The Early Mubarak Years 1982–1988

The Non-Fiction Writing of Naguib Mahfouz, Volume III

Naguib Mahfouz, Russell Harris

• Publisher: Gingko
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN: 9781909942110
• eBook ISBN: 9781909942127
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Middle Eastern History
• Index: History

In these essays Naguib Mahfouz comments on Egyptian politics, the role of Parliament, and the institutional changes that took place in Egypt after Honsi Mubarak became President in 1981. 

First English edition published in 2020 by
Gingko
4 Molasses Row
London SW11 3UX

Originally published in the Arabic by Al Dar Al Masriah Al Lubnaniah
Copyright © 2015 Al Dar Al Masriah Al Lubnaniah, Cairo

Introduction copyright © 2020 Rasheed El-Enany
English translation copyright © 2020 Russell Harris
All rights reserved.

A CIP catalogue record for the book is available from the British Library.

All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, no part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the publisher.

ISBN: 978-1-909942-11-0
eISBN: 978-1-909942-12-7

Typeset in Optima by Macguru Ltd

Printed in the united Kingdom

www.gingko.org.uk
@GingkoLibrary

Contents

Introduction by Rasheed El-Enany

Substandard Food in an Age of Discipline

Defamation of the Country

Indifference and Education

The Forbidden Opposition

Behaviour Appropriate for Our Lives

The Democracy of Labour

The Debt Fund

Lessons from Deceased Leaders

How Should We Deal with Deviation?

The People of the Cave Wake Up

A Small Nation in a World of Giants

The Task of the Centre

Withdrawal Celebrations

After the Withdrawal

The Army of War and Peace

On the Issue of Change

On the Egypt of Tomorrow Conference

When Will Change Begin?

Political Activity as the Harbinger of Good

The Return of Administrative Control

Opposition Newspapers

The Bitter Truth

Towards a New Five-Year Plan

An Ongoing Period of Trial… and a New Dawn

The July Revolution

Ramadan – Should It Be Serious or Fun?

Who Are We?

Ten People Who Have Not Received any Good News

The Youth Also Have a Literary Problem

The Role of Culture in Our Rebirth

The Egyptian Path and the Age of Productivity...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Halftitle Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Introduction by Rasheed El-Enany
• Substandard Food in an Age of Discipline
• Defamation of the Country
• Indifference and Education
• The Forbidden Opposition
• Behaviour Appropriate for Our Lives
• The Democracy of Labour
• The Debt Fund
• Lessons from Deceased Leaders
• How Should We Deal with Deviation?
• The People of the Cave Wake Up
• A Small Nation in a World of Giants
• The Task of the Centre
• Withdrawal Celebrations
• After the Withdrawal
• The Army of War and Peace
• On the Issue of Change
• On the Egypt of Tomorrow Conference
• When Will Change Begin?
• Political Activity as the Harbinger of Good
• The Return of Administrative Control
• Opposition Newspapers
• The Bitter Truth
• Towards a New Five-Year Plan
• An Ongoing Period of Trial… and a New Dawn
• The July Revolution
• Ramadan – Should It Be Serious or Fun?
• Who Are We?
• Ten People Who Have Not Received any Good News
• The Youth Also Have a Literary Problem
• The Role of Culture in Our Rebirth
• The Egyptian Path and the Age of Productivity
• The Egyptian Way… and National Mobilisation?
• The Arab Way
• How Can We Confront Life?
• The Value of an Individual and Civilisation
• Democracy and the Ethics of Leadership
• Indifference… and Performance
• Indifference… and the Army
• Social Justice
• The Real Criminal
• Your Voting Slip
• The Giza Drain Told Me…
• The Other Side of the Moon
• Signs of a New Age
• Good Tidings
• Studies of the National Councils
• Welcoming the New Masses
• Making Donations to Pay Off Our Debts
• What a Neutral Ministry Cannot Do
• When Will We Learn the Value of Time?
• A Relative, Not an Absolute, Majority
• What Does Israel Mean?
• The Message of the Conference
• A Return to the Discussion of Debts
• A Stand on Corruption
• The Lesson of Oil
• In What State Has the Festival Returned?
• On the Opposition
• Wielding Some Legal Clout
• About a Higher Aim
• The Desired Wisdom
• The Minister and the Opposition
• The Privilege Disease
• Signs of the Value of the Individual
• 5 June
• A New Year of Development
• Our Scientific Expertise and Development
• The July Revolution
• We Are Not Unaware of Our Faults… But!
• More Cars
• The Unreasonable War
• Conflict and Civilisation
• The Benchmark of Civilisation
• The Ministry of Wealth
• Looking for the Missing Money
• Censorship
• A New Censorship Law
• Thought and Freedom
• 6 October
• The Police in the Service of Democracy
• Television and the Cinema
• The Etiquette and Conventions of Catastrophes
• On the Emergency Law
• What Does Experience Tell Us?
• Arab Considerations
• The Minister of Culture Said…
• The Hope That Remains
• A Golden Age of Culture
• The Crisis of Literature
• The State Media and Culture
• Martyrs of the Pen
• The Crisis of Thought
• Between the Cause and the Aim
• A Campaign Guide for the Citizen
• In Defence of the Five-Year Plan and the General Public
• For an Honest Battle
• Catastrophes and Us!
• Towering Intellects
• A Multi-Party System
• The Trust of the People
• On the Generation Argument
• A Serious Campaign in a Serious Period
• The Cause of Art
• A Renewal of Interest
• The Election Campaign and the Revolution
• The Parliament We Are Waiting For
• A New Age
• A Word to Our Youth
• A Word to the Wafd Party
• A Small Nation Among Giants
• The Party Platforms and Our Youth
• Look in Anger at Reality
• Between Culture and Development
• In Defence of Higher Values
• The July Revolution
• The Return of the Giants
• Those without a Sense of Belonging
• Democratic Demands
• The State Radio, Television and Culture
• 23 August
• The First Aim
• The Minister of the Interior Begins the Battle
• We Have the Power
• The Media and the New Class
• 6 October
• 6 October
• Our Lives
• A Good Start
• Support for a Society of Freedom and Justice
• What a Political Party Means
• Decisive Years
• ‘13 November’
• The National Democratic Party and Culture
• The Ministry and the Festival
• The Majority Party
• Party and Development
• Back to the Electoral Law
• Culture between Criticism and Anger
• Mass Suicide
• The High Dam and the Necessary Conference
• The Nile and the Law
• The Day of the Police
• A Book Display in Every Home
• Execution and Life Imprisonment
• The Case of Dr Ahmed
• The Master of the Cause
• Civilisation and the Holes in the Road
• An Era of Rationalism
• Art and Censorship
• Crime between Punishment and Cure
• The Third Way
• A Frenzied Crime
• A Return to Language
• Blossoms on the Path of Patience
• Our Real Wealth
• The Long-Lasting Case
• A Day of Wisdom
• The Peace Track
• A Wonderful Movement
• Independence in Jungle Life
• The Spectator’s Confusion
• The Missing Constitution
• A Revolution and a Lesson
• Rationalising Rationalisation
• An Abstruse Problem
• The Battle of Freedom and Civilisation
• Literature and Politics
• The Opposition between Tradition and Renewal
• Between Awakening and Deviation
• 23 August
• The Necessity of Culture
• The Unretouched Picture
• A Cure for All Eras
• The Role of the State
• A Five-Year Plan Which Never Stops
• Can the Reward for Murder Be Anything Other Than Death?
• Towards a New Citizen
• Parliament and the Media
• Between Two Eras
• The Coming Years of Hard Work
• Confrontation without Hesitation
• A Discussion about the Future
• No Love from One Party
• Between Reality and Dream
• Arab Nationalism between Reality and Dream
• Towards a New Arab Unity
• The Truth about Suleiman Khater
• Democracy between the Opposition and the Government
• The Opposition’s Message
• The Direction of Democracy
• Crisis… Strengthen and Be Gone!
• A Violent Battle
• The Five Commandments
• Stability, Development and Humankind
• A Soap Opera of Suffering, Sabotage and Arson
• Who Engineered the Events of 25 February?
• Ever in the Service of the People
• Directness between the Government and the Opposition
• Facing the Facts
• Development and Social Peace
• May Day
• Religious Education
• The Most Beautiful of Times
• On the Question of Ethics
• 5 June
• Values Fit for All Times and Places
• On the Question of Change
• Why Subsidies… and Why Education?
• Towards an Ethical Plan
• The Present between Anger and Perfection
• The Occasion of the 23 July 1952 Revolution
• We Are Not a Nation without an Aim
• The Role of the People
• Towards the Other Shore
• Democracy Is Wonderful Despite Its Errors
• In Commemoration of the 1919 Revolution
• Good Government
• Our True Wealth
• The National Democratic Party and Our Youth
• Opinion, Experience and Consultation
• One Crisis Should Suffice!
• 6 October
• A Day of the People
• The Responsibility of the Majority
• The State and Culture
• Medicine for More than One Disease
• Africa and Internationalism
• A New Government
• Welcome to Parliament
• The Opposition
• Exam Month
• What We Should Remember
• A Conversation in English
• Science in Language Schools
• On the Electoral Law
• Towards a New Ethics and New Traditions
• A New World
• The Islamic Conference
• Another Path to Glory
• It Is People Who Make Civilisation
• A New Era
• Electoral Fraud
• The Festival
• The Constitutionality of the New Parliament
• A Word to the Confused
• What Will Tomorrow Tell Us?
• The Hidden Disease
• The New Parliament
• Public Holiday and Remembrance
• The Human Resources Conference
• The People and the Battle
• The Flood and the Ark
• The Dark Side of the Moon
• Hidden Evil
• Democracy and the Battle
• The Greatest Problem
• Disease Spreads to the Core
• Towards a New Future
• Terrorism and Stability
• A Wise and Just Decision
• A New Five-Year Plan
• The Revolution of 23 July
• Between Suicide and Famine
• The Meaning of Stability
• The Sun Will Rise Again
• In Commemoration of the 1919 Revolution – Again
• Unifying the Two Sectors
• Cultural Hopes
• Terrorism
• Yes
• 6 October and the Best of Memories
• And Nothing Is Being Said about Culture
• Axioms of the Revolution
• MPs’ Opinions and Their Wishes
• The Desired Awareness
• Anticipated Hopes
• Author, Thinker, Fighter
• Democracy Is a National Programme
• The Fight
• The Modern Age
• Unity Is Our Cornerstone
• The Rule of Law
• A War on Two Fronts
• The Era of Truth and Reality
• Society and the Youth
• A New Year
• Thoughts on the Smuggled Billions
• The Blood of the Revolutionaries
• On Productivity
• The Age of Science and Scientists
• The Map of Our Youth
• The Concerns of Today and Tomorrow
• Political Reform
• War
• Identity and Aim
• Culture and the State
• Towards National Solidarity
• The Long-Awaited Mahdi
• The Confessional
• Political AIDS
• The Road to Peace
• On Religious Education
• The Key to Reform
• Praying for Rain
• Between the Ebb and Flow
• A Naïve Question
• Religion in the Modern Age
• Between the Sacred and the Profane
• Between Extinction and Survival
• Egypt’s Role
• The Man of the Hour
• The Revolution of 23 July – Again
• A Call to Life
• Remembering the Dead
• The Trust Borne by People
• Behaviour in Hard Times
• Forgotten Honours
• How Do We Face the Enemy?
• Between Confrontation and Flight
• The Explosion
• Dream and Reality
• The Day of Victory and Peace
• A Word Amid All the Hubbub
• Respectable but Criminal
• Climbing Out of the Animal’s Jaws
• Culture and Life