Hamed Abdel-Samad grew up in Egypt as the son of an imam. He came to Germany at the age of 23, and he has lived here for most of the last 15 years. He worked as an academic in Erfurt and Braunschweig and conducted research at the Institute for Jewish History and Culture at the University of Munich before deciding to devote himself entirely to his writing. Though highly critical of Islam, Abdel-Samad has never turned away from the faith completely. His new book "Der Untergang der islamischen Welt" ("The Downfall of the Islamic World") is published by Munich's Droemer Verlag.
http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/0,1518,717589,00.html
