and respect of one another. However, despite what was shared in common, Europeans, in general, whether a...