A proposal by the Egyptian National Theatre to produce a cultural evening that presents the biography of the life of late Muslim scholar Muhammad Metwally Al-Shaarawi, during the fasting month of Ramadan, raised much controversy this week.
The production of the evening was announced during a press conference to highlight the artistic house plan for the theater during the coming period.
The production of Al-Shaarawi evening was mentioned as part of the National Theater plan to launch cultural and artistic evenings under the slogan of “The Biography”.
Farida al-Shubashi, a member of the Egyptian Parliament, submitted a request for a briefing in the Parliament, refusing the production of a work on al-Shaarawy, justifying this by saying that he “prayed thanking God for Egypt’s defeat in the 1967 war”.
In previous statements, late Al-Shaarawi said, “I prostrated to God when I learned of the setback in 1967.”
“I was happy because we did not win in 1967 while we were supporting communism because if we had won, we would have been afflicted with sedition in our religion.”
Minister of Culture Nevine Al-Kilani said that the proposal had not been approved yet and that it would be submitted to a committee for review.
Al-Shaarawi died in 1998, and during his life he became famous for presenting an interpretation of the meanings of the Qur’an in a simplified way, until he became one of the most famous scholars in Egypt and the Arab world.
On social media, users expressed mixed views about the proposal.
“I was brought up on the hadiths of #Sheikh_Shaarawi on Friday prayers before Iftar in Ramadan. His interpretation of the Qur’an settled in my heart after my mind understood it, and may God enlighten his grave as he enlightened our minds with his interpretation of the Holy Qur’an,” Thanaa tweeted.
تربيت على أحاديث #الشيخ_الشعراوي يوم الجمعة قبل الإفطار في رمضان.تفسيره للقرآن أستقر بقلبي بعد أن تفهمه عقلى وربنا ينور قبره كما أنار عقولنا بتفسيره للقرآن الكريم.هذه قناعتي وتشويه للشيخ الجليل لن يقلل من علمه الذي نفع الناس به لم يحرض على معصية أو قتل كما فعلها كبيرهم القرداوي https://t.co/sVe2wjiRmV
— Thanaa 𓍿𓈖𓄿𓄿 🇪🇬Adam 𓄿𓂧𓅓 (@Thanaa0516) January 5, 2023
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