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RIGHTS-EGYPT: Invoking Religion Against Liberals
By Cam McGrath
CAIRO, Oct 19 (IPS) - Self-appointed guardians of public morality are invoking an ancient instrument
of Islamic jurisprudence against those whose ideas they deem immoral or
heretical - or simply to gain fame.
"We are concerned about the huge rise in the number of hisba cases in recent
years," says Gamal Eid, executive director of the Arabic Network for Human
Rights Information (ANHRI).
Hisba is a lawsuit filed by an individual who volunteers to defend society from
anyone whose words or deeds he considers harmful to Islam. Introduced to
Egypt in the eighth century, this obscure legal instrument empowers Muslims
to hold their fellow citizens, and even the state, accountable for upholding
religious virtue.
Egypt's constitution permits the application of hisba ostensibly to encourage
civic engagement for the public good. Yet rights groups claim that in the
past decade the government has permitted the abuse of hisba legislation to
appease conservative factions and to put pressure on the regime's
opponents.
"About 95 percent of the cases that reach court are against writers, artists
and journalists who are critical of the government," says Eid. "The
consequence is a prevailing atmosphere of fear, where people are afraid to
express their ideas and opinions."
Secular author Sayed El-Qimni, telecom mogul Naguib Sawiris and feminist
writer Nawal El-Saadawi are the latest high-profile targets of hisba lawsuits.
Conservative lawyers and clerics have declared El-Qimni's writing on religion
and mythology blasphemous, and have filed hisba suits calling for the
government to revoke the author's state literary prize and strip him of his
Egyptian nationality.
Sawiris enflamed the wrath of Islamist lawyer Nizar Ghorab when during an
appearance on a television talk show last month he criticised the
constitutional article that makes Sharia (Islamic law) the basis for the
country's legal system. Ghorab accused the Christian businessman of publicly
disparaging Islam, and demanded his imprisonment.
Another lawyer, Nabih El-Wahsh, filed a hisba lawsuit against El-Saadawi
after she founded a civil organisation to promote the separation of state and
religion. He charged her with inciting contempt of Islam, and is seeking a jail
sentence.
It is not the first time that El-Wahsh has invoked hisba against the prominent
feminist. In 2001, he failed in an attempt to have El-Saadawi and her
husband, Sherif Hetata, forcibly divorced on the grounds that he deemed the
secular author to be an atheist. Muslims are forbidden from marrying non-
believers, he told the court.
El-Saadawi has also been named in hisba cases that sought to have her
books banned and citizenship revoked. Despite the barrage of attacks, she
insists there is nothing personal behind them.
"These are mediocre lawyers...sensationalists who have exploited the
situation of the increasing power of Islamic fundamentalism and the
weakening of the government in the face of the powerful Muslim
Brotherhood," she told IPS. "They don't just take me to court, they take
everybody to court."
The problem, she says, is the government's complicity in the legal action
against its most vocal critics. Legislation introduced in 1996 requires that the
public prosecutor alone must decide which cases are referred to the courts.
"The public prosecutor is very selective in that sometimes he refers a case
and sometimes he doesn't," says El-Saadawi. "Clearly he gets a green light
from above. The public prosecutor never refers hisba cases against ministers
or powerful government officials to court, but he always refers cases of
thinkers and writers who are critical of the government, like myself."
There are no official figures on the number of hisba lawsuits filed each year,
but rights groups are certain the number is growing. ANHRI's legal
department documented over 600 hisba cases last year before losing count.
"We hear about the famous cases, but there are hundreds more besides these,
consuming the effort of judges," says Eid.
A handful of conservative lawyers and clerics are responsible for the majority
of hisba lawsuits. Some have made careers out of it.
El-Wahsh has filed more than 1,000 hisba cases over the past decade. Other
lawyers have risen to prominence by taking high-profile free thinkers to
court.
"It doesn't cost a penny to file a hisba case, and when you file one against
someone famous for sure you'll be interviewed and appear on TV," Eid says.
"These lawyers earn money from this fame, so some of them are filing over
200 cases a year. They know the court will refuse most of them, but it's good
propaganda." (END/2009)
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