Earlier this year, Egyptian Coptic intellectual Dr. Rafīq Samuel Habīb was named as the vice president of Egypt's Freedom and Justice Party -the newly founded political party of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Already one of the most controversial figures in Egyptian society, Habīb's appointment as the deputy leader of Egypt's nascent Islamist party created international headlines.

Habīb is well-known by all and reviled by many for his attempts to build bridges between Egypt's Christian and Islamist communities.

In an effort to understand the motivations and viewpoints of this important Egyptian religious figure,  the Arab West Report has interviewed Habīb on several occasions, and those reports can be found here (http://www.arabwestreport.info/year-2011/week-27/24-rafiq-habiba-copt-who-represents-muslim-brotherhood) and here (http://www.arabwestreport.info/year-2010/week-49/3-rafiq-habib-christian-supporter-muslim-brotherhood).

In the summer of 2010, Sayyida Fu’ād produced this 20-page report on Habīb, examine how his religious upbringing and continued interaction with Egypt's Islamist and Coptic communities have made him a centerpiece in the Egyptian political debate.