A new weekly series about Egypt (Saturdays)

The author of this series "Egyptian Frescoes" André Dirlik was born in Egypt and spent the first twenty years of his life in Cairo, then moved to Beirut where he studied at the American University. He later completed his studies at Mc Gill University, in Montreal. 

André's long career as professor exclusively at the "Collège Militaire Royal de Saint-Jean" was only interrupted when that institution closed it's doors in 1995. 

Egyptian Frescoes part (18 of 19) issued with the permission of the author. 

Egyptian Frescoe (18): al-Islam huwa al-Hall – sequence one.

I had directed Edward Said and an American acquaintance of his to the Andalus Gardens, across Kasr el-Nil bridge, on al-Guezira. We were to meet with friends in this most idyllic site, along the Nile, where a childhood pal, Hasan al-‘Igayzi, retired general and once commander of al-Sa’iqah Brigade, was to entertain us for diner.

Andalos Garden in Cairo

Hassan Jamali, who had visited his parents in Homs and was transiting through Cairo, would also be there. So was Mukhtar Nur ed-Din and a friend of his from Spain. Hasan also invited Adham Safwat and Mahmud Fathi, old timers of ours. Mahmud, an Ikhwan who had escaped to Saudi Arabia when Nasser first cracked down on the Muslim Brotherhood, was back in Egypt and had been to Tahrir Square to attend a rally organized by his party. There would also be my class mates from university years in Montreal, ‘Ali ed-Din Hilal and Rusen Sezer. Rusen had brought along two Turks. One, I recognized immediately: Recep Erdogan, the Prime Minister of Turkey. The other, I had often heard of: Yünüs Emre, the poet and Sufi from Konya whom Rusen publicized in his thesis. ‘’Buyrümüz, welcome’’, I said, awkwardly. Raja had worn a Yasmak and a Shalvar and I introduced her. ‘’Masallah, hanum’’, they bowed and uttered. We presented the Turks to May, the daughter of Hidayat Naguib, a school mate, and a grand niece of Gen. Muhammad Naguib. She lives in Calgary. Someone from al-Azhar was in conversation with ‘abd al-Razzaq al-Sanhuri, the eminent jurist and proved to be none other than Shaykh Muhammad ‘Abduh. How nice of Hasan to have gathered such an eminent crowd, and in al-Andalus Gardens of all places, with a view on the river, its alleys bordered with Palms Royal, its famous maze which, as children, we called the House of Goha and a collection of flowers which originated from Kitchener’s Island, in Aswan, and were in bloom and displayed their scents to the cross winds. 

Everyone had noticed a round dining table that would accommodate nineteen under the canopy. On the lawns, two men grilled meat on a fire while a peasant lady clad in black sat in front of her earthen oven and baked Baladi bran bread. We had arrived a bit late, Raja and I, because of the heavy traffic caused by the gatherings in Tahrir Square. May had spent the entire day arguing back and forth, she told us, at the Square. When I rushed to greet Edward, he introduced me to Samuel Huntington, the author of The Clash of Civilization. Barely eight years after Sam gave his still controversial lecture, Edward hit back in his own Clash of Ignorance, in 2001. Huntington was arguing that the age of ideology had ended: the world was reverting to what he saw as the normal state of affairs which is characterised by cultural conflicts that, in the future, will be drawn along religious lines. Islam was singled out. Edward’s polemical reply pointed out that Huntington’s thesis was simplistic and arbitrary. The clash of civilization idea illustrated, according to Said, the purest invidious racism against Muslims as it presented them as a monolithic entity. Edward wanted to have the American scholar meet as many Egyptian Muslims as possible to prove his point and I spoke to Hasan about it and he immediately obliged.

Kichener's Island in Aswan

I approached Mokhtar. I had not seen him in years although we often speak on Skype. I asked him to introduce me to his elderly friend from Spain. I thought he was referring to the destroyer S/S ibn Rush of which he was First Mate when I butted into their conversation. ‘’No ya Andareh, this is Shaykh Abu al-Walid ibn Rushd of Qartaba. What a great pleasure, ya Ustadh I replied. Mokhtar also pointed to two other elderly ‘Ulama’. ‘’Come, let us join Shaykh Jamal ed-Din from Afghanistan and Shaykh ‘abd al-Raziq whom you surely never met but heard of’’. But Shaykh ‘Ali had drifted towards Yünüs. What an evening was ours going to be? The moon was full. Yünus drew our attention to the Fountain of Twelve Lions that had been murmuring the Ninety Nine Attributes of Allah. We were ushered around the dining table to partake our meal. Yünüs sat next to Shaykh ‘Ali and to Mahmud.

Liwa Hasan was still standing and welcomed the two ladies, our eminent and learned visitors from bygone days and all of us others. He offered his guests a choice of beverages, tea, Cacola and mashrub which Premier Erdogan kindly had brought along, and he lifted a bottle of Sari Zeybec Raqi. ‘We have plenty of all and there is iced bottled water, of course; we can, also, order Sugar Cane juice from outside’’. Each placed his or her order from the two Sofragiyyah assigned to serve us. ‘’Yalla, ‘Amm Muhammadayn, he addressed the Nubian cook, serve the lentil soup. Then: I am a military man, he said while he stared at Mahmud. I tasted war in Yaman and at the Mitla Pass, in Sinai. In order to organize this memorable evening, I worked the telephone and used my contacts. Also, during the past three days, I was in Fayyum shooting ducks which ‘Amm Muhamaddayn has prepared for us tonight. Tell me, Mahmud Bey, what do your people mean when they say al-Islam huwa al-Hall? I never was taught much about Islam when I was young unlike Andariyya, here, whose Religion was drilled in him since he went to school. And look what happened: the only Kafir in our midst’’. In unison, Rusen, Adham and Hassan wished to also be included as Kuffar. Hasan pursued, still staring at Mahmud. ‘’My father taught me to pray and we fasted Ramadan. I can recite al-Fatiha and Ayat ul-Kursi. There is no clergy in our religion and each tailors his faith as he pleases. Is that not so? I know enough about Qada’, free will, and Qadar, predestination, to ask you what is it that the Ikhwan want to achieve except take power and revenge for what Nasir, Sadat and Mubarak did to you?’’ Mahmud calmly replied: ‘’we want to apply the Shari’a and establish an Islamic State. Thus would we guarantee against the excesses committed by previous regimes’’.

Raja & Andre 

Duck, stuffed pigeon and grilled meats were served along with salads and pickles as soon as the soup dishes were cleared. Raja interrupted: ‘’André and I will have ‘Araq, with your permission. You see, the Qur’an states clearlythat the use of alcoholic beverages is strictly forbidden then, in the same breadth, that one should not approach one’s prayers in a state of drunkenness. I have chosen to abide by the latter verses. I also find that a drink helps me better digest my food and I was comforted by a Hadith attributed to the most famous of our Caliphs, ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab, that quotes him as having said: We used to eat Camel meat and only wine would help us digest it. André’s favourite teacher at the Institute of Islamic Studies, Niyazi Berkes, had once told me that one of the four founders of Islamic Jurisprudence, Malik ibn Anas, argued in favour of the use of alcohol for Muslims. I am satisfied with such learned opinions on the subject. I have tailored my faith to satisfy my needs. I refuse to have anyone tell me how to run my spiritual life’’. And she set to serve a drink for Erdogan, Rusen and ourselves. ‘’I have prepared it the Lebanese way, with ‘Araq, water and ice in this order, not like in Turkey, Recep Bey. I hope you will like it’’.. He lifted his glass and toasted her: ‘’Serefinize’’ . Then he added. ‘’We have made the difference between an Islamic State and a State for Muslims in Turkey. Our state is built on its Muslim Ottoman past and on the Kemalist Revolution which saved the Turkish people from humiliation from the West after 1918. Turkey’s democracy recognizes that the majority of our people have the right to practice Islam. We are slowly changing the laws that forbade them to worship freely under Atatürk. Our party considers itself Muslim Democrat, as in Europe, Mrs Merkel’s is Christian Democrat. At the same time, as I argued with your Ihvan leaders here in Cairo, Haci Mehmut, we believe in secularism which protects the freedom of our citizens, even Atheists like André’’. And myself, added Rusen emphatically who insisted on telling how we had met in the early sixties: ‘’André and I were in the Registrar’s Office of McGill University. We had refused to state our religion on the forms handed to us and did not accept to be considered Agnostic as they wanted us to. We finally agreed to be listed as Fire Worshipers. That year, in the university statistics, there were two Zoroastrians on campus. That was before the Quiet Revolution in Quebec and the establishment of the Secular State. Never in Turkey since Atatürk could anyone force you to state you religion. EWS butted in: Over both you convictions, Rusen and André, I remember I was at André and Raja’s Civil Marriage as best man in Arlington, VA. I am an Agnostic and was married in Church to please my parents. I met you, Rusen, many years later, at the Dirliks, during a visit to Montreal, and we talked about religion. I remarked then that André was a hyphenated Atheist, a Catholic-Atheist and Rusen a Mevlevi-Atheist. We invariably become atheists to our own religious tradition, is that not so, André?’’ If you are speaking of values, I will admit that my social values derive from the altruistic message of many Christians starting with one Saint Martin who shared his overcoat with a fellowman whom he found freezing to death. Rusen had gone further: ‘’Gods are created by Men and this subject is related to the way they talk, the words they use, ya Akhi’’. Edward went on: ‘’When I think of how much Kierkegaard and Marx influenced you, ya Rusen, I am amazed at the extent to which Islamic Mysticism has broadened the intellectual vistas of Muslims.

 I don’t think Christian, or Jewish Mysticism for that matter share this vision that Man is part of a Universe in which Gods and revelations may or may not have any place’’.

Samuel was half amused and half perplexed. ‘’Allow me to raise the question of the Shari’a which I see as aiming to revert Islam back to the time of the Salaf. I would like to have your feel on this point Mister Mufti, he added addressing himself to ‘Abduh’’.

‘’You know, Mister Samu’il, replied the Shaykh, I was Mufti of Egypt for many years. Shari’a has always remained alive even when they closed the Doors of Ijtihad, so to speak, in the 14^th century, as you are taught by your Orientalists. Take, for instance, doctor Andariyyah’s grandfather, Elias Bey al-Lubnani. He came to Egypt during Cromer’s administration to sell Life Insurance. He visited me at my home requesting a Fatwa to the effect that insurance was not Riba, interest on money, and I gave it to him. But then, when he wished to sell me a policy, I refused because I believed that, after my death, Allah would provide for my family. So, how can you, Mister, use the word revert? Even the great ibn Taymiyya al-Hanbali was not reverting to the time of the Salaf when he paid with his life in order to implement Siyasa Shar’iyyah. The danger for Muslims in his time came from the Mongol invasions. The Mongols had become superficially Islamized yet they imposed the Yasa, their Customary Law, instead of the Shari’a. His attempt became, therefore, to incorporate the Yasa, Siyasa, into the Shari’a and the generations that followed fared well as Muslims to the extent that little do people know that Siyasa was alien to us. And, the same is true in this day and age’’. Mahmud felt relief come to him. For an instant, he thought the Mamluk, his host, Adham, his companion of many years, and his only Khawaga friend from before the Revolution would gang with the General who had been targeting him.

Qubtan Mokhtar remarked: ‘’most of us here have been living outside Egypt. My daughter Mariam is half Japanese and was born in the United States. You, Mahmud, also lived abroad. The difference is that we are in the West, you were in the Hejaz. We have partaken in the twentieth century and now prepare to share in the 21^st in a global world while you still debate questions which ought to be left to rest. Raja added: there were many things I objected to concerning the situation of women in our Lebanese Sunni society. I chose the easy, some would say the cowardly way out and settled in Montreal to seek my rights which women in North America secured for us after their long struggle. We women, in the West, are protected by secular laws. I deplore, meanwhile, that my sisters in the Muslim World are finding it so hard to reach the same goals’’. Recep Bey interjected: ‘’You and André could have moved to Turkey and still can today...’’ And, ibn Rushd added ‘’this is a fair statement, Senora Raja’: when, in Qartaba, I expressed that women were the equal of men to the point that they could join in waging war if they so wished, I was mocked. After my demise and that of my students, Muslim Spain sunk into darkness. It is the duty of women to claim their rights in all matters that count for them. Reason demands it and reason demands that men assist them in reaching these rights’’.

The subject of women made everyone turn to May, the modern young woman in our midst. She was beaming from under her Hijab, obviously in agreement with all that had been said and added: ‘’I was born in Senegal in an expatriate community, she explained, and have lived all my life abroad. I am married to a Canadian and have studied Islamics. I am a believer. The subject of Mysticism, Islamic revival, the Revolution of the Young in Egypt take all my energies and occupy my mind. I, meanwhile, seek the knowledge I do not possess. When it comes to questions of meaning, ethics, purpose, education and death, Akhirah, second hand information will not do for me. I cannot survive on a second hand faith in a second hand God. There is to be for me a personal, unique confrontation with reality if I am to come alive’’. Everyone had listened intently and silently and was reflecting on what May’s charged words meant for each of us. Only the Hoca from Konya felt he had fully understood her. Mahmud looked at her sternly as if he were to scold her: ‘’Ghayr mu’ahhala. Not qualified to be a Muslima, he mumbled’’. She added: ‘’ I guess I represent, amongst you all, the future of Muslims who live abroad yet are eager to share with the East the wonders of the West’’.

The subject of the Shari’a was one that al-Sanhuri held close to his heart. He immediately told us of the 1.149 articles in the 1949 Civil Code he had submitted to the Egyptian Judiciary. ‘’I translated Code Napoléon into Arabic, you may remember. While I worked on the Civil Code, my readings of Montesquieu’s Ésprit des Lois was constantly in my thoughts. My code was a mixture of native codes and foreign codes that were drafted by me with the Shari’a in mind’’. al-Sanhuri was heir to the Spirit of the Ottoman Tanzimat which, starting in 1839 and lasting till 1856, with the aim of modernizing the Ottoman Empire. It reached Egypt through Muhammad ‘Ali Pasha and his dynasty. al-Sanhuri belonged, along with Shaykh Muhammad ‘Abduh, his elder, and Shaykh ‘abd al-Raziq, to the Liberal tradition of Egyptian Nationalism. He had no qualms with borrowing from others if they had something better to offer. ‘’You know, my dear friends, Egypt and Turkey are far more advanced than other Muslim countries because we do not feel threatened in our cultural identity, he concluded, and I dare anyone to say we are not a Muslim nation’’. al-Sanhuri had resented the heavy handedness of Revolutionary Egypt and now he feared for the future of his country under an Ikhwan government. For the sake of harmony around the table he rather saw fit that others carry this conversation which might prove explosive. He stared at Doktor ‘Ali as if to say why don’t you help me out. After all, ‘Ali Basha had held a portfolio in Mubarak’s government and in the country’s politics, had taken a doctorate in Canada and taught at University both in Montreal and in Cairo... al-Sanhuri turned to May: ‘’Allah yi Khalliki, pass me the stuffed pigeon. My wife, Allah Yirhamha, served it for lunch each week after Friday prayer. And Shaykh ‘abd al-Raziq added:

Stuffed Pigeons

I have not had stuffed pigeon since her death. After Friday prayers at al-Azhar, I would walk in the direction of al-Khiyamiyyah and step into Hag Muhsin, the Hati’s shoppe, for at least two pigeons. And, tonight I helped myself to three whole ones. Bil Hana’ wa-l Shifa’’ said the Liwa who had overheard it all.