Egypt: Prominent writer faces lawsuit over 'blasphemous' play

Dr. Nawal al-Saadawi

The Sunni-Islamic Al-Azhar University in Cairo is preparing another attack. They want to press for a blasphemy trial against prominent Egyptian writer Nawal al-Saadawi for her play “God resigns in a summit meeting”. Al-Azhar’s chief censor Sheikh Mohammed Sayyed Tantawi, chairman of the “Islamic Research Council”, announced that he would officially refer the play to court. The author, currently in Bruxelles, called the act “Al-Azhar’s revenge”. Previously, already two of her novels have been banned on initiative of the Islamic University. The controversial play, published in December 2006, is an allegory dealing with contemporary problems in Egypt, she says. Under growing pressure of Islamic hardliners, her publisher removed the book in January 2007 from the Cairo International Book Fair, together with the latest edition of al-Saadawi’s autobiography, and destroyed all copies.

Dr. Nawal al-Saadawi, 75, a physician and psychiatrist by profession, is an outspoken critic of religion and fighter for women’s rights. While holding high official positions like director of public health in the Egyptian health ministry and UN adviser for women programs in Africa and Middle East, she has been a prolific writer all throughout her life. Her taboo-breaking novels about women in Middle East as well as her non-fiction books made her a thorn in the eyes of the Islamic authorities. After publishing a book on women and sexuality, she was dismissed from the Health Ministry.

[Bulletin # 165]