On the Roots of Religious Sectarianism and the Quest for an Authentic Dialogue in a New Cultural Space

The Egyptian Case

Maher Samuel Sedrak

• Publisher: LIT Verlag
• Year: 2025
• Topic: Social Sciences
• eBook ISBN:
  9783643967121
• Subtopic: Middle Eastern History
• Index: Social Sciences

This study examines the potential for cultivating authentic and creative dialogue between Muslims and Christians in Egypt amid entrenched sectarian divisions and polarized cultural spaces. Anchored in intercultural studies and informed by lived encounters, it employs an ethnographic participant-observer methodology, complemented by perspectives from history, psychology, philosophy, Arabic literature, socio-economics, cultural studies, and theology. The research aims to recover silenced voices, attend to the lingering wounds of history, and envision constructive pathways toward reconciliation. It introduces the concept of Authentic Creative Dialogue, defined as a person-centered engagement grounded in the shared richness of human experience. Within this framework, Arabic literature functions as a medium of empathy, facilitating mutual recognition and opening possibilities for a new cultural space that fosters hope and healing.

Dr. Maher Samuel is a psychiatrist, Arab Christian theologian, and public intellectual serving Arabic-speaking communities worldwide. He is the founder of Credologos Ministry and directs the Arab Evangelical Cultural Center (AECC) in Cairo, where he mentors emerging leaders and promotes human-centered cultural engagement.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Table of Contents
• Chapter I: The Problem at Stake
• Chapter II: Research Methodology and Thesis Outline
• Chapter III: Historical Background: History of Oppression
• Chapter IV: Oppression, Alienation, and Sectarianism
• Chapter V: Rifa‘a al-Ṭahṭawi (1801–1873), Religious Sectarianism: Seeds from Premodern Egypt
• Chapter VI: A Modern Fertile Soil for the Seeds of Religious Sectarianism
• Chapter VII: The Islamic Tajdid and Islah, and Religious Sectarianism
• Chapter VIII: Jamal al-Din al-Afghani (1838-1897) Islamic Fundamentalism in The Modern Era (The Afghanism Movement)
• Chapter IX: Muhammad ‘Abduh and Religious Sectarianism
• Chapter X: Muhammad Rashid Rida (1865-1935)
• Chapter XI: Ḥasan al-Banna and the Muslim Brotherhood
• Chapter XII: Coptic Alienation
• Chapter XIII: Tawfīq al-Ḥakīm – Show Me God: The Thirst for God’s Special Revelation
• Chapter XIV: Sayyid Quṭb, The Longing for a Salvific Metanarrative
• Chapter XV: Naguib Mahfouz (1911-2006) The Search for a Savior
• Chapter XVI: Naguib Mahfouz – The Need for a Savior (Zaabalawi)
• Chapter XVII: Five Evangelical Approaches to Muslims in Modern Egypt
• Chapter XVIII: A New Modern Approach
• Chapter XIX: Maher Samuel’s Approach