In a new special series called Islam and the West, Yasmine is inviting the most brilliant minds of our time to discuss the most pressing issues of our time. These conversations help us understand the goals of Islamists in the West, who are infiltrating our governments, media and academic institutions. They also examine strategies to battle the overwhelming antisemitism and Islamism in the West.
Abdel-Samad, author of Islamic Fascism, joins Yasmine in Episode 2 of Islam and the West to shed light on the Muslim Brotherhood. They will discuss their origin in Egypt, how they perfected their ideological tactics through the Middle East, and how they are using those tactics on the West today.
Hamed was born in Egypt to a Sunni Muslim Imam and became a member of the Muslim Brotherhood in his university days. A stay in a summer camp run by the Muslim Brotherhood triggered doubts, causing him to become skeptical, and eventually an atheist. He studied multiple languages as well as political science in Germany, and has worked as a scholar for most of his life. Following the publication of his book Mein Abschied vom Himmel (My Farewell from Heaven, 2009) in Egypt, a group issued a fatwa threatening Abdel-Samad and he was put under police protection. Hamed has called for an "Islam light" in Europe without sharia, jihad, "gender apartheid", proselytism, and "entitlement mentality", and has received multiple fatwas calling for his killing as he is accused of heresy in Egypt. In his latest book, Islamic Fascism (Der islamische Faschismus, 2014), Abdel-Samad describes Islam as a fascist ideology under the cover of a religion.