EXPLOITATION OF ISLAMIC VALUES BY THE CHARACTERS OF NAGUIB MAHFOUZ’S NOVEL MIDAQ ALLEY

Abstract

The aim of this research paper is to study the actions of various characters – which they owe to the teachings of their religion Islam – and analyse them from psychological perspective basing on the outcome of these actions. In other words, an effort is made to study the exploitation of Islamic values by the characters of the novel Midaq Alley. The novel under study is written by a Nobel laureate Egyptian writer Naguib Mahfouz, which was translated in English in 1967. It deals with the life of residents of a back street in Cairo, Egypt in 1940’s. The framework used for analyzing the actions of the characters is the teachings of Islam based on the last and final divine book the Holy Quran. Taking the references from various incidents and the dialogues of characters, the actions carried out on the pretext of practicing Islamic values are adjudged whether those actions have been sincere and honest or only performed for gaining the doers’ hidden motives. Textual evidences provide us with sufficient proof so as to conclude that their seemingly religious actions had been in fact only to gain personal and worldly benefits.