Farag Foda (Egyptian Arabic: فرج فوده, ), also Faraj Fawda, (1946 – June 8, 1992) was an important Egyptian thinker, human rights activist, writer, and columnist.
Based in Cairo, he was noted for his critical articles and sharp satires about Islamic fundamentalism in Egypt. In many newspaper articles, he demonstrated weak points in Islamic ideology. Among other things he exposed Egypt's most popular preacher, Abd al-Hamid Kishk, for "telling his audience that Muslims who entered paradise would enjoy eternal erections and the company of young boys draped in earrings and necklaces," and promising them "an eternity of blissful pederasty."
He was shot to death going out of his office on 8 June 1992 by two Islamic fundamentalists from the Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya group. His son and other bystanders were seriously wounded in the attack.
Before his death, Farag Foda was accused of blasphemy by Al-Azhar. An Al-Azhar scholar, Mohammad Al-Ghazali, a witness before the court, declared it was not wrong to kill an apostate. Al-Ghazali said: "The killing of Farag Foda was in fact the implementation of the punishment against an apostate which the imam (the state) has failed to implement (undertake)."
One of Foda's killers, Abd al-Shafi Ahmad Ramadhan, was sentenced to death on 30 December 1993 and executed on 26 February 1994. The other was executed for another murder.
One of the participants in Foda's killing, Abu El'Ela Abdrabu, was freed by 2012 under Morsi's government, he has been interviewed by Tony Khalifa in one of his shows. Abdrabu showed no regret claiming he committed the murder under the name of executing Sharia Law, and that he wouldn't apologize for Foda's daughter so that she doesn't get "hurt" of knowing her father was a Kafir (Apostate).
Farag Foda has written 12 books in Arabic:
- The Absent Truth
- Discussion on Sharia
- The Harbinger
- Were is Sectarianism Going?
- Before The Fall – 1st Print 1985. 2nd Print 1995
- Discussion on Secularism – 1st Print 1993. 2nd Print 2005
- The Warning – 1st Print 1989. 2nd Print 2005
- The Played With – 1st Print 1985. 2nd Print 2004
- To Be or Not to Be – 1st Print 1988. 2nd Print 2004
- Pleasure Marriage – 1st Print 1990. 2nd Print 2004
- The Game
- So the words will not be in the air