ABSTRACT
This chapter surveys the historical development of Islam in the Egyptian state and relates its vicissitudes to the changes in the nature of this state. The place of Islam in the state was one of the central questions that the political leadership emerging in the wake of First World War and the great Egyptian national revolt of 1919 had to tackle. The revolution of July 23, 1952, ushered in an entirely different political and social regime, and this change had a profound bearing on the position of Islam in the state. The revolutionary regime headed by President Nasser was authoritarian and centralized to a degree unknown in Egypt since the days of Muhammad 'Ali. The decade of Anwar al-Sadat's rule was eventfully and tragically influenced by religion. In his first eight years in office, Muhammad Hosni Mubarak substantially continued his predecessor's line in his general and religious policies.
