News from the Egyptian Street and Media Translated Without Comment from Arabic into English As a Public Service
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Al-Azhar, (in Arabic: The Glorious) the oldest and most venerable Islamic institution in the world of Islam, has just issued a historic document. Established more than one thousand years ago by the Fatimide Dynasty (Shii) in Cairo, it is the center of Islamic learning, both Sunni and Shii, that exerts moderation on the Muslim faith. It has branches all over Egypt and the entire Arab world from Sudan to Gaza to other far-flung areas. It is not only a great focus for Islam as a moderating force; it has also played a key role in guiding Egypt's quest for both modernity in times of peace, and nationalistic fervor in times of war.
You can tell an Azhari graduate male by his white turban (my late father wore one which he bequeathed to me). Female students usually wear a simple scarf over their hair. Traditionally, Al-Azhar enjoyed full independence from the Egyptian Government until internal dictatorship, beginning with Nasser in July 1952 and ending with Mubarak's ouster in February 2011, destroyed that Al-Azhar status. The institution's Imam Al-Akbar (the highest Imam) became an appointed functionary, instead of an elected authority and pre-eminent scholar chosen democratically by his peers. Thus began the decline of Al-Azhar in both prestige, and the advent of militant Islam in a hopeless attempt to fill that huge void. The void was then filled with ridiculous fatwas (religious opinions) and militant movements which fed on both ignorance and unemployment.
Then came the Egyptian Revolution of January 25, 2011 and the departure of Mubarak's reign of terror. With that, Al-Azhar revived. And on June 20, 2011, Al-Azhar's Rector, Imam Dr. Ahmed Al-Tayyeb (who speaks fluent French), promulgated a historic document (Al-Azhar Document) signaling the return of that institution to its independence from the Executive, and to its pre-eminence in Islamic thought, Islamic jurisprudence, and Islamic centrism. Another fatal blow to Al-Qaeda and all its franchise units everywhere. Real Islam is suddenly ascendant; extremism is now in flight with its places of refuge shrinking.
Approved by a very broad consensus by the leaders of the entire spectrum of political, academic, religious, social and economic groupings, including the Muslim Brotherhood, the Document calls for a secular Egypt. It declares Al-Azhar's abhorrence of a New Egypt based on religion. Though it recognized Islamic Law (Sharia), as moderately interpreted, a primary source of legislation, yet it fully guarantees to Coptic Egyptians their full right to resort to the Church's rulings in personal status matters (marriage, divorce, inheritance, worship, entails, and such).
Elucidated by a prominent member of the Consortium of Islamic Research (an arm of Al-Azhar), by the name of Dr. Abdel-Mottee Bayoumi, a co-drafter of that Document, said, "We now have the bases for a modern State based on the Constitution, and free from the concept of a state based on faith." He went on to say, "The New Egypt shall be democratic, whose new Constitution (to be drafted in 2012) will guarantee separation of powers and the Rule of Law, especially equality of all before the law."
The Grand Imam, Dr. Al-Yayyeb, pointed out at a press conference held at Al-Azhar, that the Document guarantees free elections, diversity, the peaceful transfer of power periodically from one elected President to another, transparency and accountability, the fight against corruption, and the freedom of information.
The full rights of women and children are also declared in that document, and the recognition of all religious beliefs (including Christianity and Judaism), and the right to full citizenship are integral components of Al-Azhar Document.
The Al-Azhar Rector also highlighted the Document's condemnation of groups arrogating for themselves the authority to signal someone as an apostate or a traitor to Islam. It regarded such usurpation of the power to exclusiveness as anti-Islamic and as leading to sectarian conflict, religious apartheid, and a derogation of the power and capacity of the community represented by Parliament to pursue the development goals of Egypt in its newly-found renaissance.
The Document also equated between Muslims, Christians and Jews in their right to freely pursue their efforts in building up the New Egypt. It also emphasized Egypt's commitment to the observance of all its international treaties and obligations.
The Al-Azhar Document called for the re-establishment by the New Egypt of its harmonious relationships with all its sister States in the Arab, African and Islamic geographic spheres. It stressed the need for respecting the right of the Palestinians to an independent and sovereign State.
The Document highlighted that Egypt's renaissance is a vital factor in regional stability, that the Arab Revolution is anchored in the quest for dignity, development and equality, and that the new Constitution shall be the framework for the march of post-Mubarak Egypt toward a future of equal opportunity for all.
Welcome Back, Al-Azhar (The Glorious) to your historic roles in the national and international arenas of moderation in Islam, belief in inter-faith, nullification of crazy fatwas, and delegitimation of Al-Qaeda and terrorism!!!
Friday, June 24, 2011
Friday, June 17, 2011
No More Fear - Almost
News from the Egyptian Street and Media Translated Without Comment from Arabic into English As a Public Service
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The news were electrifying. It was February 11, 2011, evening, when the big TV screen in Tahrir Square, in Cairo, came alive with the thundering news that Hosni Mubarak has relinquished his post as President. The dark night of military dictatorships which descended upon Egypt since 1952 was suddenly over. The youth revolution which began on January 25, returned Egypt to its historic role of guiding the Arab world towards the promised land of democracy, dignity and equal opportunity.
Yes, the Arab Spring began in Tunisia, but Egypt, with its demographic weight of a population of 90 million (25% of the entire Arab population) gave its unlimited oxygen. On that evening of February 11, Tahrir, and with it all Arabs beyond its boundary, went wild with joy. A foreign correspondent, in Tahrir, shouted this question to a young Egyptian woman, "What do you say now?" Her answer is seared in my mind: "NO MORE FEAR!!"
The legacy of oppressive fear which began with Nasser in July 1952 and ended nearly 60 years later began to dissipate. The phantom of fear, both real and imagined proved to be no match for the millions shouting all over Egypt, "Go/IRHAL!!"
The success of the masses in ending the 60-year military coup brought to my mind the last scene in a novel which was published for me in Cairo in 1948. It is entitled, "Charlatan in the Village" (Dajjal Fi Qariah). In it, the Charlatan's aide runs to him at night to urge him to leave the village that night because the villagers had discovered that they were the victims of a huge swindle. Upon hearing that, and fearful for his life, the Charlatan snatches from the hands of his aide the bag in which his ill-gotten loot was placed. Then he flees under the cover of darkness for fear of his victims' wrath. His last words to his hapless aide whom he leaves behind to face his fate, "I do not care about them. I was their shelter and refuge... Those ingrates!!"
Every Arab dictator perceives himself as the great savior, not the wicked oppressor. Like the Charlatan in my novel, revolt against his wicked ways is an unforgivable treason. In the hands of those dictators, fear of the unknown is their great barrier against regime change. The army, the police, the intelligence personnel (which in Egypt numbered 1.2 millions, more than the number in Egypt's armed forces), the Republican Guard, the one-party system, the media and corruption are all in the service of the perpetual degradation of human freedoms. The people's voice in these fear regimes, became an inaudible whimper that can only be heard in the dungeons of torture.
Now fear is largely gone. During the first session of the Giza Criminal Court, south of Cairo, three of the symbols of the defunct Mubarak regime sat in mid-June in the defendeants' enclosure to hear the people's thunder. They were Amr Asal, the former Commissioner for Industrial Development, Ahmed Izz (the former monopolizer of the steel industry) who was a stalwart in the now dissolved Democratic National Party, and in absentia, Rasheed Muhammad Rasheed, the former Minister of Commerce and Industry. The charge: wasting and stealing public funds.
In a full-throated voice, devoid of any trace of fear, the Public Prosecutor, Counselor Abdel-Lateef Al-Sharnoubi told the 3-panel Court, "I stand before you today to accuse these defendants of destroying Egypt, of emptying its treasury and of causing perverse poverty among millions of Egyptians."
If fear from dictatorship is gone, yet fear of chaos which usually ensues after a prolonged period of oppression. The diehards of the Mubarak regime are still lurking in the alleys. Tourists are afraid to return, though they are beginning to trickle back. Coptic-Muslim relationships are still being repaired. Border security is on the mind of policy-markers. But, as the Berlin wall fell, so did the fear wall in Egypt and beyond.
***************************************
The news were electrifying. It was February 11, 2011, evening, when the big TV screen in Tahrir Square, in Cairo, came alive with the thundering news that Hosni Mubarak has relinquished his post as President. The dark night of military dictatorships which descended upon Egypt since 1952 was suddenly over. The youth revolution which began on January 25, returned Egypt to its historic role of guiding the Arab world towards the promised land of democracy, dignity and equal opportunity.
Yes, the Arab Spring began in Tunisia, but Egypt, with its demographic weight of a population of 90 million (25% of the entire Arab population) gave its unlimited oxygen. On that evening of February 11, Tahrir, and with it all Arabs beyond its boundary, went wild with joy. A foreign correspondent, in Tahrir, shouted this question to a young Egyptian woman, "What do you say now?" Her answer is seared in my mind: "NO MORE FEAR!!"
The legacy of oppressive fear which began with Nasser in July 1952 and ended nearly 60 years later began to dissipate. The phantom of fear, both real and imagined proved to be no match for the millions shouting all over Egypt, "Go/IRHAL!!"
The success of the masses in ending the 60-year military coup brought to my mind the last scene in a novel which was published for me in Cairo in 1948. It is entitled, "Charlatan in the Village" (Dajjal Fi Qariah). In it, the Charlatan's aide runs to him at night to urge him to leave the village that night because the villagers had discovered that they were the victims of a huge swindle. Upon hearing that, and fearful for his life, the Charlatan snatches from the hands of his aide the bag in which his ill-gotten loot was placed. Then he flees under the cover of darkness for fear of his victims' wrath. His last words to his hapless aide whom he leaves behind to face his fate, "I do not care about them. I was their shelter and refuge... Those ingrates!!"
Every Arab dictator perceives himself as the great savior, not the wicked oppressor. Like the Charlatan in my novel, revolt against his wicked ways is an unforgivable treason. In the hands of those dictators, fear of the unknown is their great barrier against regime change. The army, the police, the intelligence personnel (which in Egypt numbered 1.2 millions, more than the number in Egypt's armed forces), the Republican Guard, the one-party system, the media and corruption are all in the service of the perpetual degradation of human freedoms. The people's voice in these fear regimes, became an inaudible whimper that can only be heard in the dungeons of torture.
Now fear is largely gone. During the first session of the Giza Criminal Court, south of Cairo, three of the symbols of the defunct Mubarak regime sat in mid-June in the defendeants' enclosure to hear the people's thunder. They were Amr Asal, the former Commissioner for Industrial Development, Ahmed Izz (the former monopolizer of the steel industry) who was a stalwart in the now dissolved Democratic National Party, and in absentia, Rasheed Muhammad Rasheed, the former Minister of Commerce and Industry. The charge: wasting and stealing public funds.
In a full-throated voice, devoid of any trace of fear, the Public Prosecutor, Counselor Abdel-Lateef Al-Sharnoubi told the 3-panel Court, "I stand before you today to accuse these defendants of destroying Egypt, of emptying its treasury and of causing perverse poverty among millions of Egyptians."
If fear from dictatorship is gone, yet fear of chaos which usually ensues after a prolonged period of oppression. The diehards of the Mubarak regime are still lurking in the alleys. Tourists are afraid to return, though they are beginning to trickle back. Coptic-Muslim relationships are still being repaired. Border security is on the mind of policy-markers. But, as the Berlin wall fell, so did the fear wall in Egypt and beyond.
Friday, June 10, 2011
The Sound of Music in Aid of the Revolution
News from the Egyptian Street and Media Translated Without Comment from Arabic into English As a Public Service
***************************************
The Egyptian Revolution lives on by its resort to music and films. Since the age of the Pyramid builders, nearly 5000 years ago, Egypt integrated music, dance and festivals into its faith which evolved into monotheism
Not surprisingly, modern Egypt was the first in the Arab world to use the arts of music, song and story-telling to produce its films in the early 1930s, which have been the rage of the Arabic-speaking world. Its opera theater was inaugurated in 1869 in the heart of Cairo by the opera "Aida" to celebrate the opening of the Suez Canal. This great opera was written by Verdi in celebration of that event which made Egypt the world's cross-roads and bridgeway.
The names of Egypt's singers, like Umm Kalthoum, Muhammad Abdel-Wahab and Abdel-Haleem Hafez continue to be house-hold names from the Atlantic to the Gulf. Its historic film stars from Youssef Wahbi, to Anwar Wagdi, to the lovely Laila Murad, that great Egyptian woman singer of the Jewish faith (one of her great songs are eternalized in the film, "Ghazl El-Banat - the Girls Romance") continue to please, inspire and liberate the imagination. The great song entitled "Don't Lie," in which a lover expresses his devastation at discovering that his girl friend was cheating on him made its woman singer, Nagat Al-Sagheerah, the heart throb of all Arabs.
Then came a long period of dearth: the dearth of military dictatorships which stunted the vibrancy of Egyptian society as represented by song, dance, music and performing arts for half a century. And with dictatorship came a weird interpretation of Islam which depicted those arts as profane. The descent of Egypt into darkness during the period preceding the Egyptian Revolution of January 25, 2011 proved that a great society deserves great art - the Key to Life (Ankh) inspired by the Pharaos. The image of the Ankh is that of constant rebirth. It is a key-like cross as a symbol of enduring life and generative energy. The Revolution of January was not only led by youth; it infused Egypt with youthfulness through returning it to its true cultural heritage. It is back to the future.
Now all Arab singing stars are converging on the Cairo International Stadium from June 21 to June 24 to celebrate Egypt's return to its artistic life. That four day - all Arab event is entitled, "For You - Egypt." A huge song and music fest led by Nancy Agram, Assy Al-Hibary, Hussein-Al-Gismy, Saber Al-Rubaie, and Shereen Abdel-Wahab to cite only a few from among 25 great singers covering the length and breadth of the Arab World. They are all volunteering their great talent, with the proceeds going to charities and the families of those nearly 900 martyrs who dared to stand up to the Mubarak goons to say "No to Fear! Yes to Democracy!" Out with the goons; in with the music and songs for the heart of the Arab lands.
A historic events like this one is under the sponsorship of the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism, Egyptair, the Ministry of Social Interdependency, and the Cairo International Stadium Authority. Commenting on that huge artistic event, Egypt's Minister of Culture, Dr. Emad Abu-Ghazy said: "Culture is not at war with religion. Our concern is the development of the re-discovered citizenship which accepts the other, within secularism, democracy and political participation."
The sound of music is shrinking the sound of religious lunacy which helped produce Osama Bin Laden, 9/11, the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, and the likes of Terry Jones (the Quran burner).
At the Cairo new opera theater (the original building of the Opera theater was consumed by fire in 1973), an event was held in honor of a great opera figure, Ziad Bakeer, who was martyred during the January 25 Revolution. Two thousand mourners participated as the singer Aly Al-Haggar sang, and the Cairo Opera Company performed a new ballet entitled "The Revolt of the People" choreographed by Arminia Kamel with music by the young composer Kareem Abdel-Wahab.
Art is a true-revolutionary weapon of mass re-construction!!
***************************************
The Egyptian Revolution lives on by its resort to music and films. Since the age of the Pyramid builders, nearly 5000 years ago, Egypt integrated music, dance and festivals into its faith which evolved into monotheism
Not surprisingly, modern Egypt was the first in the Arab world to use the arts of music, song and story-telling to produce its films in the early 1930s, which have been the rage of the Arabic-speaking world. Its opera theater was inaugurated in 1869 in the heart of Cairo by the opera "Aida" to celebrate the opening of the Suez Canal. This great opera was written by Verdi in celebration of that event which made Egypt the world's cross-roads and bridgeway.
The names of Egypt's singers, like Umm Kalthoum, Muhammad Abdel-Wahab and Abdel-Haleem Hafez continue to be house-hold names from the Atlantic to the Gulf. Its historic film stars from Youssef Wahbi, to Anwar Wagdi, to the lovely Laila Murad, that great Egyptian woman singer of the Jewish faith (one of her great songs are eternalized in the film, "Ghazl El-Banat - the Girls Romance") continue to please, inspire and liberate the imagination. The great song entitled "Don't Lie," in which a lover expresses his devastation at discovering that his girl friend was cheating on him made its woman singer, Nagat Al-Sagheerah, the heart throb of all Arabs.
Then came a long period of dearth: the dearth of military dictatorships which stunted the vibrancy of Egyptian society as represented by song, dance, music and performing arts for half a century. And with dictatorship came a weird interpretation of Islam which depicted those arts as profane. The descent of Egypt into darkness during the period preceding the Egyptian Revolution of January 25, 2011 proved that a great society deserves great art - the Key to Life (Ankh) inspired by the Pharaos. The image of the Ankh is that of constant rebirth. It is a key-like cross as a symbol of enduring life and generative energy. The Revolution of January was not only led by youth; it infused Egypt with youthfulness through returning it to its true cultural heritage. It is back to the future.
Now all Arab singing stars are converging on the Cairo International Stadium from June 21 to June 24 to celebrate Egypt's return to its artistic life. That four day - all Arab event is entitled, "For You - Egypt." A huge song and music fest led by Nancy Agram, Assy Al-Hibary, Hussein-Al-Gismy, Saber Al-Rubaie, and Shereen Abdel-Wahab to cite only a few from among 25 great singers covering the length and breadth of the Arab World. They are all volunteering their great talent, with the proceeds going to charities and the families of those nearly 900 martyrs who dared to stand up to the Mubarak goons to say "No to Fear! Yes to Democracy!" Out with the goons; in with the music and songs for the heart of the Arab lands.
A historic events like this one is under the sponsorship of the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism, Egyptair, the Ministry of Social Interdependency, and the Cairo International Stadium Authority. Commenting on that huge artistic event, Egypt's Minister of Culture, Dr. Emad Abu-Ghazy said: "Culture is not at war with religion. Our concern is the development of the re-discovered citizenship which accepts the other, within secularism, democracy and political participation."
The sound of music is shrinking the sound of religious lunacy which helped produce Osama Bin Laden, 9/11, the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, and the likes of Terry Jones (the Quran burner).
At the Cairo new opera theater (the original building of the Opera theater was consumed by fire in 1973), an event was held in honor of a great opera figure, Ziad Bakeer, who was martyred during the January 25 Revolution. Two thousand mourners participated as the singer Aly Al-Haggar sang, and the Cairo Opera Company performed a new ballet entitled "The Revolt of the People" choreographed by Arminia Kamel with music by the young composer Kareem Abdel-Wahab.
Art is a true-revolutionary weapon of mass re-construction!!
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