Cynthia Farahat

Cynthia Farahat is an Egyptian-American author, columnist, counter-terrorism expert, and fellow at the Middle East Forum. She is happily married to retired Supervisory Special Agent and thriller author Jeffrey James Higgins. In 2003, Ms. Farahat co-founded the Liberal Egyptian Party in Egypt (previously known as Misr al-Um), which advocated for human rights, peace with Israel, capitalism, and secularism. She studied Sunni and Shi’a Islamic jurisprudence and histories for more than twenty years and co-authored Desecration of A Heavenly Religion (in Arabic) in 2008. For her efforts, Al-Azhar University banned her book for its criticism of Egypt’s blasphemy law. She was banned from Lebanon and landed on the hit list of an Qaeda-affiliated group in Egypt. After her brother was tortured by Islamists in President Hosni Mubarak’s regime, her friend was murdered, and the Muslim Brotherhood tried to assassinate her on October 9, 2011 Farahat immigrated to the United States three weeks later. Farahat has testified before the U.S. House of Representatives, briefed more than two hundred congressional offices, and advised several intelligence and law enforcement agencies. Her work has been published in numerous national and international publications and has been translated into more than fifteen languages. While writing her book, The Secret Apparatus: The Muslim Brotherhood’s Industry of Death, she was battling Inflammatory Breast Cancer and Multiple Sclerosis. Farahat’s drive to speak on behalf of the millions of victims of the Muslim Brotherhood compelled her to work under severe adversity to expose the world’s most intricate jihadist enterprise. Ms Farahat worked with Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Liberty in Cairo, co-authored several books in Arabic, among them is, “Desecration of A Heavenly Religion,” which was officially banned by Al-Azhar Islamic University in Cairo in 2008, for its critical research of Egyptian Islamic blasphemy laws. Ms Farahat is currently a columnist for Al-Maqal Daily Newspaper. She has testified before the U.S. House of Representatives and received an award from the Endowment for Middle East Truth (EMET) in 2012, and the Profiles in Courage Award from ACT for America in 2013. She is an Associate Fellow at the Middle East Forum and a columnist at Al-Maqal Daily Newspaper. She published in numerous Arabic and Western journals, such as the Middle East Quarterly, National Review Online, Front Page Magazine, Fox News, and The Washington Times.