WATANI International
9 August 2009
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Under the title Ayqouna (Icon), al-Hurriya Publishing House issued a collection of short stories by Mohamed al-Garrah. The Book Union Member and Radio Announcer, Garrah, exploited his life experience to write 29 short stories based upon actual historical and contemporary events.
The most influential
A new edition of Zuamaa’ al-Islaah Fil-Asr al-Hadeeth (Reform Leaders in the Contemporary Era), by the sociology professor Ahmed Amin has been issued by the Family Library, founded in 1994 and sponsored by Mrs Suzanne Mubarak. The author discusses the life achievements and works of the most prominent national and intellectual leaders who impacted the Egyptian community in modern times. Among these are Gamal Eddin al-Afghani, the founders of Islamic modernism in Iran, Afghanistan, Egypt, and the Ottoman Empire during the 19th century. There is also his student and disciple Sheikh Mohamed Abdou, as well as Mohamed Ibn Abdel-Wahab, the self proclaimed Islamic scholar born in Saudi Arabia and founder of Wahhabism (the most extremist faction of radical Islam). The works of Ali Pasha Mubarak, Egypt’s education minister during the second half of the 19th century and one of the most influential and talented reformers of that period feature prominently in the book. The book also cites a number of other characters including Abdallah al-Nadim Pasha and Abdel Rahman al-Kawakby.
Stories for Children
As a part of the children’s story series Hikaya Li Kol Youm (A Story for Everyday), al-Maaref Publishing House issued two new stories by Hala al-Sharouny. The first bears the name al-Arnab wa Waheed al-Qarn (The Rabbit and the Unicorn) and deals with people with special needs and their necessary reliance on other people. The second, Hussam al-Ta’ih Fil-Suq (Hussam, Lost in the Market), is an adventure story.
Protecting Networks
On dealing safely with the modern methods of communication, the Family Library has teamed up with the General Egyptian Book Organisation (GEBO) to issue the book Idarat Ta’meen Nuzum Wa Shabakaat al-Maaloumat (Managing the Protection of Information Systems and Networks) by Ahmed al-Sherbiny and Wafaa’i Boghdadi Mohamed. The book includes several informative studies on methods of protecting confidential data and digital documents. It also stresses the importance of creating and updating a ‘security system’ to protect and control the data. A list of the most prominent organisations, associations, and foundations operating in the field of digital security is cited.
Legends on Sufism
In his new book Bihaar al-Hub Indal-Sufiya (The Seas of Love of the Sufis) Ahmed Bahgat sails the seas of love of the Divine as experienced by Sufis. The book further includes various stories and legends from the “One Thousand and One Nights”. It was published by Dar al-Shorouq.
Secularity
Ru’ya Publishing House has recently published Al-Alamaniya (Secularism) by Asharf Abdel-Qader. Qader explains the meaning of secularism, details ambiguous concepts related to it, and reveals how it is misused by some intellectuals especially those who belong to Islamic political movements.
Empowerment through education
Her own successful experience inspired Malak Zalouk to write a comprehensive book Al-Taaleem min Agl-al-Tamkeen (Education for the Purpose of Empowerment). The book tackles the new system of open education recently applied in Upper Egypt, the “Society Schools Movement” in which the writer was directly involved. The book is published by Elias Publishing House.
Messages
Under the title Rasa’il Anis Mansour (Anis Mansour’s Letters) Ibrahim Abdel-Aziz has compiled a collection of letters sent by and to the contemporary Egyptian journalist and writer Anis Mansour. The book includes some rare exchanges between Mansour and the late President Anwar al-Sadat; and between Sadat and the Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin during the period which led to negotiating and signing the Camp David peace treaty between Egypt and Israel in 1979. The book was published by Nefro Publishing House.
Painter pioneer
Yusry al-Qwaidy amd Esmat Dawestashi, two of the artists who feature highly on Egypt’s contemporary art scene, have collaborated to produce a book on Mohamed Nagy who pioneered the modern Egyptian painting movement. Ra’id Fan al-Tasweer, Mohamed Nagy (Pioneer of the Art of Painting, Mohamed Nagy) has been published by the Ministry of Culture. During his lifetime Nagy produced a collection of outstanding paintings some of which go back to 1907, when he was just a 19-year-old. He was the first Egyptian to study the art academy in Florence, and his paintings were displayed in exhibitions side by side with those of the most renowned French artists in 1920.
National heroes for the blind
The first book in Braille on the leaders and heroes of the Egyptian national movement in the 19th and 20th century has been published by the State Information Service (SIS), under the auspices of Mrs Suzanne Mubarak. The book introduces to the visually-impaired the great people on whose shoulders Egypt’s modern political, economic, social and cultural renaissance was built. Omar Makram, Ahmed Orabi, Mustafa Kamel, Saad Zaghloul, Safiya Zaghloul and Mustafa al-Nahhas are among those featured. The book is the beginning of a series of SIS publications for readers with special needs, a spokesman for SIS said.