Farag Foda or Fouda ( ; 20 August, 1945 – 8 June, 1992) was a prominent Egyptian professor, writer, columnist, and human rights activist. He was assassinated on 8 June, 1992 by members of the Islamist group El Gama'a El Islamya (Islamic Group) after being accused of blasphemy by a committee of scholars (ulama) at al-Azhar. Farag Foda was one of 202 people killed by "Islamist motivated assaults" in Egypt between March 1992 and September 1993. In December 1992, his collected works were banned. Biography and background Farag Foda was born in El Zarqa near Damietta in the Nile Delta. He worked as professor of agriculture. He wrote numerous books ,and contributed as a columnist to the Egyptian magazine October. Foda wrote during a time of Islamic revival and growing influence of Islamism, both violent and non-violent. In Iran, Islamists had overthrown the Shah in 1979. In 1983, Hezbollah suicide bombers destroyed the barracks of the American and French troops stationed in Beirut, killing hundreds. In Egypt, some who were claiming that they are Marxist intellectuals (such as Muhammad Imara or Tariq al-Bishri) converted to Islamism. Long beards became common and the hijab became an obligatory norm rather than the exception in universities and government offices. In the early 1980s, Islamic radicals assassinated president Anwar Sadat and attacked Coptic Orthodox churches, homes, and shops. In some villages in which the government lacks power or authority, Copts reported extortion by way of jizya; from 1992-1998, Islamists including Islamic Group that assassinated Foda fought an insurgency against the Egyptian government during which at least 796 Egyptian policemen, soldiers, and civilians including dozens of foreign tourists were killed. Muslim Brotherhood ideologue Yusuf al-Qaradawi blamed the extremist violence in part on the failure to give Islam "the place it deserves in government, legislation and guidance." Views and opinions Among the few who defended secularism and ‘Western’ human rights, was Farag Foda. Foda was noted for his critical articles and satires of Islamic fundamentalism in Egypt. In many newspaper articles, he pointed out (what he believed to be) weak points in Islamist ideology and its demand for Sharia law, asking how it would deal with specific problems such as the housing shortage. He specifically criticized leading Islamist figures such as Anwar al-Jundi -- who had praised the secularist, anti-Muslim Brotherhood regime of Gamal Abdel-Nasser in a 1965 book -- and Muhammad al-Hayyawan -- a Muslim