Farag Foda was born in El Zarqa near Damietta in the Nile Delta. He worked as professor of agriculture. He wrote numerous books and contributed as a columnist to the Egyptian magazine "October". Foda wrote during a time of Islamic revival and growing influence of Islamism, both violent and non-violent. In Iran, Islamists had overthrown the Shah in 1979. In 1983, Hezbollah suicide bombers destroyed the barracks of the American and French troops stationed in Beirut, killing hundreds. In Egypt, some who were claiming that they are Marxist intellectuals (such as Muhammad Imara or Tariq al-Bishri) converted to Islamism. Long beards became common and the hijab became an obligatory norm rather than the exception in universities and government offices. In the early 1980s, Islamic radicals assassinated president Anwar Sadat and attacked Coptic Orthodox churches, homes, and shops. In some villages in which the government lacks power or authority, Copts reported extortion by way of "jizya"; from 1992-1998, Islamists including Islamic Group that assassinated Foda fought an insurgency against the Egyptian government during which at least 796 Egyptian policemen, soldiers, and civilians including dozens of foreign tourists were killed. Muslim Brotherhood ideologue Yusuf al-Qaradawi blamed the extremist violence in part on the failure to give Islam "the place it deserves in government, legislation and guidance."