Naguib Mahfouz: A Liberal in a Conservative Society

The Nobel Laureate (1988) Naguib Mahfouz (Najīb Maḥfūẓ) is represented, via examples from his main works, as a liberal thinker, one passionate for a democratic state for all its citizens, characterized by religious tolerance and freedom of speech. His liberalism is in conflict with the extremist conservative stream of Islam that views women as inferior to men, and looks for a state based on Islamic law (Shariʿa). Mahfouz's openness to other cultures, and his dealing with issues that concern all human beings with a special flavor of locality, make his works transcend the borders of the nation, participate in the exchange of ideas between cultures by means of translation and, thus, gain the appreciation of different nations. Mahfouz's impact on three Egyptian writers of the 1960s shows him not as a source of passive imitation in style and social concerns but rather as the inspiration for further stages in the development of modern Arabic literature.