Essays of the Early Mubarak Years

Naguib Mahfouz (1911–2006) was the greatest Arab writer of the twentieth century. Born in the old Islamic Quarter of Cairo in 1911, he began writing when he was seventeen before entering university to study as a student of philosophy in 1930. He is the author of over thirty novels. In 1988 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature.Rasheed El-Enany is the Dean of the School of Social Sciences and Humanities and Professor of Arabic and Comparative Literature at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies. He is also Professor Emeritus of Modern Arabic Literature, University of Exeter, where he became Director of the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies. He has authored several books on Naguib Mahfouz, including Naguib Mahfouz: His Life and Times.Russell Harris holds an MA in Oriental Studies from Balliol College, Oxford, and is an established translator of literary works from French and Arabic. He is a contributor to The Encyclopedia Islamica for the Institute of Ismaili Studies and has written many articles on Middle Eastern art for  international journals and magazines.

• ContentsIntroduction by Rasheed El-Enany xvSubstandard Food in an Age of Discipline 1Defamation of the Country 3Indifference and Education 5The Forbidden Opposition 6Behaviour Appropriate for Our Lives 8The Democracy of Labour 9The Debt Fund 10Lessons from Deceased Leaders 11How Should We Deal with Deviation? 13The People of the Cave Wake Up 14A Small Nation in a World of Giants 16The Task of the Centre 17Withdrawal Celebrations 18After the Withdrawal 20The Army of War and Peace 21On the Issue of Change 22On the Egypt of Tomorrow Conference 23When Will Change Begin? 24Political Activity as the Harbinger of Good 25The Return of Administrative Control 27Opposition Newspapers 28The Bitter Truth 29Towards a New Five-Year Plan 30An Ongoing Period of Trial... and a New Dawn 31The July Revolution 33Ramadan - Should It Be Serious or Fun? 35Who Are We? 36Ten People Who Have Not Received any Good News 37The Youth Also Have a Literary Problem 38The Role of Culture in Our Rebirth 40The Egyptian Path and the Age of Productivity 42The Egyptian Way... and National Mobilisation? 43The Arab Way 45How Can We Confront Life? 47The Value of an Individual and Civilisation 49Democracy and the Ethics of Leadership 50Indifference... and Performance 51Indifference... and the Army 52Social Justice 53The Real Criminal 54Your Voting Slip 55The Giza Drain Told Me... 56The Other Side of the Moon 58Signs of a New Age 60Good Tidings 61Studies of the National Councils 62Welcoming the New Masses 63Making Donations to Pay Off Our Debts 65What a Neutral Ministry Cannot Do 67When Will We Learn the Value of Time? 68A Relative, Not an Absolute, Majority 70What Does Israel Mean? 71The Message of the Conference 73A Return to the Discussion of Debts 75A Stand on Corruption 77The Lesson of Oil 79In What State Has the Festival Returned? 80On the Opposition 82Wielding Some Legal Clout 84About a Higher Aim 85The Desired Wisdom 86The Minister and the Opposition 88The Privilege Disease 89Signs of the Value of the Individual 905 June 92A New Year of Development 94Our Scientific Expertise and Development 95The July Revolution 97We Are Not Unaware of Our Faults... But! 99More Cars 100The Unreasonable War 101Conflict and Civilisation 102The Benchmark of Civilisation 103The Ministry of Wealth 104Looking for the Missing Money 105Censorship 106A New Censorship Law 107Thought and Freedom 1096 October 110The Police in the Service of Democracy 111Television and the Cinema 112The Etiquette and Conventions of Catastrophes 113On the Emergency Law 114What Does Experience Tell Us? 116Arab Considerations 117The Minister of Culture said... 118The Hope That Remains 120A Golden Age of Culture 122The Crisis of Literature 123The State Media and Culture 124Martyrs of the Pen 125The Crisis of Thought 126Between the Cause and the Aim 127A Campaign Guide for the Citizen 129In Defence of the Five-Year Plan and the General Public 131For an Honest Battle 132Catastrophes and Us! 133Towering Intellects 136A Multi-Party System 138The Trust of the People 139On the Generation Argument 140A Serious Campaign in a Serious Period 141The Cause of Art 142A Renewal of Interest 145The Election Campaign and the Revolution 146The Parliament We Are Waiting For 147A New Age 148A Word to Our Youth 150A Word to the Wafd Party 152A Small Nation Among Giants 154The Party Platforms and Our Youth 156Look in Anger at Reality 157Between Culture and Development 158In Defence of Higher Values 161The July Revolution 163The Return of the Giants 165Those without a Sense of Belonging 166Democratic Demands 167The State Radio, Television and Culture 16823 August 171The First Aim 173The Minister of the Interior Begins the Battle 174We Have the Power 175The Media and the New Class 1776 October 1796 October 181Our Lives 182A Good Start 184Support for a Society of Freedom and Justice 185What a Political Party Means 186Decisive Years 187'13 November' 188The National Democratic Party and Culture 190The Ministry and the Festival 192The Majority Party 193Party and Development 194Back to the Electoral Law 196Culture between Criticism and Anger 197Mass Suicide 199The High Dam and the Necessary Conference 200The Nile and the Law 201The Day of the Police 202A Book Display in Every Home 204Execution and Life Imprisonment 205The Case of Dr Ahmed 207The Master of the Cause 208Civilisation and the Holes in the Road 209An Era of Rationalism 211Art and Censorship 213Crime between Punishment and Cure 219The Third Way 221A Frenzied Crime 223A Return to Language 225Blossoms on the Path of Patience 229Our Real Wealth 230The Long-Lasting Case 231A Day of Wisdom 234The Peace Track 236A Wonderful Movement 238Independence in Jungle Life 239The Spectator's Confusion 241The Missing Constitution 242A Revolution and a Lesson 245Rationalising Rationalisation 246An Abstruse Problem 247The Battle of Freedom and Civilisation 249Literature and Politics 250The Opposition between Tradition and Renewal 253Between Awakening and Deviation 25523 August 256The Necessity of Culture 257The Unretouched Picture 258A Cure for All Eras 259The Role of the State 260A Five-Year Plan Which Never Stops 261Can the Reward for Murder Be Anything Other Than Death? 262Towards a New Citizen 264Parliament and the Media 265Between Two Eras 267The Coming Years of Hard Work 268Confrontation without Hesitation 269A Discussion about the Future 270No Love from One Party 272Between Reality and Dream 274Arab Nationalism between Reality and Dream 276Towards a New Arab Unity 278The Truth about Suleiman Khater 279Democracy between the Opposition and the Government 281The Opposition's Message 283The Direction of Democracy 284Crisis... Strengthen and Be Gone! 285A Violent Battle 287The Five Commandments 289Stability, Development and Humankind 291A Soap Opera of Suffering, Sabotage and Arson 293Who Engineered the Events of 25 February? 295Ever in the Service of the People 297Directness between the Government and the Opposition 298Facing the Facts 300Development and Social Peace 302May Day 304Religious Education 306The Most Beautiful of Times 308On the Question of Ethics 3095 June 311Values Fit for All Times and Places 312On the Question of Change 314Why Subsidies... and Why Education? 316Towards an Ethical Plan 317The Present between Anger and Perfection 319The Occasion of the 23 July 1952 Revolution 321We Are Not a Nation without an Aim 323The Role of the People 325Towards the Other Shore 327Democracy Is Wonderful Despite Its Errors 328In Commemoration of the 1919 Revolution 330Good Government 332Our True Wealth 333The National Democratic Party and Our Youth 335Opinion, Experience and Consultation 337One Crisis Should Suffice! 3396 October 341A Day of the People 343The Responsibility of the Majority 344The State and Culture 346Medicine for More than One Disease 348Africa and Internationalism 349A New Government 351Welcome to Parliament 353The Opposition 355Exam Month 357What We Should Remember 358A Conversation in English 360Science in Language Schools 361On the Electoral Law 362Towards a New Ethics and New Traditions 364A New World 365The Islamic Conference 367Another Path to Glory 369It Is People Who Make Civilisation 371A New Era 373Electoral Fraud 375The Festival 377The Constitutionality of the New Parliament 379A Word to the Confused 381What Will Tomorrow Tell Us? 383The Hidden Disease 385The New Parliament 386Public Holiday and Remembrance 388The Human Resources Conference 390The People and the Battle 391The Flood and the Ark 393The Dark Side of the Moon 395Hidden Evil 396Democracy and the Battle 398The Greatest Problem 399Disease Spreads to the Core 400Towards a New Future 401Terrorism and Stability 402A Wise and Just Decision 403A New Five-Year Plan 404The Revolution of 23 July 406Between Suicide and Famine 408The Meaning of Stability 409The Sun Will Rise Again 410In Commemoration of the 1919 Revolution - Again 411Unifying the Two Sectors 413Cultural Hopes 415Terrorism 416Yes 4186 October and the Best of Memories 420And Nothing Is Being Said about Culture 421Axioms of the Revolution 422MPs' Opinions and Their Wishes 423The Desired Awareness 424Anticipated Hopes 426Author, Thinker, Fighter 428Democracy Is a National Programme 430The Fight 431The Modern Age 432Unity Is Our Cornerstone 433The Rule of Law 435A War on Two Fronts 436The Era of Truth and Reality 437Society and the Youth 438A New Year 439Thoughts on the Smuggled Billions 441The Blood of the Revolutionaries 442On Productivity 444The Age of Science and Scientists 446The Map of Our Youth 447The Concerns of Today and Tomorrow 449Political Reform 451War 452Identity and Aim 453Culture and the State 454Towards National Solidarity 456The Long-Awaited Mahdi 457The Confessional 459Political AI DS 460The Road to Peace 462On Religious Education 463The Key to Reform 464Praying for Rain 466Between the Ebb and Flow 467A Naive Question 468Religion in the Modern Age 469Between the Sacred and the Profane 470Between Extinction and Survival 472Egypt's Role 473The Man of the Hour 474The Revolution of 23 July - Again 475A Call to Life 476Remembering the Dead 477The Trust Borne by People 478Behaviour in Hard Times 480Forgotten Honours 481How Do We Face the Enemy? 482Between Confrontation and Flight 483The Explosion 484Dream and Reality 485The Day of Victory and Peace 486A Word Amid All the Hubbub 488Respectable but Criminal 490Climbing Out of the Animal's Jaws 491Culture and Life 492