Egypt's central bank governor meets with China Development Bank head    Egypt, UAE central banks sign currency swap deal    Researchers build and test a framework for achieving climate resilience across diverse fisheries    Genetically engineering associations between plants and nitrogen-fixing microbes could lessen dependence on synthetic fertilizer    Egypt Post invests in Roaderz platform to enhance e-commerce, delivery services    GAFI to grant 45 more golden licences to boost investment    French police arrests 5 people in Piaget jewelry heist    Hend Sabry series Crossroads to air on Shahid in October    Oil prices 27/09/2023    Al-Sisi rejects claims of militarising teachers    Egypt aims to boost private sector's role in economic activity to 65% in medium term: Finance Minister    Net-zero emissions can be reached by 2050 – IEA report    Egypt inks agreement with British council to boost scientific research    Phantom of the Opera heads to Riyadh in October    Trevor Noah to host his largest comedy show in Dubai    Dubai launches new religious tourism initiative    Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia resume talks on GERD in Addis Ababa    Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia resume talks on GERD in Addis Ababa    Egypt, India declare strategic partnership, discuss regional issues    Egyptian minister calls for more funding to face climate change damages    Egypt, Ethiopia, Sudan resume Nile dam talks    Egypt's Environment Minister calls for more funding to address climate change losses, damages    Children dying in Sudan amid healthcare system collapse    Children dying in Sudan amid healthcare system collapse    Massive Nigeria-Morocco gas pipeline project may transport green hydrogen    Egypt's national table tennis team qualifies for Paris Olympics    El-Hammamy wins women's final at QTerminals Qatar Classic    Ethiopia claims to finish filling GERD despite objections    Prime Minister inspects Grand Egyptian Museum    Prime Minister inspects Grand Egyptian Museum    The box office is not a measure of success: Basma    Egypt's street workout team wins 3 gold medals at world championship    Egypt's street workout team wins 3 gold medals at world championship    NBA Africa, MAVEN Developments announce multiyear collaboration in Egypt    Sisi, Ethiopia's PM discuss Sudan's crisis, Ethiopian dam    Celebrity earnings through Instagram in 2022    Russia says it's in sync with US, China, Pakistan on Taliban    It's a bit frustrating to draw at home: Real Madrid keeper after Villarreal game    Shoukry reviews with Guterres Egypt's efforts to achieve SDGs, promote human rights    Sudan says countries must cooperate on vaccines    Johnson & Johnson: Second shot boosts antibodies and protection against COVID-19    Egypt to tax bloggers, YouTubers    Egypt's FM asserts importance of stability in Libya, holding elections as scheduled    We mustn't lose touch: Muller after Bayern win in Bundesliga    Egypt records 36 new deaths from Covid-19, highest since mid June    Egypt sells $3 bln US-dollar dominated eurobonds    Gamal Hanafy's ceramic exhibition at Gezira Arts Centre is a must go    Italian Institute Director Davide Scalmani presents activities of the Cairo Institute for ITALIANA.IT platform    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



Muslim Literary Voices Call for Redemption
Published in Daily News Egypt on 06 - 08 - 2007

Several Islamic blogs have recently started a discussion over means to combat the "pornographic imagination in Arab literary works through the spread of what has been labeled the Islamic novel.
This type of novel calls for the need to follow the right path of true believers who should steer clear from the obscenity of word, imagination, and action.
The idea of an Islamic novel was embraced by some Saudi writers who started their career with an ambition to spread the moral values embedded in the faith of Islam. These writers think that the literary work is the new method to convey the daawa or mission of spreading the values of Islam.
Some of the new Islamic novelists are surprisingly young women, such as Joumana Ali and another writer who publishes under the pseudonym of Al-Muhajira. Most of these writers have been criticized by literary critics who evaluated their work as lacking in literary merit. But driven by their ambition of being part of the daawa, they ignore their critics and focus on their readers.
Joumana Ali reported that she uses a literary style to preach the values of Islam, and that her targeted readers are Arab youth who are exposed to immoral influences. She has published a collection of short stories and is currently working to publish a novel. Al-Muhajira, on the other hand, considers herself a preacher, rather than a novelist. For her, the novel provides a good medium to convey the morality of Islam.
Another interesting aspect of the new Islamic novelists is avoiding the romantic plot and their use of figures from the history of Islam or among contemporary scholars and preachers in the development of their work. But the fact that their novels are Islamic does not necessarily mean that they agree with the existing Muslim rhetoric. On the contrary, some of them heavily criticize the extremist rhetoric and invite the fundamentalists to embrace a more compassionate discourse that can mobilize the youth in a non-aggressive way.
Al-Muhajira, in her critique of the extremist rhetoric in books, speeches and tapes widely available in Saudi Arabia, mentions that she expected her opinion to draw angry criticism. She published three novels that could be tracked in a lot of online discussion forums.
Her latest novel titled "So that we do not lose the veil is an unstructured debate about the meaning and the purpose of the veil. Several female characters struggle to reach a common ground, and the writer consciously tries to lead them to a good path away from extremism and rebellion.
These young men and women are definitely caught between two dilemmas in Saudi society: Wahhabist extremism, and underground rebellion against a repressive system.
Deciding not to be caught in either, they attempt to create a new voice that can reach young minds in a way that can discuss real issues instead of avoiding them.
But one serious problem with such an attempt is it forfeits the individual imagination that can only come out of a creative and free-thinking mind. All plots will eventually have to prove the values; all dialogues will have to observe the red lines, and some themes will always be taboo. Imposing Islamic topics on the plot sounds more like the creation of a pre-planned forum to convince.
Amidst all other aspects of blooming Islamic forums for fatwas, daawa, jihad, and match-making, the Islamic novel is definitely a novelty worthy of consideration, especially that it never received praise either from the literary critics or from the Islamist scholars.
It may be used to counter the effects of several recent Saudi novels that harshly exposed the repressive aspects of Saudi society, and were well-received by readers. But it's hard to see how the Islamic novel could succeed as a literary genre and survive its loaded ideological purposes.
Omneya El Naggar, MA, is an Egyptian political commentator and researcher in comparative politics in the Middle East. She has also done research on political Islam, terrorism, and East-West dialogue. This commentary is special to DAILY NEWS EGYPT.


Clic here to read the story from its source.