Eslam Othman is from a middle-class religious Muslim family in Alexandria. Prior to the removal of President Morsi in 2013 he was attracted to religious people with long beards, people associated to the Salafi movement. Eslam shows sympathy for the thoughts of leading Salafi thinker Dr. Muhammad Ismail El-Muqaddim. He is “pure” Eslam says since he never wanted to be involved in politics. Eslam never felt affinity to Salafi involvement in politics such as many have done in the Nour Party in Alexandria. Eslam disagrees to the combination of religion and politics. “I changed when I found Egyptian society divided into two main groups. People with Morsi and people against Morsi,” Eslam says who saw both parties presenting stereotypes about the other side.

Out of curiosity Eslam visited one day a Catholic church and found people here to be nice and open. These experiences prompted Eslam to become involved in intercultural dialogue activities in Alexandria. One of the main turning points in his life was his organization of a school distance trip in 2017 that aimed at bringing together people from all backgrounds. His participation in our summer school on Muslim-Christian relations at the Heliopolis University for Sustainable Development in 2018 became a life changer. Eslam attracted through his positive participation in the summer school the attention of leaders at the University and later obtained a job at SEKEM, the company that has set up the Heliopolis University. Eslam explained in the webinar of June 22-24 the changes he has experienced. Eslam refers to Nadeem, our Indian participant in the summer school of 2018.