This is last article of the series "Frescoes" I hope you enjoyed it. (thanks André)
Yehia Mike Sharobim 

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 (19 of 19) issued with the permission of the author. 

Egyptian Frescoe (19): al-Islam huwa al-Hall – sequence two.

‘Ali was a seasoned politician, one who had a realistic vision of what his country ought to become in this 21^st century. Egypt enjoyed a tradition of learning. Its position, at the crossroads of continents, had it called upon to play certain roles in International Politics. Egypt was also recovering from the throes of Colonialism and slowly but surely was coming of age. What this meant was that it was redefining itself in the light of the Waning of the West. ‘’The saga of my country, since Muhammad ‘Ali Basha chose to open it up to Europe, suggests that the story of change from our Medieval past to our near future, is still unfolding, said ‘Ali. When Bonaparte landed in Egypt, he brought us into European geo-politics. Muhammad ‘Ali indicated that we could fare on our own but then, the digging of a canal, at Suez, made us the prey of the British. We survived their military occupation for many decades. Finally, we reached our independence, nominally at least. In the meantime, new social forces were emerging along the Nile Valley which resulted from wars with Israel and oil money. The latest episode in this saga is our participation in an Arab Spring. The Muslim Brotherhood has emerged successful from this revolt against military rule. The Ikhwan will form a government and rewrite the constitution. The Islamic character of the future state indicates that Egypt, not unlike Russia, China, India, Latin America and the rest of the non-Western world, is opting for its own particularities and peculiarities in the Community of Nations’’.

 ‘’Do you see this development as being a step in the direction of the inevitable, I asked? I am not a determinist although  I am fascinated by Marxist analysis. I would like to remind all of us that the days of Dar ul-Islam and Dar ul- Harb, where Muslims and non-Muslims lived separate from each other is over. Muslims are part and parcel of the international community. They participate in the activities of the United Nations and will bend certain rule but never reject all the rules’’. Upon which Erdogan remarked: ‘’I understand what you are saying. We still crave, in Turkey, to join the EEC yet, internally, we acknowledge that our people aspire to be Muslim as well as European. We know we can achieve modernity without, for that matter, forsaking our cultural identity and our beliefs. In fact, we are taking our queue from America and the Europeans who have not abandoned their nationalities. I told the Ihvan leadership so, when I met with them here, in Cairo. And, our commitment to secularism remains the surest guarantee to preserve our Turkishness and our Muslimness. At the same time, our internationalism  guarantees our individual freedoms and rights as we partake fully in the human odyssey’’.

Jamal ed-Din had turned toward EWS who sat next to him: ‘’Ustadh, I have enjoyed your Orientalism very much. I wish you had written it while ‘Abduh and I were in Paris. You know we met with Ernest Renan and Gabriel Hannotaux and had heated exchanges with both, as you tell us you have experienced recently with Mister Samu’il. The two Frenchmen were using Islam to prove that Religion stands in the way of Science. We argued back that, in fact, if there was a religion that encouraged Science it was Islam, a logical religion, unlike Christianity. But let me return to Orientalism. I had not seen the link between Literature and Colonialism before I read you. You, Mister Samu’il, should read this book. I recommend it. You may then understand the Muslims and, more important, understand yourselves’’. Edward felt he had to explain how he had developed his interest for Orientalism, having previously spent his academic concerns in Comparative Literature. ‘’I was born in Palestine an American citizen. I went to study in the US and soon discovered that my deeper identity brought me close to the Arabs. When I read French and British authors of the 19^th century, I was startled by the manner in which words and images about the Orient opened the way to the colonization of the East. Knowledge helps us dominate the one we have come to know. And, in order to dominate, we have to justify it to ourselves. Take, for instance, Islamic Studies in the West today: scholars in this field love Islam but not Muslims. They use their knowledge of Islam to weaken Muslims. Would you say this is a fair observation, Sam’’? Huntington was busy gulping his food and did not respond.

Edward Said

Hassan had turned to ‘Abduh and asked: ‘’Shaykh ‘Abduh, your contribution towards making the European Sciences palatable to Muslims has been a historical one and thanks to you did my father acquiesce to my studies in electronics both in Warsaw and Toulouse. The Sciences which we borrowed from the Europeans and now the Americans are bound to change our societies as they have theirs. Islam, as a result, will have to evolve as has Christianity. Don’t you agree? Well, quite and not quite. In fact, Islam is, like the Sciences, a rational religion replied the ‘Alim. That is in theory, Shaykh Muhammad, retorted ibn Rushd who, in his excitement, dropped his stuffed pigeon off the table.  ‘’Ma tshilsh hamm ya ‘Allama’’, said Mokhtar as he ordered that the necessary be taken care of by the Sufragi. ‘’Allah ye khalliq, mumbled ibn Rushd to Mokhtar: ‘’So your wife is Japanese? Yes, from a traditional and yet modern family as only the Japanese can be both at the same time. The Japanese embarked upon their reforms shortly after our Muhammad ‘Ali Basha began his own and look how far they have travelled since. We must learn from them. We can be Muslim and Modern. In fact, my father was such an individual and he set himself as an example to his three children. Our immediate neighbour in Ma’adi and a friend of the family was, I remember, Shaykh Hasanayn Makhluf, the Mufti of Egypt and a successor to Shaykh ‘Abduh. He was neat and elegant in his century old Azhari attire. He walked daily to the train station and back and smiled at people on the street who smiled back. He was often seen and heard laughing. He was curious of the way of the Ingiliz and asked many questions about them. He was a wise man as well as a pleasant one. When I trained in the Soviet Union with the Navy, I discovered that their Communist Party members would not smile. In America where I now live, their Salafis who live in the Bible Belt don’t smile either. And, on the TV screen, I don’t see Salafi Jews, living in their illegal settlements, smiling in Israel. Nor do Egypt’s Salafis today smile either. Explain this to me... Ibn Rushd nodded as if he had understood.

Shaykh ‘abd al-Raziq wanted to underline the good nature of Egyptians when he reminisced loudly: ‘’When I was a Talib at al-Azhar, I often met with friends at Abu-l-Futuh’s, close to al-Husayn, facing al-Ghuriyyah. We drank mint tea or Libdon tea from China or gahwah from Maqha, in Yaman and we smoked the Shisha. We could play backgammon or dama, read al-Ahram and talk about our courses and our teachers. Shaykh ‘Abduh and Sayyid Jamal ed-Din were amongst those I admired very much.

During Ramadan, in the evenings we mingled with student from al-Ibrahimiyyah and were entertained by competitions of Afiyah, the jousting of words that rimed. It is at al-Fishawi that I was exposed to the city’s exceptional humour. This was the time I was thinking of writing al-Islam wa Usul al-Hukm. You will remember that the book was badly received by King Fu’ad who aspired then to became Caliph of the Muslims and saw to it that my fellow Azharis turn against me. I had learnt at al-Fishawi to laugh it off and so retained my sanity and my good humour’’. ibn Rushd nodded: he too had experienced rejection. He remarked, however, to himself how much this had embittered him.

The presence of the Cordovan in our midst had intimidated a few, elated others and exasperated those who felt that his rigorous rationalism was a threat to Islam. The Mufti was back charging: ‘’You have argued, remarked ‘Abduh, that logic and religion have the same goals, the quest for the truth. Do you mean that they are interchangeable? Yes, they are because Allah is Logic. And, religion should consequently and necessarily be logical. But this is Kufr whispered ‘Abduh: you sound like the Sufis who give priority to Haqigah over Shari’a. I could not agree more, Kardasim, my brothers, interjected Yünüs’’. The General, feeling that the Ikhwan had been let off the hook and that war was brewing between Theologian, Philosopher and Mystic, interrupted what appeared to be a most explosive debate: ‘’We are going to serve watermelon which we will accompany with our Egyptian cheese, Gibna Baramil. Also, from my farm, I have sent for fresh cream and honey which should go well with the Fitir Mishaltit which Umm ‘Uways is presently baking’’.  Every one burst out laughing at the General’s diplomatic skills. God forbid the next President be another military man. But Adham had raised his baritone voice: ‘’we are just pausing. This discussion must resume as soon as possible. Don’t you realize that Khawaga Huntington is taking notes? And you Dr. Jamali, don’t forget what you intended to say’’.

The watermelon was oozing with sweetness and the harshness of the goat cheese made one’s palate remind of the meals that expected us in Heaven, Islam’s’ heaven that is as neither Edward nor I wished to go to that of the Christians’. Although we had never recited the Shahada, many of us Christians from the Middle East were culturally Muslims. This, neither the Americans, the Israelis or many Muslims understood.

Our Sufragi was taking orders for white coffee or coffee with much, little or no sugar. When asked by Hasan how he took his coffee, Erdogan answered: ‘’Sadat, like your past President, and he grinned’’. Shishas, water pipes that hubble and bubble, were also available and even Professor Huntington ordered one. Shaykh ‘abd il-Raziq said in Arabic: ‘’do you think he will turn green in the face like the flag of King Fu’ad while he smokes our Mu’assil tobacco’’?

Adham had received a very fine Arabic and Islamic education. He spoke impeccable English and his French was above average. He learnt Italian when he studied opera with the reputed Ettore Cordone at the Conservatoire in Cairo. Adham had been living in Hawaii for decades. When members of the Islamic Centre of Honolulu asked our Mufti/Kahuna where the Qibla, the direction of Mecca, was he replied: ‘’you can pray in any direction you wish’’. What he did not tell was that Honolulu and Makkah were on the same Great Circle. This was not unlike when Rusen preached that the Inuits would never convert to Islam unless and until ignorant ‘Ulama’ understood that these good People of the North could not fast Ramadan, their days being six months long in the summer. Unlike Averroes’ final conclusion that he could not prove through logic that God did or did not exist and that the Cordovan had finally reverted to Faith to settle the question... ‘’am I quoting you right? Yes, retorted ibn Rushd. I chose, continued Adham, to spend my life in the Seven Seas diving for the truth. I found beautiful fishes and corals instead. I used to dance with the sharks instead of the angels. Had I not now been afflicted by this disease which Khawaga Parkinson plagued me with, I would have translated into Arabic for you, gentlemen in robes, Rudolf Carnap’s work in which he formulates the details of logical syntax in philosophical and theological analysis. You see, I have no use for ibn ‘Arabi and al-Farabi, Mawlana Yünüs. al-Zamakhshiri, al-Ghazzali and al-Qurtubi leave me cold, Shaykh ‘Abduh. Pray, tell me, ya Shaykhna, and you, Mahmud, how one can cleanse the mind of our Nation from the nonsense that has lingered in their heads since Pharaoh’s times’’. Mahmud was an educator like Hasan al-Banna. He believed Egyptians would soon be drawn out of their ignorance. But Egypt and Islam had suffered from the colonial experience and the Ikhwan now intended to complete the process of decolonisation of the Egyptian mind. Egypt was part and parcel of the new world. It could best participate once its fundamental values were rehabilitated. And, creating a modern, twenty first century, Islamic society was, according to him, the soundest avenue open to Egyptians. Shaykh ‘Abduh then recited: ‘’Qalat al-A’rabu Amanna Qull lahum la Taqulu Amanna bal Qulu Aslamna wa lamm yadkhulu al-Imanu fi Qulubikum wa in Tuti’u Allah wa al-Rasul fa lan Yaltikum ‘alyakum Shay’an: submitting to the laws of God counts more than believing in Him.

I have devoted my latest readings, continued Adham, to Edward Gibbon’s The Decline of the Roman Empire and to the Scientific American Magazine instead of attempting to understand the purpose of God. But you can dive and be a Mu’min, a Believer, my son, said ibn Khaldun. Look at how man copes through faith with his reality? ibn Battuta, my contemporary, left us what you call ya Andareh a frescoe of Islam around the world we then knew in our 15^th century. Had he been your contemporary, he would have visited Europe, Canada, America and Australia and spoken about Muslims there. It will startle you to learn that, in the Greater Atlas Mountains, the Imazig who are Muslims eat wild boar, wild pig that is, and justify it on the basis of the verse Wa Hulla ‘alaykum Sayda al-Barri wa-l Bahri. Even under water, ya ibni ya Adham, you will find verses of the Qur’an addressing you’’.

But Hassan had other concerns over the Coranic text. ‘’While the Qur’an remained sacred and was revealed by Allah to his Prophet verbally, it is in its written form that we heed its meaning. Hassan quoted: Huwa l-ladhi Anzala ‘alayka al-Kitaba... He it is who Revealed the Book to thee; some of its verses are decisive – they are the basis of the Book – and others are allegorical. Then those in whose hearts is perversity follow the part of it which is allegorical, seeking to mislead, and seeking to give it their own interpretation. And the verse continues: and none knows its interpretation safe Allah, and those firmly rooted in Knowledge... Hassan paused and stared at the present ‘Ulama’: ‘’knowledge of Arabic, of Hebrew, of Aramean and Nabatean, if we claim to understand every word the Qur’an utilises, and knowledge of the Sciences of course? How many in the Madrasahs have acquired such knowledge and how can any ‘Alim, let alone simple minded Salafi, claim to know which Path was devised by the Creator for us to follow’’?

The supporting staff had been clearing the grounds of water pipes and empty coffee cups and I could notice them discreetly gulp the left-over of alcohol from glasses and bottles. I knew General Hasan hated the English but favoured British military decorum. Already the Sofragiyyah were bringing clean glasses, bottles of Coca Cola, Scotch Whiskey and ice cubes. I could not drink any longer. The Churchill brand of cigarettes, the best, was being circulated as well, and I, like everyone else, helped myself to one from the tin box where a Bulldog was drawn on its cover. Yünüs went Aman, Aman, after the first puffs. Rusen bent forward: ‘’Hoca, this is the best of Hashish. It comes from Lubnan’’. General Hasan had, also, invited the Mazziket Hasaballah Ensemble from the neighbourhood of al-Sayyida Zaynab where Mahmud once dwelt and they were instructed to play and sing Egyptian folk tunes and songs but not too loudly. The guests had been moving around and exchanging seats. The Mameluk had his arm around Recep Bey’s shoulder and they both laughed about matters that pertained to the Military. Jamal ed-Din lectured Huntington on the Indian Mutiny of 1857 against the British but the American had fallen asleep on his table napkin and failed to jot down in his notebook that there were as many Islams and interpretations of the Shari’a as there were Muslims.  Edward and May were building barricades in Palestine. And Raja and Hassan were passionately venting their frustration against Hijab and Niqab, the sole emblems, seemingly, of the Islamic State. ‘Ali, meanwhile, had been surrounded by more than a few who laughed while he entertained them with the funny side of Egyptian politics. ‘Ali turned to Mahmud who was helping Adham around and said finally: ‘’Mahmud Bey, in your Ikhwan Constitution, I urge you to indicate that whoever loses his sense of humour will be stripped of his citizenship’’. Everyone laughed heartily while Radwan al-Manfaluti, the one they called il-Mu’allim, sang ‘’Ibki ‘ala illi rah, illi rah wa ma biyet’awwadshi’’ while the Nayy, the Zummara and the Ribabah wept in unison.

Yünüs and ‘abd al-Raziq had withdrawn to the emptied side of the round table and were quietly reciting and chanting their favourite Meccan Surahs from the Coran away from laughter and discussion. First came Surat al-Tin, The Fig: ’’The Fig and the Olive and Mount Sinai and this city made secure. Certainly We created man in the best make, then We render him the lowest except those who believe and do good...’’, to be followed by Surat al-Layl, then Surat al-Inshirah, then Surat al-‘Alaq, and, of course, Surat al-Qadr, the Night: ‘’The night of majesty is better than a thousand months... Laylat ul-Qadar Khayrun min alfi Shahr’’. Suddenly Yünüs hummed on an ancient Anatolian melody ‘’Yünüs ‘Dürür Benim Adim, Bana Seri Gerek Seri, You Are the One I, Yünüs, Crave For’’. He was referring to his creator, of course, in the tradition of the Dervishes of his Halveti Tekke in Konya. Shaykh ‘Ali had not understood yet he recollected the times he accompanied his father, in his village, to the Zawiyyah of the Tariqah Shadhiliyyah to attend their Dhikr. He addressed the Turkish Mystic: ‘’I have always been attracted by this face of Muhammad, our Prophet who brought us Haqiqah. Muhammad the Statesman concerns me less, so I leave Him to Jurists and to Historians’’.

I had looked around. Eighteen pairs of eyes were shining and as many pairs of lips were smiling. I suddenly felt pain on my bottom. Hours seated on an uncomfortable chair? Or, was I being transported into the past and was it that the wooden saddle on my mule caused this inconvenience? I touched my head and my waist to check if I had been wearing the compulsory Qalanswah and Zunnar which the People of the Book were required to wear in medieval times, in Dar ul-Islam. As a Dhimmi, had I paid my Jiziyah poll tax, I wondered? My Canadian passport was in my pocket and I felt more comforted. I continued to draw quietly on my cigarette but my heart was filled with sadness. The River would have drowned in its murky waters both the Moon and Venus by now yet we could not tell as we sat on the West bank of the Nile. The Qadi from Tunis drew me from my state of reverie. ‘’I share your sorrow about the plagues which still haunt Muslims till this day. Such is our fate with the A’rab, the uncouth coarse nomads, or the ignorant masses in our midst. I commiserate over the manner in which Islam and the Shari’a are utilized to keep the people in a state of ignorance. And yet, I have found much change in the city I came to and died in centuries ago. You read my Prolegomena? The Muqaddima argues how change between the barbarian and civilization occurs with the former becoming integrated into the latter barely four generations later. So what if the Muslims miss on your century? They have eternity ahead of them. And, while they take little steps forward, others who are ahead will decline, as mentioned Doktor ‘Ali. I asked: are you telling me, Honourable Qadi, that there is hope for a Reformation in Islam? Of course there is but not everywhere at the same time. It may start amongst your Muslims in Amrika. Just recall what was discussed tonight by both the men and the women around the table. There are as many Islams and as many Shari’as as was demonstrated to us during diner. New interpretations of the Holy Qur’an are constantly in the making. If we bothered to study the manner in which Muslims in the past dealt with their faith in accord with their ancient customs and their immediate needs, then we would understand that Religion has influenced us and we it’’.

‘’But, tell me, ibn Khadun pursued, what did Hassan, the Syrian, mean by Modern Muslims as opposed to Moderate Muslims? Modernity, I replied, came to us from Europe after your time. Modernity stems from Change and Modernists welcome change. The society we live in, in the West, de-sacralised at the same time all matters religious and reduced Faith to part of our daily concerns. Modern Man considers all revealed books as normal books, to be studied as one would any other book. The West has made great strides in the sciences as a result of this mental frame of mind. To modernists in the West, there are no miracles but simple phenomena whose laws are to be discovered by the Scientist. Modernity has also replaced Religion by Humanism. The Human, irrespective of religion, race and gender, became our yardstick. And, as a result, equality between Men and Women, respect for one’s freedoms, and the search for social and political institutions which guarantee these fundamental values have led, in barely four centuries, to our forms of government. Not all is well in the Modern World and we still grope to achieve higher ideals. In the Muslim World today, Recep Erdogan’s country, Turkey is the closest to the modern ideal. His is a Secular State where Religion has no place in Politics and where an elected parliament comprised of lay elected individuals legislates. As for the place of religion, in the West, it fulfills a certain role: its gives peoples solace, contributes to their culture and presents its own definition of morality. Egypt and your country, Tunisia, are the closest to Turkey when it comes to move ahead towards Modernity yet they still fall far behind. These processes both these countries have embarked upon are, I believe, meanwhile irreversible. What I mean is that, take for instance your History of the Berbers. In this previous work you showed how the structures of bedouin society, its cravings and its needs made it react to the societies in the cities. Karl Marx could not have said it better. After all, you are the founder of our science of social history. And, when one today considers the Ikhwan, as we have this evening, we should understand them in their social setting, one that is bound to change and, by the same token, change them. Allahu A’lam, noted ibn Khaldun and, suddenly: but listen, listen...’’

Unexpectedly, out of the nocturnal stillness of the City of a Thousand Minarets, the Adhan, the Call to Prayer, announced the approach of Dawn. Our elderly guests were startled. ‘’The same invitation to prayer comes from many opposing points of the city at the same instant’’. Yes, said Hassan, this is thanks to electronics. Our guests did not understand but, Ma’lish, they had enjoyed that one night of leave from their eternal bliss and, now, they would report back to where they had come from, they as well as Mahmud and Rusen who were to accompany them. They vanished instantly into the direction of the rising sun, behind the Citadel where, we are told, lies another garden, the Garden of Firdaws. Edward did not accompany them as he was to head on his own to his Purgatory in the West. And Huntington took the tortuous trail to Hell. As for us, the living, we were left with the arduous task of climbing down from the high mountain to the Valley of the Shadows. 

AD

End of Egyptian Frescoes (1 to 19) presented in numerical reverse order.