Naguib Mahfouz’s “Zaabalawi” is a short story about a man in search of the Sheikh Zaabalawi, a “true saint of God” (Mahfouz, 884) and holy man. On the surface, the story is about the narrator’s search for this man, but underneath, it is a metaphor for Mahfouz’s critique of Egyptian society’s relationship with God and Islam. Mahfouz comments on four different sects of society in the work: the elders, the bureaucrats, the artists, and the common man. Each of these different sects reflect a different aspect of the Muslim world, their values, and how they conflict with or complement their relationship with God. In the first section of the story, the narrator, possessing an illness for which there is no cure, remembers the name “Zaabalawi” and
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The narrator visits the arts district and each of the artists he speaks with are more than happy to speak of Zaabalawi, and many of them relate to the narrator how Zaabalawi’s visits are seemingly random, but always seem to happen when you’re in need, “Such suffering is part of the cure!” (Mahfouz, 888) This may be a western influence, as Christians are often apt to say that suffering is merely a test by God and that He will only give you what you can handle. That each of the artists praise Zaabalawi is also reflective of how much Muslims value the arts. The Quran is both lyrical and poetic, and Mahfouz reinforces this value by showing that artists are in touch with God and touched by God when they create their art, “He is the epitome of things musical. He has an extremely beautiful speaking voice, and you only have to hear him to want to burst into song and to be inspired by creativity…” (Mahfouze, …show more content…
With Mr. Wanas’ encouragement, the narrator gets drunk, passes out, and sleeps through Zaabalawi’s visit. This section is Mahfouz’s strongest criticism of Islam in the work. Metaphorically, the bar could be a mosque, and the wine that gets the narrator drunk is “contemporary Islamic fundamentalism” (Puchner, 884), a facet of the Muslim world that Mahfouz was strongly against. Drunk on that fundamentalism, the narrator is unable to see or interact with Zaabalawi, even as he tries to wake the narrator from his
The narrator visits the arts district and each of the artists he speaks with are more than happy to speak of Zaabalawi, and many of them relate to the narrator how Zaabalawi’s visits are seemingly random, but always seem to happen when you’re in need, “Such suffering is part of the cure!” (Mahfouz, 888) This may be a western influence, as Christians are often apt to say that suffering is merely a test by God and that He will only give you what you can handle. That each of the artists praise Zaabalawi is also reflective of how much Muslims value the arts. The Quran is both lyrical and poetic, and Mahfouz reinforces this value by showing that artists are in touch with God and touched by God when they create their art, “He is the epitome of things musical. He has an extremely beautiful speaking voice, and you only have to hear him to want to burst into song and to be inspired by creativity…” (Mahfouze, …show more content…
With Mr. Wanas’ encouragement, the narrator gets drunk, passes out, and sleeps through Zaabalawi’s visit. This section is Mahfouz’s strongest criticism of Islam in the work. Metaphorically, the bar could be a mosque, and the wine that gets the narrator drunk is “contemporary Islamic fundamentalism” (Puchner, 884), a facet of the Muslim world that Mahfouz was strongly against. Drunk on that fundamentalism, the narrator is unable to see or interact with Zaabalawi, even as he tries to wake the narrator from his