I have two points to tackle in today’s
article… the first is quick; that is I’m trying to detect – with the eye of a
historian – factors behind hope diminishing … that hope we all had and went
into the streets in masses for it… we also underwent fierce battles of ideas with
its enemies, atop of them is muslim brotherhood… those battles that took place
on this page of Al Ahram and were considered radical and fierce indeed.
It’s the hope of having strong
balanced cohesive modern Egypt… Egypt that is influential in its geographical environment
and that is backed by its strong national army.
I know every worldly phenomenon is
subject to the universe laws… it grows, flourishes, matures and diminishes… but
there are some phenomena that are inflicted with what make them prone to
diminish, either directly or little after they flourish… while other phenomena
flourish and once they start to mature, they diminish and come to an end.
Long ago, we were taught that
phenomena include their diminishing factors within them… and unless their
immune system is strong and capable of tackling those factors, they will age…
so the question is: have we noticed that our national hope is starting to
diminish?... is it possible that those diminishing factors have started to act
early?... and is it true that our immune system is showing weak response in combating
such factors?
I’m afraid I might be hasty and say
yes… but maybe it’s my overestimated fear of other factors of social, thought
and cultural decline that are taking hold of our country… also, maybe it’s due
to the ferocity of those destructive powers adopting such factors and applying
them on our reality until they reached to the degree of using armed violence to
apply their twisted ideology…
Those powers encompass multiple
factions including muslim brotherhood and those who have their retrogressive
and behavioral genes… also, a small group of those supposed to be leftist…
others supposed to be liberal… and others nihilist… this is in case we want to
categorize them politically and ideologically.
There is also another big factor; that
is the corruption spread in the state institutions, whether productive ones or others
providing services like education, health… etc. and the inefficiency in
performance we all witness… if we put all those factors together, we’d realize
we are not exaggerating about that fear… we will also realize that those
factors of corrosion and diminishing are present and active.
What is really burdening in this
regard is that this hope we are talking about has not yet reached the phase of
possessing its own mechanism to fight; that is a solid concept all people who
sought that hope would gather around it… those who contributed to the battle
against decline and terrorism… it’s well known that a solid concept must exist for
cohesion to take place… this was a quick review that we may later detail in
other article.
As to the second point of today’s
article, it’s a continuation of what I wrote in my last article about Ibn
Taymmiya and his Fatwas that if applied, would consider us all heretics…
a week ago, I read an article written by ash-Sheikh al-Qusi stating that Ibn
Taymmiya has renounced many of his Fatwas and interpretations of
religion … and in doing so, he became more balanced ideologically… I wished the
writer would have mentioned the sources and references that include that
renounce of Ibn Taymmiya… so that others interested at revising, renovating and
revolutionizing Dawaa discourse – called religious discourse by others –
would know about it.
In this regard, I’d like to write
about the beautiful play presented on the national theater starring my friend
and brother, artist Ali el-Haggar, directed by my brother and friend, director
Essam es-Sayied and co-starred by a bunch of reputable actors.
The play tells the biography of Rifa'a Rafe’a al-Tahtawi
and his role in renovating the Egyptian mentality… also, the circumstances surrounding
him when he grew up, was educated, travelled, worked, suffered, wrote books and
fought battles… this play is considered an important contribution to the process
of revising, renovating and revolutionizing Dawaa discourse… the process that
was evident to be… especially after the attention paid by president Sisi for it…
for the sake of our nation and the coming generations.
My friend artist and director Essam
es-Sayied drew my attention to the necessity that this show shall be followed
by a series of other enlightening shows… and suggested the next one be about
Ahmed Ibn Taymmiya… I discovered that my friend is following what I and others
write and that he points to what was written by Mr. Abdel-Rahman ash-Sharqawi
about Ibn Taymmiya revising his extremist ideas.
Then I found ash-Sheikh al-Qusi
confirming this information… and so I think my friend and artist Essam meant to
write a script telling the biography of Ibn Taymmiya and his life … also the
circumstances that led to his extremism… and others that led him to renounce
his previous thoughts… a script to be produced in a theatrical play in a way
that enable people to understand it.
Although, I doubt those extremists and
hardliners are willing to accept the concept of having a theater in the first
place… no one would know what would have happened to Egypt’s theaters, cinemas,
arts and literature if they were to continue in power.
Translated into English by: Dalia Elnaggar
Translated into English by: Dalia Elnaggar
This article was published in Al Ahram
newspaper on January 29, 2015.
To see the original article, go to:
#alahram #ahmed_elgammal #ibn_taymmiya
#dawaa_discourse
No comments:
Post a Comment