The Arabist

The Arabist

By Issandr El Amrani and friends.

Islamic literature?

I've often heard the theory--advanced by the likes of Lebanese author Elias Khoury and Syrian poet Adonis--that Islamist are incapable of producing art or literature, that there is no such thing as Islamic or Islamist literature and that writers, in fact, present an inherent challenge to religion, and to men of religion. I was therefore curious to read, in the last issue of وجهات نظر, a review of a new book entitled الرواية الاسلامية المعاصرة (The Contemporary Islamic Novel). It's by Hilmy Mohammed al-Qa'oud, printed by Dar al-Ilm wa al-Iman lal-Nashr. Frustratingly, the review gives no examples or particulars, but it says the book analyzes works from Jordan, Iraq, Morocco, Palestine, Egypt and Saudi Arabia.