Mahfouz's novel stokes row after 50 years

Cairo: Egyptian liberals and Islamists are locked in a fresh controversy over Najeeb Mahfouz's Awlad Hartena, also known as Children of Gebelawi in English.

Almost five decades after it was written, the controversial novel hit the shelves in Egypt weeks ago for the first time.

"The novel has come out in book form after the condition set by Mahfouz was met," said Mohammad Salmawy, a close friend of Mahfouz. He explained that Mahfouz had demanded that a prominent Islamic scholar write a preface to the novel, in order for it to be published in Egypt.

"The Egyptian edition carries a preface by Ahmad Kamal Abul Majid, a member of (Al Azhar's) Islamic Research Centre, and a commentary on the back cover by Selim Al Awa, who heads the International Federation for Muslim Scholars," Salmawy told Gulf News.

Allegory

The novel was banned in Egypt after it was serialised in the Egyptian newspaper Al Ahram in 1959 due to opposition from Al Azhar, which is the Muslim world's most influential institution. Children of Gebelawi is an allegory about man's quest for religious faith and the conflict between religion and science.

Before its recent publication by Dar Al Shorouq in Cairo, the novel used to be illegally circulated in Egypt from Lebanon where it first appeared in book form. Apparently to appease Muslim clerics, Mahfouz, who became the first Arab writer to win the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1988, had promised an envoy of late president Jamal Abdul Nasser not to approve the publication of the novel in Egypt. Mahfouz died last August.

In 1994, Mahfouz survived a bid on his life by a Muslim militant, who attributed his act to fury over the 'blasphemous novel'. Welcoming the publication of the novel in Egypt, liberals argue that the religious authorities should not interfere in art. "Mahfouz had more religion in him than any cleric who branded him an apostate," said Ahmad Al Shahawi, who wrote some 30 articles on Islam in Mahfouz's writings.

Al Shahawi himself infuriated Al Azhar a few years ago with an anthology of poetry inspired by the Quran, Islam's holy book.

"Al Azhar has every right to intervene when there is an immoral work like Children of Gebelawi," said Moustafa Al Shaka, a member of the influential Islamic Research Centre.

"The novel contains disparaging references to God and His prophets," he told this newspaper. "The voice of those who do not believe in God is louder nowadays. So I am not surprised to find many people defending this novel."