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Al-Ahram Weekly 10 - 16 August 2000 Issue No. 494 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 10 - 16 August 2000 Issue No. 494
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Books Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Closing Sana'a
By Nasser ArrabyeeA meeting held at the house of Yemeni Vice President Abed-Rabu Hadi last week has apparently failed to end an ongoing confrontation between intellectuals and Islamists over a 28-year-old novel reprinted recently by a daily newspaper.
The novel, Sana'a Madina Maftouha or Sana'a: An Open City, was written in 1972 by Mohamed Abdel-Wali, and several editions have been sold since then. Abdel-Wali died in 1973 in an air crash. But when Samir Al-Youssefi, editor of the Taiz-based, state-owned newspaper Al-Thaqafia, decided to serialise the novel, members of the Islamist-oriented Islah Party led a campaign against the paper and pressed charges against its editor. They claimed that the novel insulted Islam.
Sheikh Abdel-Maguid Al-Zindani, head of Islah's Shura Council, the party's highest decision making body, personally led the attacks against Al-Thaqafia in his weekly Friday sermons, opening the door for similar attacks against intellectuals in many Yemeni mosques. Meanwhile, the crisis escalated further when the Yemeni Minister of Information, Abdel-Rahman Al-Akwa', openly sided with the intellectuals, insisting that mosques should not be used for political purposes and making judgments against others. Al-Akwa''s stand and his open criticism of Zindani raised fears of a possible confrontation between the ruling Popular Congress Party, led by Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, and Islah led by Sheikh Abdullah Al-Ahmar.
According to informed sources, the meeting, which took place at the vice president's house, was instructed by Saleh and attended by Zindani, Al-Akwa' and a number of intellectuals, journalists and novelists. In this meeting, Zindani denied that he had said in one of his speeches that all journalists were unbelievers but confirmed that he said that "the novelist and the publisher were unbelievers."
For his part, Al-Akwa' pointed out that he was against any blasphemy, but stressed that "nobody had the right to say people are unbelievers."
At the end of the meeting, the two sides agreed on three main points: first, that the Ministry of Information would halt its campaign in newspapers against Zindani and mosques preachers; second, Zindani has to convince his supporters in mosques to stop campaigning against the Ministry of Information and intellectuals; and, third, to continue the trial of Al-Thaqafia's editor, Al-Youssefi.
However, just two days after the meeting at the vice president's house, mosque preachers loyal to Zindani did not stop their campaign against the ministry. In response, the official daily Al-Thawra ran a front page editorial with the title: "If they return, we will return," in an obvious reference to mosques' preachers who violated the agreement in last Friday's prayer.
Meanwhile, Sheikh Zindani was scheduled to appear before the prosecution yesterday, 9 August, to be interrogated about a complaint filed against him by a number of employees of the Ministry of Information. They claimed that his campaign against the ministry amounted to incitement for their assassination by extremists. But the case was clearly in retaliation of the one filed against Al-Youssefi, charging him with blasphemy.
Political observers look at the developments of "Sana'a Madina Maftouha" as a political showdown between Saleh's ruling party and the largest opposition party, Islah. This confrontation was significant as it came only a few months before scheduled parliamentary and local elections.
Islamists who attacked the novel claimed that it contained blasphemous sentences. The one sentence, which angered them most, was uttered by the novel's main character, who, as he grived over his wife's death, said God was unjust.
When the trial of Al-Thaqafia's editor started, the judged ordered his imprisonment pending further investigation in the case. However, Minister of Information Al-Akwa' intervened and asked court to release Al-Youssefi on bail and on his own guarantee as minister. He even threatened to resign in case the court did not respond to his demands. Al-Youssefi was released upon the guarantee of the minister.
In protest of the minister's interference, leaders of mosques nationwide led by Islamist party Islah, launched a fierce campaign against him, claiming he was trying to influence the independence of the judiciary.
In a dangerous escalation, the Yemeni government hinted at closing down the Islamic university run by Al-Zindani. The university was first opened in 1995 and drew students from nearly all Arab and Islamic countries. There were repeated assertions, however, that the university had turned into a gathering for hardline extremists, especially after one of its students was arrested for his involvement in an anti-government attack.
Last week, Al-Thawra strongly criticised Al-Zindani, accusing him of inciting people to disobey the "state's laws and regulations" and reminded him that the university he has been running had no official permit.
"Al-Zindani is using the university and mosques to incite people not to obey the laws, spread chaos and create problems in society for purposes known only by him," read an editorial in Al-Thawra.
