One result of being brought up within a totalitarian system, and perhaps the most difficult thing to overcome later in life, is the influence authority has on one’s reasoning. For the ruled masses, authority not only represents power, but also a frame of reference for their thinking.
In Egypt, the top two widely circulated newspapers are part of the public sector and their chief editors are directly appointed by the highest levels in the government. The implications of these publicly known facts never seem to be pondered about by the public. For the majority of Egyptians, these newspapers are the main and daily source of information about their country and their world.
Another example is that of Al-Azhar, the largest Islamic institution and university in Egypt and the Middle East. According to a law that has been passed in 1985, Al-Azhar watches over all published and broadcasted religious material within Egypt, and has the power to sensor whatever it considers to be blasphemous. However, its power has been exercised long before this date and its outreach extends to artistic material that touches on religion in any way, shape or form.
One famous case is that of “Children of the Alley”, one of the most notable works by Egyptian Nobel laureate Nageeb Mahfooz. The novel, which, on some level, recounts the history of the major religions of the world in a symbolic way, has been banned from publication within Egypt by Al-Azhar for more than four decades. The ban, coining the novel as blasphemous, contributed to the reputation of Mahfooz as being an apostate, and thus indirectly contributed to Mahfooz being stabbed in the neck by an Islamic fundamentalist in 1994.
This clearly is a powerful institution that shapes people’s religious convictions, and consequently their actions, and its head is appointed by the government and the institute itself is funded by the state. The same goes for the position of Al-Mufti. This is the man who is mainly responsible for telling people what is good and what is evil according to Islamic law. This is the guy who draws you the path to heaven, yet his official title is Al-Mufti of the Republic.
