CAIRO (Mustafa Suleiman, Marwa Awad)
A controversial movie still in production about a Coptic Christian woman in Egypt who has a baby out of wedlock after the church’s refusal to grant her a divorce has come under fire from Coptic activists who are seeking to ban the movie for insulting Christianity.
Coptic lawyer and activist Nabil Ghobrial warned in an official filing Monday that the Coptic church would sue those involved in the film as well as governmental authorities if production was not halted or the film censored.
He called for the Grand Imam of al-Azhar, the leading religious authority in Egypt, to intervene and issue a ban on the movie, Wahid Sifr (One Zero). Sheikh Muhammad Sayyed Tantawi, as head of the Islamic Research Center, is charged of reviewing books and films with religious content
This is the first time the center has been asked to intervene in a work involving Christianity, traditionally the exclusive domain of the Coptic Orthodox Church.
" The movie tackles one of the seven secrets of the church—marriage " Nabil Ghobrial, lawyer and activist The filing, which AlArabiya.net obtained a copy of, specifically addresses the two leading actors, the Coptic scriptwriter, Egypt’s prime minister and the censorship authority.
"If they do not respond within a week of receiving it, I have the right to submit a complaint to the Attorney General against all parties involved in the film," said Ghobrial.
The film has already begun shooting in Cairo Media City, and Ghobrial threatened to add the head of the media free-zone to the complaint if he does not close down production.
But the film’s supporters argue that the movie deals with a civil and social issue, not a religious one.
"The film is about the difficulties Copts face to obtain divorce and get a permission to remarry," Scriptwriter Marian Naaoun told the Egyptian magazine Rose al-Youssef. |
Elham Shahin stars in the controversial film Wahid Sifr She said she consulted a Christian cleric and a lawyer while writing the script and stressed that she felt she was very considerate in the way she tackled this sensitive issue.
The movie follows three interwoven stories, one of them about a Coptic woman who is not granted permission by the church to remarry because her divorce was not recognized as valid. Though her friends urge her to convert to Islam to be granted the divorce the observant Christian cannot deny her faith and ends up having a baby out of wedlock.
The Coptic Church grants divorce only in two cases: adultery and conversion to another sect.
In an interview on Egyptian state TV before shooting started, leading actress Elham Shahin said she hoped the movie would change Coptic church’s current divorce laws.
The lead actor, Ahmed al-Fishawi, predicted the movie would cause controversy during the same interview because it calls for granting Christian women the right of divorce. |
" We are not against creativity. But when this creativity is about Christianity then the church has to be consulted " Bishop Morqos Ghobrial sought to garner support his request for intervention from al-Azhar with previous statements made by Sheikh Gamal Qotb, former head of al-Azhar's Fatwa Committee, who urged the censors to ban any movie that harms the image of Christianity. He said the sheikh considered it inappropriate for artistic works to deal with or criticize religious doctrines or laws.
"The movie tackles one of the seven secrets of the church—marriage," Ghobrial told AlArabiya.net. "It calls for changing biblical marriage and divorce laws."
Coptic Church spokesman Bishop Morqos pointed out the need to seek approval from the church to ensure the film did not contradict the Christian faith.
"We are not against creativity," Morqos told AlArabiya.net. "But when this creativity is about Christianity then the church has to be consulted."
Morqos denied that the church was assuming the role of censor, but then said experts on the film’s subject matter should be required to approve. |
" The issue of divorce and Coptic Church is well known in Egypt and there is no need to bother censoring the film " Heba Adel, Coptic Christian But some Coptic Christians did not understand what the controversy was all about since the divorce issue is not under wraps and saw no reason to ban the film.
“The issue of divorce and Coptic Church is well known in Egypt and there is no need to bother censoring the film,” Heba Adel, a 26-year-old Coptic Christian, told AlArabiya.net. “It is not like the film will force the Coptic Church to change its doctrine," she added, saying she opposed the legal notice and thought it would be ineffective. |
