On November 28, 2016, in a session of the Egyptian parliament's legislative committee discussing changes to the penal code concerning the rules of publication, a verbal clash broke out among several MPs on the issue of what constitutes an offense to public sensibilities. MP Abu Al-Ma'ati Mustafa said that the late Egyptian author and Nobel laureate Naguib Mahfouz had deserved punishment,[1]noting that Mahfouz's novels Palace of Desire and Sugar Street[2] "offend public sensibilities, and Naguib Mahfouz should have been punished [for them], but at the time, no one filed legal charges against him."
Mustafa's statement sparked an uproar in Egyptian political, cultural, and media circles. Former culture minister Gaber 'Asfour said: "Article 67 of the constitution forbids infringement of freedoms in matters connected to publication, thought, or creativity, and this MP clearly cannot distinguish between literary and non-literary works... He is uncultured, and does not comprehend the value of Naguib Mahfouz... If we accept his remarks, we would be forced to punish most of the world's authors." Asfour added that the term "offending public sensibilities" was nebulous and that its meaning could shift according to time and place.[3]
Despite the harsh criticism, Mustafa refused to back down, and called for punishing all actors, directors, and producers involved in films based on Mahfouz's work.[4] In a statement, the Egyptian Creativity Front censured Mustafa, arguing that his words could lead to the Egyptian parliament's transformation into the Islamic State (ISIS) or the Muslim Brotherhood (MB).[5] The head of Egypt's Author's Union, Dr. Alaa 'Abd Al-Hadi, said: "We will not agree to any religious institution in the country becoming a censor." Society itself, he added, can be the only censor for Egyptian cultural creativity, which has a history dating back 7,000 years, and which does not need advice from anyone about what it produces.[6] Additionally, a leading Salafi, 'Abd Al-Ghafour Shamis, called Mahfouz a literary icon and said that no one is entitled to demand a boycott of literary works.[7]
Many other columnists in Egypt criticized Mustafa's statements. In his December 4, 2016 column in the Egyptian daily Al-Masri Al-Yawm, Muhammad 'Ali Ibrahim, who was close to the Mubarak regime, wrote that the Egyptian parliament is turning towards the Wahhabi school and growing closer to the model of the Saudi religious police. Egypt, he said, only pretends to fight extremism, because its security apparatuses give free rein to incitement in mosques.
The following are translated excerpts from Ibrahim's column:
Naguib Mahfouz (image: english.ahram.org.eg)
"I was shocked by the position of MP Abu Al-Ma'ati Mustafa, who poured out his wrath on Egypt's greatest author, Naguib Mahfouz. He insisted that his works offended public sensibilities, and that if he were alive, he would have faced punishment.
"Thus, parliament has proven itself to be more Salafi-Wahhabi than the MB. The Inquisition courts, which disappeared from Europe in the Middle Ages, have reappeared in 21st-century Cairo. The polarization in our society saddens me. We offend public sensibilities with nearly every word, glance, or behavior, and later preach respect, good deeds, and humility. The sad part is that MP [Mustafa] is a doctor of law – meaning that he has cultural prestige. This is the place to ask whether the MP... has even read Mahfouz's work...? I doubt it...
"It is sad that a doctor of law descends to the level of the bicycle repairman who stabbed Mahfouz in the neck in 1994 as he was taking his daily stroll along the banks of the Nile in Al-Agouza. He said during the investigation that [Mahfouz] was an apostate. Asked 'Have you read his work?' he said no, and added that he was illiterate...[8]
"Naguib Mahfouz is [like] a surgeon with an excellent scalpel, with which he exposes society's contrasts and divisions. Accusing him of offending public sensibilities is in itself proof that we have not abandoned the legacy of contradictions. Mahfouz isn't the only one accused of offending the public – before him there were Abu Nuwas,[9] Al-Mutanabbi,[10] Al-Ma'arri,[11] and A Thousand and One Arabian Nights. Even Hassan bin Thabit,[12] the Prophet's poet, was not spared this accusation.
"Sadly, the country itself has begun to turn towards Wahhabism – security apparatuses act hypocritically with regard to the Salafis, and do not solve the problems of sectarian hostility and the incitement against the Copts, which emanates from the mosque pulpits. The state's double standard is bizarre. It says that it is fighting terrorism, [yet at the same time] it disregards all the terrorist [Salafi] ideology and Salafi violence the permeate the constitutional and legal institutions.
"What prevents an ignoramus from burning down a library containing Mahfouz's writings because they offend public sensibilities? Why shouldn't some madman attempt to assassinate Islam Behery,[13] Fatima Naoot,[14] or Ahmed Naji[15] because they offended public sensibilities, or the religions? And have you forgotten the assassination of Farag Foda[16] and the expulsion of Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd?[17]
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"Some people... are willing to kill apostate enemies of the state in order to enter Paradise. It is not only their sheikhs who lure them into believing this; the state does so as well, since the sentences [it metes out to intellectuals and liberals] create an atmosphere that foments extremism. How is the June 30 parliament [i.e., the current parliament] different than the MB's popular assembly?
"We are assassinating our culture and our symbols, without realizing that we are importing the culture of the barren desert wasteland that specializes in prohibitions, incrimination, and fatwas accusing others of apostasy. I do not know how we became such a foolish [society]. How do you convince the people that you are fighting extremism and calling for renewing the religious discourse while you bomb and slaughter them from morning to night?! We have shuttered the window of enlightenment and opened the gates of hell... I fear for Egypt, the cradle of civilization...
"Mahfouz is not the only victim of those with backward thinking. Some MPs, ministers, and governors oppose freedoms and creativity, and do not respect the constitution that they are sworn to uphold. I do not understand why the parliament is always a source of attacks on creativity.''
"Unfortunately, the parliament has become [a mirror image] of Saudi Arabia's religious police, and Egyptian public opinion is under the impression that the MB is still in power – because except for three MPs, all the legislative committee members supported imprisonment for matters related to offending public sensibilities. Egypt has become a lighthouse of backwardness, a reactionary torchbearer, and a refuge for zealots..."[18]
[1] Al-Yawm Al-Sabi' (Egypt), November 28, 2016.
[2] The second and third novels of Mahfouz's Cairo Trilogy, published 1956-57. The first novel in the trilogy is Palace Walk. The trilogy depicts 25 years in the life of an Egyptian family in Cairo, from World War I to the end of World War II, and explores the changes in mentality and history during that time.
[3] Al-Yawm Al-Sabi' (Egypt), November 29, 2016.
[4] Al-Yawm Al-Sabi' (Egypt) November 28, 2016.
[5] Al-Yawm Al-Sabi' (Egypt) November 28, 2016.
[6] Al-Yawm Al-Sabi' (Egypt) November 28, 2016.
[7] Albawabanews.com, November 29, 2016.
[8] The attacker said that he was acting on orders from the leader of Al-Gama'a Al-Islamiyya, based on fatwas by Sheikh 'Omar 'Abd Al-Rahman. See Al-Ittihad (UAE), December 8, 2011.
[9] Abu Nuwas (765-814 CE) – an Arab poet whose work appeared in A Thousand and One Arabian Nights.
[10] Al-Mutanabbi (915-965 CE) – an Abbasid poet who lived in Iraq.
[11] Al-Ma'arri (953-1057 CE) – a Syrian poet.
[12] Hassan bin Thabit (died 674 CE) was a companion of the Prophet Muhammad, who became his poet after the hijra.
[13] Islam Behery – an Egyptian researcher and philosopher who was accused of harming religions, and was recently released as part of President Al-Sisi's pardoning of 82 prisoners. See Al-Hayat (London), November 17, 2016.
[14] Fatima Naoot – an Egyptian journalist and poet sentenced to three years in prison for offending religions. Her sentence was commuted to six months in prison. See Al-Yawm Al-Sabi' (Egypt), November 24, 2016.
[15] Ahmed Naji – an Egyptian author sentenced to two years in prison for "harming public sensibilities" in violation of Article 67 of the Egyptian constitution. See Al-Hayat (London), February 22, 2016.
[16] Farag Foda – an Egyptian author and philosopher assassinated by two Al-Gama'a Al-Islamiyya activists in 1992, after this organization declared him an apostate due to his reformist positions.
[17] Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd – an Egyptian academic and expert on Islamic research, whose writings caused a media firestorm, after which he left Egypt for the Netherlands with his wife.
[18] Al-Masri Al-Yawm (Egypt), December 4, 2016.
