Tarek El-Bishry (Arabic: طارق عبد الفتاح سليم البشرى; born November 1, 1933) is an Egyptian thinker and Judge, considered one of Egypt's top legal minds.[1] On February 15, 2011 El-Bishry was appointed by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces to head the committee set up to propose constitutional changes in the aftermath of the Egyptian Revolution of 2011.[2][3]
Biography
He was born in Cairo. His grandfather, Salim al-Bishri, was shaykh of al-Azhar from 1900–1904 and 1909-1916. His father, 'Abd al-Fattah al-Bishri, was president of the Egyptian Court of Appeal until his death in 1951. His uncle, 'Abd al-'Aziz, was a celebrated writer. He has two sons, 'Imad and Ziyad.
Tariq al-Bishri graduated from the Faculty of Law at Cairo University in 1953. Upon graduation, he was appointed after the Council of State, where he worked until his retirement in 1998. At the time of his retirement, he held the offices of first deputy (Al-na'ib al-awwal) to the Council of State and Chairman of its General Assembly for Legislation and Consultation (Al-jama'iya al-'umumiya lil-fatawa wal-tashri').
El-Bishry was a secular leftist but became a prominent "moderate Islamic" political thinker, which gained him respect as a bridge between the movements.[1]
El-Bishry was named in 2008 by Hamdy Kandeel, a prominent Egyptian television and radio personality, as a suitable candidate for the 2011 Egyptian presidential elections, during an interview led by Amr Adeeb.[4]
Works
He is a prolific writer on questions of law, history, and Islamic and social thought.
References
1. ^ a b Lee Keath; Hamza Hendawi (Feb. 15, 2011). "Muslim Brotherhood to form political party, promises not to field candidate for president". The Globe and Mail. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/africa-mideast/muslim-brotherhood-to-form-political-party-promises-not-to-field-candidate-for-president/article1908442/. Retrieved Feb. 16, 2011.
2. ^ Egyptian army appoints head of constitution body, Reuters for Al-Masry Al-Youm, February 15, 2011
3. ^ Ex-judge to head Egypt reform panel, Aljazeera English, February 15, 2011
4. ^ article, Daily Star Egypt[dead link]
External links
• Faith in protest, The Alliance of Egyptian Americans, 2006 interview
• Profile, Ellis Goldberg, nisralnasr blog, 15 February 2011
• Understanding Egypt's revolution, Tarik al-Bishri, Al Jazeera English, 18 March 2011, "The chair of the committee tasked with rewriting the Egyptian constitution reflects on the birth of a new regime."
• Egypt's new legitimacy, Tarek El-Bishry, The Guardian, 21 March 2011, "Egypt's referendum results have set us on the path to rebuild our country on new democratic grounds"
