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January 29, 2006
Egyptian Noble Laureate Turns Dhimmi - 'Capitulates To Jihadists'
Topics: Dhimmitude
Absolutely my favorite contemporary foreign author, Naquib Mahfouz, also happens to be the best-known and most widely respected contemporary writer in Egypt and probably the entire Arab world. His novels are "characterized by realistic depictions of Egyptian social and political life and include fictional explorations of such issues as the position of women and political prisoners." In 1988 he became the first Arabic writer to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, a great honor, but today he is capitulating to the power of conservative Islam, which I believe to be a great dishonor.
I've read several of his novels - including the "Harafish(awesome)," "The Beginning and the End," and of course - the one that is the subject of this post, "The Children Of The Alley" (equally awesome). The last thing I would expect out of Mahfouz, is to seek Islamists permission to publish a book in Egypt that has already been published, sold, and read throughout the world - and yes, even within much of the Arab world (albeit it appears that he originally reached an agreement to the effect that the publisher would ban the novel's publication in Egypt so as not to alienate Al-Azhar, the "world's oldest university and Sunni Islam's foremost seat of learning") :
Egypt's Nobel Prize winning author, Naguib Mahfouz, is seeking the permission of the country's highest Islamic authorities to publish one of his most controversial novels, in a move which has staggered friends and colleagues who see it as a capitulation to the power of conservative Islam. Speaking publicly about his decision for the first time, the 94 year-old confirmed that his publisher had sought the approval of Al Azhar university, Sunni Islam's oldest seat of learning, to finally publish Children of the Alley. The book was banned in Egypt in 1959 when Islamists declared it blasphemous.From the back cover of the book (pulled off the shelf of my library at home), you get just a hint of why the Islamists may not have been very enthusiastic about the book being published (in Egypt):"If Al Azhar agrees to publish it, then I want it published," he told friends and supporters seated around him at a weekly get-together in a bar at the Shepherd Hotel on the banks of the Nile. Mahfouz, whose sophisticated literary works helped make Egypt the intellectual and cultural hub of the Arab world, further dismayed his audience when he confirmed that he had asked Egypt's powerful Islamic organisation, the Muslim Brotherhood (a terrorist organization), to write a preface to the book. He said he wanted the imprimatur of "the Islamists".
The tumultuous "alley" of this rich and intricate novel (first published in Arabic in 1959) tells the story of a delightful Egyptian family, but also reveals a second, hidden, and daring narrative: the spiritual history of humankind. From the supreme feudal lord who disowns one son for diabolical pride and puts another to the test, to the savior of a succeeding generation who frees his people from bondate, we find the men and women of a modern Cairo neighborhood unwittingly reenacting the lives of their holy ancestors: the "children of the alley." This powerful, self-contained novel confirms again the richness and variety of Mahfouz's story-telling and his status as "the single most important writer in modern Arabic literature" (Newsweek).As I read "Children of the Alley," I could easily visualize the backalleys of Cairo, and even the rooms in which the characters lived. To me, Mahfouz is almost as descriptive as Victor Hugo, but uses far fewer words (I'm no literary expert, so I apologize in advance for any shortcomings in my charaterization of Mahfouz's literary style - remember, I'm just a science guy). And in another qualifier, my own enjoyment of Mahfouz's books has probably been enhanced by the fact that during the 1980s I made several trips to Cairo on business and science matters.
There is, however, a take home message from this post. If the Islamists don't want you to read the book, then you damned well ought to read it and make sure that everyone you know, and in turn, they know - reads it. So go buy "Children Of The Alley," and pass it around.
Posted by Richard at January 29, 2006 6:05 PM
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