NAGUIB MAHFOUZ AND ISLAM

An Analysis of some novels

BY

C. NIJLAND

Leiden

Naguib Mahfouz is probably the best known and most celebrated modem author in Egypt and in the Arabic speaking countries of the Middle East. His literary production comprises more than forty titles, the majority of which are novels and novelettes and there are eleven volumes of short stories among his works. He was born in 1911 in Cairo and he studied philosophy at the University of Cairo from 1930-1934 where he stayed a further four years to prepare a M.A. thesis on Aesthetics. In 1938 he left the University, became a civil servant and published his first collection of short stories. He remained in the civil service since that time until he was pensioned a few years ago. His work has been the subject of many studies most of which appeared in Egypt and Lebanon. The best known non-Arabic publication on his works is Sasson Somekh's The Changing Rhythm-A Study of Najib Mahfuz's Novels, published in 1973,1 which discusses the works published up till 1966 inclusive or twenty-one titles in all. Two works in Arabic should also be mentioned because of their emphasis on things spiritual. The first is Ghdli Shukri, al-Muntami. Dirdsdt fi Adah Nagib Mahfuz, published in Cairo, 1964. Al-Muntami means something like "The Engaged One", and the book deals with the aspect of social engagement, which again in the works of Naguib Mahfouz is not without religious connections. The second work is Dr. Muhammad Hasan Äbdalläh's Al-Islämiyya wa al-Ruhiyya fi Adah Nagib Mahfuz, Kuwayt, 1972 which translates as "Things Islamic and Spiritual in the Literature of Naguib Mahfouz". This book, however, is rather an apology for

For bibliographicaldetails on this and other titles see the bibliography. 137

Naguib Mahfouz in the sense that the author defends him against accusations of irreverence and godlessness. It is not, if I may say so, a model of objectivity. Turning to the subject proper of this paper, I should like to say that quite a few novels by Naguib Mahfouz are set in the medieval Islamic city of Cairo and there in the surroundings of the Husayn Mosque. The daily speech of the inhabitants of this part of Cairo is coloured by Islam and this aspect is well captured in the novels. It would be worthwhile, perhaps, to make a count of these expressions both according to their variety and to their absolute numbers, but I do think that there are more interesting options for research. The occurrence of the expressions is not so over-abundant as to tire the reader. References to places of worship, prayers, fasts, shaykhs, imams, muezzins are scarce with the trilogy as a notable exception. The expressions and the references, however, are not the subject of this paper. What I should like to discuss is the argument about religion, as it occurs is some novels, such as al-Qdhira al-Gadida (Heliopolis), 1945; Khan al-Khalili (a famous trade-quarter of Cairo), 1946; the Trilogy (1956-1957); Awläd Haritna (Translated into English as : Children of Gebelawi), serialized in the newspaper al-Ahrdm in 1959 and printed in Beirut, 1967; and Malhamat al-ljaräfish (The Epos of the Rabble), 1977. My second line of interest is to know exactly who says what. Is it one of the main characters who is speaking, or is it one of the fringe characters, or is it the narrator? It will not be easy to decide if one of the characters is saying things about himself in a sort of monologue interieur, using even the third person singular to denote him- or herself, or if it is the narrator. It is important to define the roles exactly to obtain a clear picture of each discussion quoted. Al-Qähira al-Gadida a suburb of Cairo also known as Heliopolis, is the name of the first novel to be discussed. It opens with the story of three students living together in one building on the same floor. One of them is a devout believer, the second is a convert to materialism with Hegel, Ostwald, Mach and Comte as his most admired philosophers, and the third is a sceptic who does not care for beliefs, ideals, values. This third student is the main character of the novel. He eventually lands in a situation which demands a greater amount of scepticism than he is able to provide, but his story does not concern us here. A prominent role in this novel is played by the narrator, who comments freely on the