Thursday, Mar 26, 2009
Gulf News
Cairo: Awarding the Arabic Booker Prize to the controversial novel Azazel (Beelzebub) is bound to promote bias against Christianity, according to a Coptic cleric.
"Those responsible for this prize should have been more considerate and sensitive towards the feelings of the Coptic Church and Christians who are dismayed at this novel," Bishop Beshui, a prominent Coptic cleric told Gulf News.
He likened Azazel, written by Egyptian Muslim professor of philosophy Yousuf Zidan, to Indian-born British writer Salman Rushdie's Satanic Verses, which infuriated the Muslim world. "This prize will encourage literature prejudicial to religions," added Beshui.
Zidan was awarded the Arabic Booker for his best-selling novel at a ceremony in Abu Dhabi last week. Funded by the Emirates Foundation, the prize is presented in association with Britain's Booker Prize Foundation.
Since it was published last year, Azazel has been condemned by the Coptic Church as "undermining the tenets" of Christianity.
Azazel refers to the chief of goat-headed demons to whom primitive Semitic tribes offered sacrifices.
The novel, which has appeared in five editions, is set in the Egyptian coastal city of Alexandria in the fifth century when the city experienced a turbulent era of shifting from polytheism to Christianity.
Bishop Beshui said that the Church will soon issue an official comment on the novel. "This comment for which I will be responsible will also refer to the [Booker] prize."
Christians, who are believed to make up 10 per cent of this predominantly Muslim country of 80 million, allege persecution.
The government of President Hosni Mubarak has repeatedly denied that Christians are discriminated against. Muslim-Christian tensions occasionally flare up in Egypt in disputes over land, construction of sites of worship and conversion.
The author of Azazel, who teaches Islamic philosophy at Egypt's University of Alexandria, has denied Copts' accusations that he seeks to undermine their beliefs. "This is my 54th book and I have not imagined it would trigger all this debate," Zidan has said.
According to him, Azazel re-reads history to draw lessons. "The Coptic era is part of Egypt's history, which is not an internal Christian affair," he added.
The award ensures Zidan $60,000 (Dh220,200) in cash prize and a translation of his novel into English.
"The choice was not easy, because of the distinctly high quality of all six short listed novels," said Lebanese literary scholar Youmna Al Eid, who chaired the jury. "The winning novel is highly rich in its own realm. It poses questions about time and faith with implications for the era in which we are living," she added in a citation.
Gulf News 2009. All rights reserved.
