Interview: Tawfik Hamid

Tawfik Hamid is an Islamic scholar and author from Egypt who opposes Islamic fundamentalism.  

Dr Hamid is an Islamic thinker and reformer, and one-time Islamic extremist from Egypt.  He was a member of a terrorist Islamic organization led by Dr. Ayman Al-Zawahiri.  

A quarter-century ago, Hamid recognized the thread of radical Islam and the need for a reformation based upon modern peaceful inperpretation of classical Islamic core texts.    He provides a fresh and theologically valid interpretation for the Quran to counterbalance the radical teaching.

The Daily Express once commented, “Dr. Hamid has predicted the attacks on the twin towers, Madrid and London.” After Sept. 11, Hamid decided to speak out through Western broadcast and print media. He has appeared on news networks from CNN to Fox News, and his articles and Op-Ed pieces have appeared in publications such as The Wall Street Journal, the New York Daily News, and the Jerusalem Post.

Hamid has a medical degree in internal medicine, in addition to a master’s degree in cognitive psychology and educational techniques. He innovated a novel model for learning and education (The Multidimensional Learning Model) for medical and general education.

Hamid, the author of "Inside Jihad: Understanding and Confronting Radical Islam," is a senior fellow and chair for the Study of Islamic Radicalism at the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies.