CAIRO: The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI) condemned in a statement Thursday a Hisba complaint filed against writer Karam Saber earlier this month for contempt for religion in a short story collection published last year. A number of conservative lawyers in Beni Sueif accused Saber in a complaint filed before the governorate's attorney general for “offending divinity” in the 11-story collection entitled “Ayna Allah” (Where is Allah?), urging Al-Azhar Institution to have the book confiscated. According to ANHRI director Gamal Eid, Al-Azhar reacted even before the prosecutor ordered an investigation into the accusations, referring the book to a committee of top Islamic scholars to assess it and decide whether it contained any statements demeaning Islam. “Al-Azhar has no right to overstep its religious role and judge literary works and art,” Eid argued. Press reports had earlier said the story collection published by Nefro Publishing House described God as a “gambler” who plays with the hearts of “millions of believers.” This was the first Hisba case raised after the January 25 Revolution. Hisba is a doctrine that entitles any Muslim to take legal action against anyone considered harmful to Islam. “It practically allows anybody to play the role of a representative of the society and demand the punishment of another for any wrongful doing that in some cases has nothing to do with religion,” Eid, also a lawyer, explained. ANHRI described Hisba as the “Damocles Sword on creativity and freedom of expression during the era of the regime that was overthrown by the Egyptian people.” “Hisba lawsuits were used during the former regime to prosecute opposition intellectuals and writers under the pretext of religion,” Eid said. ANHRI called on the authorities to amend the law in order to put an end to such cases that are likely to “jeopardize freedom of expression and creativity in Egypt.” Earlier this moth, the Salafi group El-Gama'a El-Islamiya announced that it would consider calling for the establishment of “Hisba police” in Egypt that “fights vice and promotes virtue” based on the notorious Saudi Arabian model.
