This assassinated Egyptian thinker predicted the rise of ISIS 25 years ago

Late Egyptian thinker Farag Foda predicted Iran’s practices in the region 25 years ago and predicted the emergence of the term “Islamic State” which is currently adopted by ISIS.

In interviews with a Tunisian television channel in the beginning of the 1990s, Foda predicted several developments that are currently developing in the Arab world and said Egypt and Arab countries were threatened with division through the “Lebanese model” or the “Iranian model.”

Foda, who was assassinated by al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya in June 1992, added that the Iranian theory was based on young men who would rise from the bottom of society and revolt against the so-called infidel government and regime and exploit economic crises and mobilize people to protest and seize power.

These countries would therefore fall into chaos by executing opposition members, Foda said, adding that crises would worsen chaos in these countries until they become easy prey to opponents.

He added that the Lebanese model would be used in countries where there are several minorities and ethnicities as the sectarian tune can be used to mobilize people and make the country plunge into sectarian conflicts.

Foda also said that some groups which falsely claimed Islam harm people who believe in different religions in the name of Islam in order to establish the “Islamic State,” adding that these groups recruit young men and brainwash them to turn them into murderers in the name of religion.

He added that these groups must be called terrorist groups as we must defend Islam, noting that it’s wrong to call such groups Islamic because this reflects baseless accusations against Islam as those who kill and terrorize have nothing to do with Islam.

According to Foda, these terrorist groups practice sectarian intolerance against the people in their country, such as the Copts, and spread rumors to incite them and Muslims and therefore lead to sectarian strife.

Foda added that deceived youths reject the principle of citizenship as they’d been brainwashed to think that there was only the “Islamic State” while all other countries were not states – similar to what ISIS is currently doing.