Given the blowing up of the Bamiyan Buddhas by the Taleban, in the light of the prohibition on graven images promulgated by strict Islamists, I’d wondered what the attitude was in Egypt to all those statues and monuments from their pharaonic past. Well, maybe this is the way things are going:
A fatwa issued by Egypt’s top religious authority which forbids the display of statues has art-lovers fearing it could be used by Islamic extremists as an excuse to destroy Egypt’s historical heritage. Egypt’s Grand Mufti Ali Gomaa, the country’s top Islamic jurist, issued the religious edict, which declared as un-Islamic the exhibition of statues in homes, basing the decision on texts in the hadith, the sayings of the Prophet Mohammad.
Intellectuals and artists argue that the decree represents a setback for art – a mainstay of the multi-billion-dollar tourist industry – and would deal a blow to the country’s fledgling sculpture business.
The fatwa did not specifically mention statues in museums or public places, but it condemned sculptors and their work.
Still, many fear the edict could prod Islamic fundamentalists to attack Egypt’s thousands of ancient and pharaonic statues on show at tourist sites across the country.
“We don’t rule out that someone will enter the Karnak temple in Luxor or any other pharaonic temple and blow it up on the basis of the fatwa,” said Gamal al-Ghitani, editor of the literary magazine Akhbar al-Adab.
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