Republic’ from then president Gamal ‘Abd al-Nasir.
8 Ironing is typically a man’s job in Egypt. Ironing shops are visible all over the city up to the present day, where only men work. This is not such a strange fact, considering the iron in earlier periods was a heavy iron cast which the men guided with their legs and feet rather than with their hands. The point in the film is not that he has to iron, the point here is that he no longer wants to be merely an inhabitant with no claims to make about his neighborhood or how to protect it (and his family).
9 As a reference to what is being said in the film, I have chosen an Egyptian Arabic transliteration (see also reference 1).
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bravery (shagā‘a), it requires toughness (magda‘a), manliness (rugūla), and morals (akhlāʼ).” Although these descriptions are often associated with men, in Egypt it is not uncommon to hear these with regard to women as well, for example in the expressions “il-bint di gada‘a” [that girl’s tough],10 or “is-sitt ʼadd mīt rāgil” [a woman equals a hundred
men]. Each of these elements encompass a set of characteristics on their own (e.g. gada‘), associated with masculine behavior (rugūla), a masculinity that is coded as positive and desirable.
Particularly the aspect of ‘manliness’ as a requirement to be a true
futuwwa is an indication of which gender is more suitable to actually be
one in al-Dinari’s and the film’s view. In this all-male film with al- Dinari addressing a mustache-bearing and stick-wielding audience, his description is clearly intended for men only.11 This brings to mind
Connell’s assertion that “[t]rue masculinity is almost always thought to proceed from men’s bodies – to be inherent in a male body or to express something about a male body” (Connell 2005: 45). These idealistic values of fatwana as ‘true masculinity’ are here clearly associated with men, rather than women. In part, this is also due to the etymology of the word, which is derived from the same triradical root as fatā (f-t-w), meaning ‘boy’, and historically referred to brotherhoods or groups of young men who were taught the principles of fatwana.12
10 Badawi-Hinds gives a much more extensive translation for the word gada‘, which includes a whole range of adjectives coded as positive and masculine: noble and integer; witty; tough and courageous. It means that not being gada‘, means not being manly. It is telling that the term, often associated with men, is used to describe women as well, although it forestalls a masculine norm because they are foremost characteristics coded as masculine that only best of men and occasionally women may inhibit.
11 Some historical lower class women have been able to obtain high-regarded positions within the confines of the ḥāra. For this I refer to Sawsan el-Messiri (1978) and Nahid Salah (2012) and the chapter on female masculinity in this study.
12 The futuwwa remains until today a complex concept. Early orientalist accounts described it in terms of a medieval chivalry, although it might also be described in religious terms as the groups of (mainly young) men
practicing taṣawwuf, or mysticism. Of interest is the way in which they appear in Egyptian cinema, which is either somehow chivalrous – occasionally, and whenever it suits them – or as a criminal. Personally, I would not describe these portrayals as romanticized medieval chivalry, nor approach it as an
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Although masculinity is associated with men’s bodies, Connell notes that this does not mean that a body coded as male ‘naturally’ performs masculinity, as the etymology of the word futuwwa also indicates. True
fatwana is a process of learning, of incorporating a set of religiously
and culturally sanctioned values which are coded as masculine.
In The Devil Preaches the main character Shata al-Hagari considers himself up to the heavy task of fatwana and accepts the initiation job that al-Dinari has in store for him. The ma‘allim’s main concern is that the one accepting the task will execute it exactly as requested by him, no questions asked. This, in my opinion, contradicts one of the ideals of fatwana, namely morals. Shata, however, agrees to the terms and conditions of becoming a futuwwa, receives a nabūt and starts with his task. The first test that Shata has to undergo is to lure al-Dinari’s fiançée in a trap. Shata refuses to continue with the task, his morality does not allow him to do so, escaping with the girl to a different ḥāra under the protection of al-Dinari’s arch-rival al-Shibli. This way, Shata already portrays the internal contradictions of the ideal values of
fatwana. Upon arrival, it is obvious that al-Shibli will assert his
dominance over this new intruder, effectively emasculating him by first of all taking away Shata’s nabūt, and degrading him once again to the rank of mere inhabitant (working in an ironing shop) in his new neighborhood. This continues for a few months, until al-Shibli shows his true intentions with Shata’s wife Widad. As the ma‘allim and
futuwwa of the neighborhood, al-Shibli is not only the head of a sort of
policing force, he is also a local governor and a judge. As such he decides on all matters in the neighborhood, including who marries whom. Al-Shibli thus forces Shata to divorce his wife, who then refuses, after which the former affirms his dominance over these intruders by raping Widad and ultimately shaming Shata.13 With