7 - 13 June 2001
Issue No.537
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Al-Ahram Weekly Online 7 - 13 June 2001 Issue No.537 |
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'Red sheikh' in murky waters
The Front of Al-Azhar Scholars is targeting yet another book, accusing its author and publisher of "flagrant heresy," Nadia Abou El-Magd reports on the latest controversy
Fatrat Al-Takwin fi Hayat Al-Sadiq Al-Amin (The Formative Period in the Life of the True and Honest Person), a book written by Sheikh Khalil Abdel-Kerim, has been on the market since January. However, it was only on 29 May that the Front of Al-Azhar Scholars issued an angry statement accusing the book of "flagrant heresy." In a communiqué entitled "Rudeness is not an opinion and indecency is not thought," the front said, "Targeting religion is [a way of] waging war against the nation. The claim that this is freedom of thought or creativity won't work... Whoever makes such a claim, be it the author or the publisher, has no place among people or even animals."
The statement did not mention the name of the author but included the address of Merit, the publishing house that issued the book. The original title of the book was Tasnei Nabi (The Making of a Prophet), but Mohamed Hashem, the publisher, changed it, in consultation with Abdel-Kerim, to the current title, which Hashem suggested would be less controversial.
Hashem told Al-Ahram Weekly that the controversy with Al-Azhar scholars should be settled by the publication of "books containing a response to the work, and not by accusing us of heresy. This is just part of the ongoing conflict between Islamists and secularists."
He cited the controversy and prohibition of A Banquet for Seaweed , by Syrian novelist Haydar Haydar last year, as well as the banning of three novels published by the Culture Ministry earlier this year.
The Front of Al-Azhar Scholars, which was dissolved in 1998 by the Cairo governor, has been at odds for years with Al-Azhar's Grand Imam Sheikh Mohamed Sayed Tantawi on a host of issues. Although no longer officially affiliated to Al-Azhar, the front continues to exist independently.
Hashem held the front responsible for the assassination of secularist intellectual Farag Foda in 1992. "He was killed a few weeks after they declared him a heretic," he said.
Hashem insists that he does not fear assassination or interrogation.
The 376-page book, which cites as references 76 ancient books, addresses the formative years in the life of Prophet Mohamed before his proclamation as a prophet. It emphasises the role and influence of Khadija, Mohamed's first wife, and her cousin, Christian priest Waraqa Ibn Noufal, on the Prophet and his message.
According to a report published on Monday by Abdel-Azim Al-Mataani, a professor at Al- Azhar University, the book "is an aggression on the beliefs of the nation; it flatly denies holy revelations and claims that all prophets are earthly human products." Al-Mataani said the book should be banned and its author and publisher questioned for publishing such a book without prior permission from Al-Azhar's Islamic Research Academy. The academy is legally empowered to scrutinise all books and audio-visual materials before they are released for distribution or sale to the public.
El-Sayed El-Iraqi, head of the academy, said that it is in the process of preparing its own report.
Khalil Abdel-Kerim, the author, told the Weekly that "I will only discuss this issue with prosecution officials."
In 1997, state security officers raided Abdel- Kerim's publisher, Sina at the time, and seized copies of two books which had come under fire by the academy. The Society of Yathrib [Medina] and The Situation in the Age of the Prophet's Companions are still banned.
Abdel-Kerim, 71, dubbed by the press as "the red sheikh" and "the mufti of Marxism," was first a member of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood but later joined the leftist Tagammu Party. His agenda is to promote a "liberal" interpretation of Islam. He assisted in the defence of Cairo University Professor Hamed Nasr Abu Zeid, who was ordered by a court to divorce his wife in 1995, after being accused of apostasy. Abu Zeid refused and chose self-exile. He is currently living with his wife in the Netherlands.
"These people are blaspheming in order to become famous; writing about them will help to achieve their goal," Sheikh Abdel-Moeti Bayyoumi, dean of the Faculty of Religion Fundamentals, told the Weekly . Explaining why he did not read the book, Bayyoumi said, "I don't have time to read such filth."
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