Encyclopedia of Islam

Egypt

  

211  J

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was to change Egypt’s history. Muhammad Ali (r. 

1805–49), determined to build a European-style 

military to defend his rule, began the process of 

centralization, institutionalization, and discipline 

that would eventuate in an independent Egyptian 

nation later in the century, although this was not 

his intent. His grandson Ismail (r. 1863–79) did 

much to modernize Egypt (“civilize” was the 

term he used), changing the architectural face of 

its cities, expanding education, and allowing the 

development of journalism.

Great Britain, looking after its financial inter-

ests in Egypt and eager to control this strategic 

location, invaded in 1882, remaining in the coun-

try, under one guise or another, until 1954. British 

rule set back reform and development in most 

respects, although freedoms of the press and reli-

gion were probably greater during this period than 

most others in recent memory. The revolution of 

1952, which was to usher in complete indepen-

dence, changed Egypt tremendously, ending the 

monarchy imposed by the British, breaking up 

the enormous landholdings that came to charac-

terize Egypt in the 19th century, and reorienting 

Egypt away from British influence to leadership 

in the nonaligned movement. J

amal

 a

bd

 

al

-n

asir

,

Egypt’s president from 1954 to 1970, was the 

charismatic former army officer who spearheaded 

these efforts while also attempting to realize the 

unification of all the Arab peoples. With the 

support of the United States, Nasir successfully 

defended the country against an invasion by the 

armies of Israel, Britain, and France in the 1956 

Suez War, which was sparked when he placed 

the canal under Egyptian sovereignty. Modern 

Egyptian history has played out in the shadow of 

the Arab-Israeli struggle, which has proved much 

more devastating to the Arabs, including the 

Egyptians, than to Israel. Egypt fought unsuccess-

ful wars against Israel in 1948, 1967, and 1973. 

Economic development, educational reform, and 

democratization all were put off in the name of 

the greater struggle. The c

amp

  d

avid

 

accords

that Abd al-Nasir’s successor, m

Uhammad

  a

nWar

al

-s

adat

 (r. 1970–81) signed with Israel in 1978 

inaugurated a welcome era of relative peace and 

stability that allowed some attention to be paid 

to these crucial issues. Al-Sadat shared the Nobel 

Peace Prize with Israeli prime minister Menachem 

Begin for his role in negotiating and implement-

ing the accords. Another result of the agreement 

was that Egypt became a close ally of the United 

States.

Religious ferment in Egypt has been important 

to the entire region. The m

Uslim

  b

rotherhood

,

founded in 1928 by h

asan

 

al

-b

anna

, has helped 

in a variety of ways to consolidate the Islam-

ization of society in Egypt and elsewhere. The 

radical ideologue s

ayyid

 q

Utb

 (d. 1966) has been 

crucial in providing an intellectual underpinning 

to the Islamist movements that arose after the 

1967 Arab-Israeli War. But Egyptian intellectuals 

such as Taha Hussein (d. 1973) and n

asr

 h

amid

a

bU

 z

ayd

 (b. 1943) have sought innovative ways 

of integrating textual criticism into the study 

of Islam, and in this respect Egyptian thinkers 

are often ahead of their times. In other cultural 

spheres, too, such as literary production, the 

cinema

, 

mUsic

, and the broadcast media, Egypt is 

the most important nation in the Arabic-speaking 

world. Its most famous novelist and short story 

writer, Naguib Mahfouz (1911–2006), won the 

Nobel Prize in literature in 1988 for his moving 

portrayals of life in Egypt and his enlightened 

treatment of contemporary political and religious 

subjects.

See also a

rab

-i

sraeli

 

conFlicts

; c

opts

 

and

 

the

c

optic

 c

hUrch

; o

ttoman

 

dynasty

.

John Iskander