Cairo: A group of Egyptian intellectuals have criticised the country’s religious authorities for refusing to allow a local filmmaker to shoot a feature film in a historic mosque in Cairo.
“This stand from the Ministry of Waqfs (religious endowments) deserves condemnation, for there is no contradiction between religion and art,” said the self-styled Front of Artistic Creativity in a statement.
“In modern history, many directors of documentary and feature films shot their works inside mosques, highlighting their religious and historical values to their audience in Egypt and the whole world,” added the group.
Egyptian filmmaker Ahmad Abdullah has complained in press remarks that the ministry has refused to allow him to shoot a scene from his new film Accommodation inside Al Sayyeda Nafeesa Mosque in Old Cairo.
He said that the refusal was made although he had obtained permission from the censorship and security authorities to go ahead with producing the film.
Accommodation tells the story of an inmate who escapes from prison during the 18-day mass protests that eventually forced long-standing president Hosni Mubarak to step down last year.
“In the past, the Ministry of Waqfs used to give routine approvals of filming inside mosques. There is no clear reason why this approval is denied this time although the scene to be set inside the mosque does not infringe Islamic Sharia (law) nor would it hamper worshipping in the place,” added Abdullah, who is also the writer of the film.
There was no immediate comment from the Ministry of Waqfs.
The ban comes weeks after Islamist students at a governmental university barred a crew of a TV drama from shooting on the campus, saying that actors were indecently dressed.
The anti-Mubarak revolt has propelled long-oppressed Islamists onto the centre-stage of Egypt’s politics. Islamists control more than two-thirds of the recently elected parliament.
