The House of the Coptic Woman: Idealistic Egyptian juror takes on mob justice in rural Coptic town

Ashraf El-Ashmawi's latest novel, The House of a Coptic Woman, is a provocative story of religious strife, justice, and tragedy.

The author himself, a judge, draws on his professional career to pen his eighth novel on the parallel stories of Nader Kamal, a prosecutor in rural Egypt during the final years of the Mubarak era, and a hapless Coptic woman, Hoda.

The novel is quite pithy, although it addresses solemn issues of violence, nefarious leaders, sanctimonious sheikhs, and priests. El-Ashmawi does not demur from such topics, writing candidly about the terror wrought by unfettered animosity.

"El-Ashmawi poignantly reminds us that justice is not an outlandish theory despite the bloodshed, tirades, and headlines that echo despair"

The story immediately commences with Nader’s arrival in Tayha, an inconsequential yet volatile village in Egypt. Here, Hoda’s narrative becomes enmeshed in his and the sombre fate of Tayha.

This village is one of the few in Egypt where Coptic Christians reign supreme over the minority Muslim population. Nader’s docket begins to be inundated with unsolvable criminal cases of embezzlement, land disputes, cryptic suicides, and arson.

His idealistic and naive nature propels him into forlorn ruminations on integrity and community. Although the unfolding events force Nader to become temporarily demoralized, he continues to sift through the cases, unwavering in his commitment to truth and harmony.

When Nader arrives in this provincial town, he settles at a lodge and is greeted by the enigmatic elderly caretaker, Ramses. The atmosphere of Ramses' disconcerting smile and attitude alludes to the disquiet that is silently brewing in the rest house’s environs.

After his initial welcome, the reader and Nader learn that many prosecutors have passed through this village, and none have lasted more than a week. Nader remains unperturbed though thoughtful. The town of Tayha originates with this lodge that was constructed for a British irrigation engineer in charge of northern Upper Egypt. He was murdered in the 1940s, but the case went cold.

A farmer was initially suspected; however, the investigations acquitted him. Regardless the British exacted their revenge on all the farmers laying their crops to waste.

Over time, the population became predominantly Coptic, now 80 percent Copts. Post-1952, the village was renamed Taya’a after the mayor at the time, Mohammed Tayea. Lamentably, Tayea was a supporter of the revolution that caused considerable trauma to Coptic Egyptians. Consequently, the villagers disdainfully mispronounced the name of Taya’a to Tayha, with an appropriate meaning of the lost soul.

One of the first cases Nader is thrust upon in the dark obscurity of nightfall is a land dispute between the Radwan Muslim family and the Coptic Bishoi family. He issues a just ruling that is later overturned due to political hierarchy and sectarian unrest.

As his caseload enumerates,  the unbridled corruption within the district attorney’s office and the village becomes evident. In his own words, while he attempts to uphold the “torch of justice,” the story of “Mohammed kills Ahmed” is routine. Through extortion and manipulation, the cases almost always get classified as cold.

Meanwhile, Hoda is introduced. Hoda is a Coptic woman from a remote, distant town who was raped by her stepfather as a young girl. Later she was forced into an abusive marriage with a Muslim man, Khidr. In self-defence, she murders Khidr and flees her home to find herself in Tayha. She presents herself as a widow, obscuring the mercilessness she endured.

In Tayha, she finds refuge in Ramses, Father Stephanos, and eventually remarries an older but kindly man, Rizq. While harbouring her secret, peculiarly, the people of the village come to revere her as sublime and miraculous.  Muslims and Christians go to her for blessings, and the House of the Coptic Woman becomes a legend.

"El-Ashmawi's story is crude, unnerving, and courageous. His prose is rife with imagery of gore and desperation"

El-Ashmawi juxtaposed these two disparate characters to create a caricature of the ongoing Muslim and Christian turmoil growing in Egypt. Through them, we are introduced to Father Stephanos and Sheikh Rajab.

Both are vanguards in their religious communities, yet their diatribes and sermons subtly incite the masses toward pillaging and bigotry. How does religious fanaticism germinate? Is it a question of the religion itself or avarice? As the fields of Copts that border Muslim lands burn, these inquiries are analyzed with acuity and wonder. 

The pensive Nader declares that this extremism can only be fostered through a third party who preys on the insecurities of people’s everyday lives on both sides of the veil. The truth is that both the Muslims and Copts of Tayha have turned their lives into a hell obsessing over the afterlife of one another, forsaking the peace of this life in vain. Nader’s cases include illegitimate land sales, purchases, arsons, and feuds.

With a tinge of macabre humour, the case of an elderly thief who steals a peacock to placate his lover receives a life sentence while murderers and arsonists roam free. Brutal sectarian disputes or petty crimes, the very justice he came to establish proves to be blind and deaf. Moreover, with so much life shattered, what constitutes absolute justice?

Take, for example, Hoda, who only desires to live. Her life continues to be ravaged, her womanhood delineating her as a martyr without choice. In a chimerical state of affairs, her status as a supposed healer unsettled her hopes for a quiet and austere life. However, the reader is given a brief glimpse into a community where opposing beliefs unite.

As both Copts and Muslims, Hoda’s bizarre situation provides an anthesis to the smouldering crops of Tayha. Unfortunately, the author chose not to expound further on the relationship between the villagers and the gradations found beyond political discourse.

His position is clear and noble; commonality is far more prevalent than debates on perdition as newspapers like to report. However, the quick pace of the novel fails to provide appropriate nuance. 

El-Ashmawi's story is crude, unnerving, and courageous. His prose is rife with imagery of gore and desperation. But amidst that, with multiple allusions to Tawfiq Al-Hakim’s Diaries of a Countryside Prosecutor, a tale of faith, equality, and humanity is attempted.

Nader, like Al-Hakim, a prosecutor, believes his position lends itself as leverage to correct the rampant abuses in his country. While he soon learns that the complexities of oppression are far more acute than he perceived, El-Ashmawi poignantly reminds us that justice is not an outlandish theory despite the bloodshed, tirades, and headlines that echo despair.

Noshin Bokth has over six years of experience as a freelance writer. She has covered a wide range of topics and issues including covering the implications of the Trump administration on Muslims, the Black Lives Matters Movement, travel reviews, book reviews, and op-eds. She is the former Editor in Chief of Ramadan Legacy and the former North American Regional Editor of the Muslim Vibe.

Follow her on Twitter: @BokthNoshin