Greek Community of Alexandria

Tag: Religion

  • Egyptian artist hopes for record with 700-meter Koran

    Egyptian artist hopes for record with 700-meter Koran

    An Egyptian artist who educated himself after dropping out of school has spent three years creating what he hopes is the world’s biggest Koran.

    Saad Mohammed, who has hand-painted Islamic motifs on the walls and ceilings of his home in the town of Belqina, north of Cairo, has reproduced the Muslim holy book on a paper scroll 700 meters long.

    He displays the intricately decorated manuscript in a large wooden box with rollers at each end.

    “This Koran is 700 meters long, and of course that’s a large amount of paper,” he told Reuters Television. “I self-funded this project for the past three years – and I’m an average person. I don’t have assets or anything.”

    Mohammed wants to submit his Koran for inclusion in Guinness World Records. Guinness says that while there is a record for the world’s biggest printed Koran, there is so far no record holder for the largest handwritten version.

    Mohammed says he is hoping for help with the costs of applying to Guinness from the government or any other interested party.

    (www.reuters.com)

  • Jesus’s tomb unveiled after $4m restoration

    Jesus’s tomb unveiled after $4m restoration

    The restored tomb in which Jesus’s body is believed to have been interred after his crucifixion will be officially unveiled at a ceremony at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem’s Old City on Wednesday.

    A team of Greek scientists and restorers has completed the nine-month renovation project, which focused on a small structure above the burial chamber, known as the Edicule. It is the most sacred monument in Christianity.

    “If the intervention hadn’t happened now, there is a very great risk that there could have been a collapse,” Bonnie Burnham of the World Monuments Fund, which had oversight of the project, told Associated Press. “This is a complete transformation of the monument.”

    The delicate restoration was carried out by a team of about 50 experts from the National Technical University of Athens, which had previously worked on the Acropolis in the Greek capital and the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul. The conservators worked mainly at night in order to allow pilgrims continued access to the shrine.

    In October, a marble slab covering the rock-carved tomb was lifted for the first time in more than two centuries, allowing restoration workers to examine the original rock shelf or “burial bed” on which Jesus’s body is thought to have rested. A small window has been cut into marble slabs to allow pilgrims a glimpse of the rock.

    The team also repaired and stabilised the shrine with titanium bolts and mortar, and cleaned thick layers of candle soot and pigeon droppings. The work involved the use of radar, laser scanners and drones.

    Wednesday’s ceremony to mark the completion of the restoration will be in the presence of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, the spiritual leader of the world’s Orthodox Christians, and a representative of Pope Francis.

    The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, in the heart of the Christian quarter of the walled Old City, covers the assumed site of Jesus’s crucifixion, burial and resurrection. It is a huge attraction for pilgrims and tourists from all over the world, many weeping and clutching precious mementos or photographs of loved ones and forming long queues for the shrine.

    Six denominations – Latin (Roman Catholic), Greek Orthodox, Armenian Apostolic, Syrian Orthodox, Ethiopian Orthodox and Copts – share custodianship of the cavernous church. Bitter disputes over territories and responsibilities have erupted in the past, sometimes involving physical altercations. Disputes between the denominations have held up restoration work for decades.

    In a sign of the distrust between the different denominations, the keys to the church have been held by a Muslim family since the 12th century.

    The shrine has been rebuilt four times in its history, most recently in 1810 after a fire. The structure had been held in place for almost 70 years by iron girders erected on the instructions of a British governor who ruled Palestine in the Mandate era. They have now been removed.

    The $4m (£3.2m) cost of the restoration came from contributions from the six denominations which share custody of the church, King Abdullah of Jordan, the Palestinian Authority, and Mica Ertegun, the widow of Atlantic Records co-founder Ahmet Ertegun, who gave $1.3m.

    (www.theguardian.com)

  • Critical film unnerves Egypt’s religious scholars

    Critical film unnerves Egypt’s religious scholars

    Egypt’s religious scholars are up in arms over a new film that takes on the nation’s sheikhs and mosque preachers.

    The film, called “Mawlana” (“Preacher”), has been screened at cinemas nationwide since Jan. 4. It has stirred up controversy among Islamic scholars who accuse its makers of tarnishing their reputation and call for it to be pulled from theaters.

    “Works that address religious texts should be reviewed by religious institutions before being made into films,”Shoukri el-Guindi, a member of the parliament’s Religious Affairs Committee, wrote on Facebook. “Inside these institutions, there are wise people who love their religion and their homeland, not ones who only follow their personal interests.”

    He said religious scholars should not be turned into film characters and that their sanctity must be respected, asking, “Will the public follow these religious scholars if they are portrayed as lustful figures … and hypocrites?”

    Starring Amr Saad and Dorra Zarrouk, the film tells the story of a mosque imam who becomes a celebrity TV host who issues fatwas followed by millions of people. The imam receives questions from his viewers during the show and then answers them in an eloquent but sarcastic manner. He ridicules a number of the fatwas issued in real life by a large number of Egypt’s Salafist preachers, especially during the yearlong rule of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi.

    The filmmakers say it tells the story of Egypt’s 120,000 mosque imams. The work is based on a novel written by Ibrahim Essa, a journalist and TV host who recently ran afoul of the government for his continual criticism. The novel, also called “Mawlana,” was shortlisted for the International Prize for Arabic Fiction, the “Arabic Booker,” in 2012.

    The film is being screened at more than 60 movie theaters across Egypt. So far, it has taken in 6 million Egyptian pounds ($318,000).

    However, some people say the film aims to strip reverence and respect from Islamic scholars.

    “It is made with the sole aim of removing this reverence and respect from the scholars of Al-Azhar,” Mansour Mandour, a senior official from the Religious Endowments Ministry, which controls the nation’s mosques, wrote on Facebook. Nonetheless, Mandour added, the film shows how security agencies tried to control some sheikhs and used their vulnerabilities to force them to serve their interests during the reign of former President Hosni Mubarak.

    The film coincides with calls for Al-Azhar and other Egyptian religious institutions to spearhead the reform of religious discourse, made in the past two years by President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who believes that the move will help his country fight religious extremism and terrorism.

    “Renewing religious discourse must, however, preserve the values of true Islam, but also eliminate sectarianism and address extremism and militancy,” Sisi said in a 2015 speech at Al-Azhar.

    A large number of nationally minded writers have joined him. Some of these writers tend to criticize Al-Azhar’s curricula, accusing it of nurturing extremism.

    Essa is one of these writers. He believes that reform should not be the job of Al-Azhar alone, but of all Egyptians, including the intellectuals.

    Essa is out of the TV business now after his show was banned. Some people say he paid dearly for speaking out.

    “Mawlana,” he said, brings to light the contradictions in the mosque-preaching business.

    The film’s director Magdi Ahmed Ali said most of those who criticized the film were motivated by their hatred of Essa, not by faults they found in the film. “I didn’t find any real criticism of the film,” Ali told Al-Monitor. “I only heard views critical of Essa himself and his views.” He said some people had criticized the film without even watching it.

    The film, Ali said, sheds light on extremism and tries to show a lack of connection between it and the Islamic religion itself. He described this extremism as a “real danger” facing Egyptian society. “The film also shows that religion is sometimes misused by politicians,” Ali said. “Anyway, the people who watched the film understand its message.”

    Ali, who also wrote its script, reported receiving phone calls from a large number of the nation’s well-known preachers to congratulate him on the film’s success.

    Leading film critic Magda Khiralla praised “Mawlana,” saying it should be viewed as a work of art, not as a platform for issuing fatwas.

    “The film only talks about moderate Islam through the character of a young yet open-minded sheikh who tries to shatter misconceptions about the Islamic religion through logical dialogue,” she told Al-Monitor. “Controversy over the film is expected only from those who view themselves as angels and persons without fault.”

    (CENTRE for RELIGIOUS PLURALISM in the MIDDLE EAST)