The controversy surrounding the publication of Naguib Mahfouz's Awlad Haritna (Children of the Alley) has been hijacked for political ends, reports Gamal Nkrumah What is the Egyptian literary establishment coming to? The controversy surrounding the publication of the nonagenarian Nobel laureate Naguib Mahfouz's novel Awlad Haritna has opened up a can of worms with intellectuals, writers, critics and politicians using the altercation for their own ends. The text was first serialised in Al-Ahram in 1959, but its publication was discontinued when it was deemed objectionable, and it was never published in book form in Egypt. Now an "Egyptian" edition is paradoxically to be printed in Beirut. "People do not take the trouble to ascertain the truth," Mohamed Salmawy, president of the Egyptian Writers' Union and editor-in-chief of Al-Ahram Hebdo told Al-Ahram Weekly, lamenting the series of conflicting and often false statements released in the media in recent months. Persistent allegations that Awlad Haritna has not been available in Egypt in book form are erroneous, says Salmawy, who points out that there are many copies in circulation, including an English- language translation. It was during the presidency of the late Gamal Abdel-Nasser that Mahfouz agreed with the censorship authorities to publish Awlad Haritna outside Egypt, and an Arabic edition was published in Beirut. "I respect this agreement and I shall continue to abide by it for the rest of my life," Mahfouz is reported to have said. "The fact of the matter is that the novel was never banned in Egypt in the first place," argues Salmawy. Excerpts from the novel were recently published in Al-Fagr newspaper, including the final chapter. But the entire controversy over the publication of the novel, according to Salmawy, was handled in an insensitive manner. "Mahfouz was astounded," Salmawy said: no prior consultation with the author was made. "Am I dead?" Mahfouz asked. He signed a contract with Dar Al-Shorouq. "And according to the Berne Agreement on intellectual property rights, to which Egypt is a signatory, Mahfouz or the publishing house that published the novel owns the copyright. Mahfouz is the one who has the right to publish or not publish," said Salmawy. "The publication of the extract was tantamount to a second assassination attempt on the life of Mahfouz: intellectuals must jealously guard intellectual property rights, instead some of them have acted abominably," Salmawy continued, referring to the attempted assassination of Mahfouz in 1994. At the time the Nobel laureate readily pardoned his assailants. "I forgive them," Mahfouz said. "I am not a judge." "It is very insulting for a man of Mahfouz's age and stature to be subjected to this kind of treatment," Salmawy explained. "Mahfouz took an ethical and personal stand. He gave his word more than four and a half decades ago and he is a man of principle." Ahmed Kamal Abul-Magd, an enlightened Islamist scholar and former minister of communications, was selected to write the introduction to Awlad Haritna, in an edition to be published by Dar Al-Shorouq in Beirut and distributed in Egypt. Mahfouz was delighted. "There was censorship a long time ago. Today, there is no censorship as such and novelists are free to write what they wish. No one has the right to question someone of the calibre of Naguib Mahfouz. The Nobel laureate is not obliged to take permission to write what he writes from anyone and Dar Al-Shorouq must not seek Al-Azhar's consent if they want to publish Awlad Haritna," Salmawy said. Mahfouz has faced mounting criticism for supposedly requesting that "someone distinguished" from the Muslim Brotherhood write an introduction to the novel, and there is a lingering nervousness among intellectuals over Mahfouz's stance towards the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamist forces. "I am against the sanctioning of any literary work by Al-Azhar. It is a dangerous precedent," warns novelist Gamal El-Ghitani. "I am also against the introduction by Ahmed Kamal Abul-Magd. I have nothing against him personally -- he is, after all, a widely-respected personality and scholar. What I am against is that a novelist of the stature of Naguib Mahfouz would only have his work published when it is sanctioned with an introduction by a religiously- commended Islamic scholar like Abul-Magd. That is a very dangerous precedent and I have expressed my opinion frankly to Naguib Mahfouz. I also understand his position and point of view." That Mahfouz reportedly actively sought an introduction by a religious figure for his novel is seen by many as an ill-omen, a harbinger of greater interference in the cultural arena by Islamists. Yet some members of the Muslim Brotherhood have themselves been keen to court Mahfouz and the group, keen to widen its basis of support, has increasingly been making overtures to intellectuals. Last December Abdel-Moneim Abul-Futouh, a leading member of the group, paid a courtesy call on Mahfouz at the time of the Nobel laureate's birthday. Accompanied by several younger Muslim Brothers, he was warmly received by Mahfouz.
