Ibdaa (magazine)

Ibdaa was launched in January 1983.[1] The magazine, based in Cairo,[2] is published by the General Egyptian Book Organization, an agency of the ministry of culture.[1][3]

Egyptian poet Ahmed Abdel Muti Hijazi became chief editor of the magazine in 1990 which he held until 2002 when he resigned from the post.[4] He was reappointed chief editor of Ibdaa in 2006.[4] As of 2015 the editor of Ibdaa was Egyptian novelist Mohamed Mansi Qandil.[5]

One of the major contributors was Ahmed Morsi, an Egyptian painter and poet.[6] His column was Risalat New York (Arabic: Dispatch from New York) which included his writings about Allen Ginsberg, Jasper Johns, and Toni Morrison.[6]

Ibdaa has been banned several times.[4] For instance, it was banned following the publication of a painting portraying Adam and Eve naked.[4] The other ban occurred after publishing a study about Jewish culture.[4]

In April 2007, the magazine was banned and its license was revoked by the Egyptian State Council Administrative Court on 7 April 2009 due to the publication of a poem entitled "On the balcony of Leila Murad" by Egyptian poet Hilmi Salem (1951-2012).[1][7][8] The poem in which God was likened to an Egyptian peasant was regarded by the court as "blasphemous".[9][10] The petition to the court was made by the authorities at Al Azhar University.[9] However, the earlier prints of the poem in Salem's 2006 anthology and in Al Wafd daily and Al Arabi magazine did not cause any stir.[11] In addition to the ban, the magazine was harshly criticized by Hamdi Rizq writing for Almasry Alyoum, a daily in Egypt, due to its publication of the poem.[12] The ban and license revoking were reversed on appeal in June 2009.[13][14]

List of magazines in Egypt