Egyptian film draws audiences and controversy

The Egyptian film Mawlana (our preacher) is drawing large audiences and criticism from Sunni Muslim leaders, some of whom argue that the box office hit should be banned. Set during the rule of Hosni Mubarak, the film follows the life of Shaykh Hatem, a cleric from al-Azhar, Cairo's 1,000 year old center of Islamic learning who becomes a popular televangelist with millions of followers.

At issue for religious leaders is the portrayal of Hatem who increasingly subordinates his sense of morality to the cynical and sometimes corrupt dictates of senior state officials before ultimately having a change of heart. The film touches on some particularly fraught issues for Egypt including the complicated relationship between the state, the religious establishment, and “extremism” and sectarian tensions (the film climaxes with the bombing of a Christian church by Islam radical; which had its real life parallel in the suicide bombing of the Coptic Cathedral in Cairo the day after the film opened). The film's opponents contend that it tarnishes the reputation of thousands of Egypt’s clerics who work within the official religious establishment.

The film is based on the book of the same name by journalist Ibrahim Issa.
Here is the cover of the English translation

"Works that address religious texts should be reviewed by religious institutions before being made into films," Shoukri el-Guindi, a member of the parliament's Religious Affairs Committee, wrote on Facebook. "Inside these institutions, there are wise people who love their religion and their homeland, not ones who only follow their personal interests." He said religious scholars should not be turned into film characters and that their sanctity must be respected, asking, "Will the public follow these religious scholars if they are portrayed as lustful figures … and hypocrites?"

The controversy has both a present and historical context. The Egyptian state has a long record of tolerating or co-opting particular religious groups or expressions of piety and suppressing others to bolster its own power and legitimacy. In 1954 president Gamal ‘Abdel Nasser outlawed the Muslim Brotherhood, then one of the most powerful political parties in Egypt. In the early 1960s, he brought al-Azhar, one of the oldest and most important universities for the training of religious professionals under state control. Turning away from the secular, Arab Socialist orientation of his predecessor, Anwar Sadat used appeals to religion and eased restrictions on the Brotherhood and other Islamist groups as a counterweight to secular opposition. Sadat’s successor, Hosni Mubarak, further politicized religion and increased state control over both Muslim and Christian institutions.


Egypt’s current president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, a former army chief, overthrew the Muslim Brotherhood government in 2013 and is still battling radical Islamists. The Brotherhood was declared a terrorist organization and Egyptian courts have jailed thousands of its followers. al-Sisi has assigned al-Azhar a primary role in promoting a “more moderate” Islam. Who speaks for Islam? How do questions of faith and identity become politicized and contested between various groups? What role does the state play in determining what is appropriate and inappropriate thought and behavior for individual citizens. These are questions we will continue to explore over the course of the semester.

Laura Bier

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IaKxXC5sgg (Subtitled trailer)

http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2017/01/egypt-film-controversy-religious-scholars-mawlana.html#ixzz4WiaquMFw

http://www.madamasr.com/en/2017/01/15/feature/culture/three-takes-on-mawlana-a-timely-film-that-plays-it-safe/

http://www.dailynewsegypt.com/2017/01/10/609515/