Late Egyptian thinker Farag Foda predicted several of the developments that are currently unfolding across the Arab world, including the rise of the so called Islamic State (IS) in statements he made during a televised interview in the early 1990s.
A rare video of the interview, which Foda had given to a Tunisian television channel at the time, has resurfaced after it was shared by Al Arabiya on Wednesday.
In it, Foda predicts the rise of religious extremism in the Arab world and expresses fears over divisions that would take place as a consequence.
During the interview he says that the rise of extremist views would mean the rejection of principles of citizenship and nationalism among young Arabs, opening them up to an ideology that pushes the notion of an "Islamic state" as a viable solution.
Twenty five years later, the ideology he spoke of is being propagated by the so called Islamic State (IS).
At one point during the interview Foda pauses, and then says "I fear for the future of my country," reflecting on the rise of Islamist groups in Egypt at the time.
He also goes on to say that any group that promotes violence, should not be called an Islamic group or tied to Islam in any way.
"People who are violent, people who kill and terrorize have nothing to do with Islam," he said.
Assassinated by the group he criticized
During the interview the thinker also explained that Egypt and Arab countries will be threatened by division as per the “Lebanese model” or the “Iranian model.”
By the former he meant various forms of internal sectarian divisions and by the latter, a division caused by extremist ideologies - one that topple states.
Foda was assassinated by two members of Egypt's al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya in June 1992.
He was a secular liberal and a harsh critic of religious extremism and the rise of Islamist groups in the Arab world.
Egyptian media reported that under the rule of ousted President Mohamed Morsi, one of those convicted in Foda's assassination was pardoned and eventually ended up joining IS in Syria.
