One of the factors in why so many Islamists have a higher education, to go along with how "engineers" are viewed and their possible desirability for recruiting, in countries like Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, religious education is mandatory in order to complete the curriculum and receive a diploma.

These are not "electives" where people "self select" for this education. It is a requirement, much as math and science are. I have not studied the Egyptian universities, yet, but I do wonder if religious indoctrination is either mandated or considered necessary through peer pressure.

Since engineering is almost a quarter of all students in these universities, it stands to reason that engineers would be the most representative of the educated Islamists.