Egyptian law gives fanatics free rein

One Thousand and One Nights is a classic collection of Arab folk tales. First compiled in written form in 10th-century Iraq, it derived some of its stories from an earlier Persian collection, which in turn made use of even older tales from India. Though some of the content is a bit earthy, it's part of the world's literary heritage. Or so you might think.

But now a group, Lawyers Without Restrictions, is trying to ban it by launching an obscenity case against officials in the general culture authority, which publishes the work in Egypt.

The lawyers are seeking enforcement of article 178 of the Egyptian penal code, which specifies a fine and two years in jail for publishing obscene material.

The legal action is the latest in a long line of hesba (or hisba) cases brought by private citizens – usually with religious motives, though on occasions supporters of Hosni Mubarak's regime have also instigated hesba cases as a way of harassing its opponents.

Hesba is a long-established (and originally honourable) principle in Islamic jurisprudence. In the words of the Egyptian scholar, Gamal al-Banna, it was "used to promote the good and criticise the bad. Every individual in an Islamic society is responsible for the actions of the society".

More recently, though, it has begun to have the opposite effect, stifling critical thought and debate rather than encouraging it.

The trend began in 1995 when a group of Islamist lawyers succeeded in divorcing Cairo university teacher Nasr Abu Zayd from his wife on grounds of apostasy.

Since then, there have been hundreds of hesba cases against writers and activists, brought by a mixture of publicity-seekers and religious fanatics.
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