The Khan el-Khalili bazaar, Cairo, Egypt part 4.
Al-Fishawi Coffee Shop
Part 1. here and part 2. here and part 3. here
Info about the bazaar in Wikipedia
Landmark cafe in the heart of the Khan el-Khalili bazaar,
once the haunt of Noble-prize-winner
(December 11, 1911 – August 30, 2006)
Wikipedia: Mahfouz did not shrink from controversy outside of his work. As a
consequence of his outspoken support for Sadat’s Camp David peace treaty with Israel in 1978, his books were banned in many Arab countries until after he won the Nobel prize.
Like many Egyptian writers and intellectuals,
Mahfouz was on an Islamic fundamentalist “death list”.
He defended Salman Rushdie after Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini condemned Rushdie to death in 1989, but also criticized his Satanic Verses as “insulting” to Islam. Mahfouz believed in freedom of expression and although he did not personally agree with Rushdie’s work, he did not believe that there should be a fatwa condemning him to death for it. He also condemned Khomeini for issuing the fatwa, for he did not believe that the Ayatollah was representing Islam.
In 1989, after Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini’s fatwa calling for Salman Rushdie and his publishers to be killed, Mahfouz called Khomeini a terrorist.[4] Shortly after Mahfouz joined 80 other intellectuals in declaring that “no blasphemy harms Islam and Muslims so much as the call for murdering a writer.”[5]
The Rushdie incident also provoked fundamentalist Muslims to regret not having made an example of Mahfouz, one telling a journalist:
If only we had behaved in the proper Islamic manner with Naguib Mahfouz, we would not have been assailed by the appearance of Salman Rushdie. Had we killed Naguib Mahfouz, Salman Rushdie would not have appeared.[6]
Want to read more? Here, to Wikipedia
More info about Cairo
Do you like cafes like this?
Where is your favourite cafe?
Your first visit here?
You might think why the hell I’ve put those annoying watermarks on top of the pictures.
Because an online news site misused one of my pictures.
If you’re interested to get any of my pictures without watermarks please ask!
email: toblogitse at gmail com
0 thoughts on “The Khan el-Khalili bazaar, Cairo, Egypt part 4. Al-Fishawi Coffee Shop”
>>SORREN
It’s good you’re glad!
And you have memories from a different world…
Been in that cafe and it was really a good place to rest the tired feet exploring Egypt. It’s very busy, loud, charming, and am I just glad that I am in a different world.
ELEGIA
Makkarit on syottoloita.
Oikeissa kahviloissa on oma tunnelmansa riippuen sijainnista ja tietty asiakkaista.
Kyseinen kahvila on taynna ‘henkea’ – tiedat mita silla tarkoitan. Seinista voi aistia menneen, kaydyt keskustelut…
Peilien takia en kylla viihtyisi pidempaan paitsi ehka kolosessa jossa ei koko ajan itse tuijottaisi! 🙂
Mina juon vain mustaa kahvia (ja vahan sokeria) – paasen siis helpolla! 🙂
Kauniin näköistä, kyllähän noissa puitteissa kehtaisi kupillisen jos toisenkin ryystää 😉 Itse tykkään monenlaisista kahviloista, mutta esim. MacDonalds-tyyppisiin paikkoihin en menisi kahville.
Täällä on tosin kahvin kanssa joskus hankaluuksia, kun täällä halutaan vaahdottaa maito ja minulla se saa aikaiseksi oksennusrefleksin. Joissakin paikoissa ei mene oikein jakeluun, kun pyytää maidon kylmänä.
MELISSA B.
You come and I go… 🙂
J BAR
A special place indeed…
VILIJONKKA
Olet oikeassa – just sinulle sopiva paikka! Nauttisit sisustuksesta joka kuiskisi menneisyyden salaisuuksia tai ulkopuolella seuraten sivusilmalla ohikulkevia ihmisia.
Taalla tee on perusjuoma. Suomalaisittain mukillinen teeta ja puolimukillista sokeria. Juu, kayttavat paljon sokeria.
Kahvi on ‘Turkish coffee’. Kardemummalla maustettua. Sen saa joko ilman, medium tai makeana sokerin kanssa ja kahvin maara sama kuin espressossa. Me nautimme aina medium makeina. Keitamme myos kotona turkkilaista kahvia.
Onpas kahvilassa herkullinen tunnelma – siellä voisin kuvitella hyvinkin viihtyväni kirjanteon parissa. Millaista on egyptiläinen kahvi? Varmaan vahvaa ja täyteläistä.
It looks like a delightful place.
Sydney – City and Suburbs
love, Love, LOVE these snaps! Hope to make it to Cairo some day…
SUSU
That cafe is full of history, it has the feeling of the old days…
BG
I visited their blog but there are MANY of those cafes in Pittsburhg!
KEATS
That is a nice place to relax and enjoy bazaar feeling around…
LINDA
I’m sorry but I don’t know the name.
Egypt is not as closed as Saudi Arabia. Actually they are totally different. Even if there’s a lot to fix and woman’s position is not like in West their situation is much better than in SA – I mean they can drive a car etc.
And again it’s up to a family and traditions how tight they are with ‘scarf rule’ etc.
Modern, educated city women don’t generally wear a scarf, generally.
I have Mahfouz’s book Midaq Alley. After reading that walking around the bazaar and sitting in the cafe I had a special ‘connection feeling’ to the history of the place…
SIROKKO
All the mirrors inside were too much for me – we sat outside and that was great!
That cafe is a historical and most of the tourists visit there – not only for men! 🙂
NICOLE
Not only for men! It’s a very famous tourist spot…
NATHALIE
I’m happy to see you here!
If I’ve understand correctly Mahfouz was ahead of his time.
TROTTER
All those visits with a group are quick and conceivably not possible to visit every corner of that bazaar area…
Hi Blogitse! March has arrived and maybe this awful winter will be gone from thi part of the world…
I don’t drink coffee, but used to go to cafés when they were places to meet and discuss… Should have seen this one, but it was too short the time at Khan Khalili… 😉
Meanwhile, Blogtrotter 2 is still in Haiti, now at Malfini Beach. Hope you enjoy and have a great week!!
Hi Blogitse, thanks for your visit in Avignon.
I loved your photos of that cafe and thanks for sharing the story about Mahfouz – he certainly was a remarkable man if he was able able to defend Salman Rushdie’s right to free expression even though he didn’t approve of his ideas! A fair example!
Looks like a cozy place.
Bet it’s all men though.
Cheers from Sharm 🙂
I love cafés but not exactly this kind of, too much deco for me, but outside it’s perfect for just watching people pass by.. if women there can sit and watch or is this pleasure meant for men only..
I have had the works of Naguib Mafouz, Palace Walk, Palace of Desire and Sugar Street in my library for years, along with writers examining women’s experiences in India and China as well as Egypt. All of this began with Jan Goodwin’s “Price of Honor” in 1994, in which Muslim women lift the veil of silence on the Islamic worlds of Iraq, Iran, Saudi Arabia, northern Africa and Indonesia.
I remember the almost blinding, impotent fury with which women in the West responded to these works and how we were completely ignorant of such behaviors. It caused us to question and protest the ways in which our government did business with countries that abused women (and children) in this way. We still do.
Your pictures of this bazaar literally put a face on the descriptions in this literature, especially the wooden, three sided, porches jutting out from the stone building walls. What are those called? I remember how sad I felt for women who only had this tiny view of the outside world. Also, how intriguing were the descriptions of how vastly different the inside of these homes were, filled with light and color, life on the roofs, etc.
There is so much we do not know about Muslim women and their lives in these closed societies. This literature and your pictures are just wonderful in providing a glimpse into that world. Thank You!
Beautiful interior, interesting decor and just the place to sit and linger, chat and have cups of coffee:))
What great photos and such a picturesque cafe!
My favorite is in my home town in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I just saw on this last trip that they moved around the block from their old location and it looks a little more hip now…but the crazy Italian crowd is there all the same! It’s name is La Prima Espresso
BG
I like such cafes, and I’d like to rest my tired feet a while, maybe I’ll sit in the shade for a while.