The 2024 Cairo International Book Fair was held from January 25th to February 6th at the Egyptian Center for International Exhibitions on the outskirts of Cairo. The event featured over 1,200 publishers from the Middle East and beyond and is believed to be the largest exhibition of its kind in the Middle East. Al-Ahram newspaper estimated that 3.5 million people visited this year. 
 

2024 Cairo International Book Fair

While a wide spectrum of publishing houses were present, we gave special attention to publishers of Christian and Islamic literature. In my estimation, Halls 1 and 2 contained approximately thirty Christian publishing houses, including Dār al-Akwīnī (Catholic), Maktabat al-Iskandariyya (Coptic Orthodox/Patristics), Dār al-Thaqāfa (Presbyterian), Panarion Centre for Patristic Heritage (Coptic Orthodox/Patristics), Franciscan Cultural Centre (Catholic), Dār al-Nashr al-Usqufiyya (Anglican/Episcopal), Majalat Mār Marqus (Coptic Orthodox/Monastic), and Dār al-Kitāb al-Muqaddis (Bible Society-Egypt), among others. These publishers featured translations from European languages and original works from Egyptian and Middle Eastern authors. 

(Panarion Centre for Patristic Heritage) 

The primary Islamic publishers were located in Halls 3 and 4 and included dozens of publishing houses from all over the Middle East. It would require days of detailed work to understand all of the different orientations of these publishers, but mainstream Sunnī, Salafī, and Sūfī publishers were common. One of the most popular was the Muslim Council of Elders, an organization started in 2014 by Al-Azhar Grand Imām Aḥmed al-Ṭayyeb, which featured dozens of publications from mainstream Sunnī scholars about theology, dialogue, and contemporary questions. 

(The Muslim Council of Elders Pavilion)

(An Arabic translation of Shahab Ahmed’s influential 2015 work, What is Islam?)

Reflecting on this year's fair, I am reminded of the Qurʾān’s description of Christians and Jews as “People of the Book.” The same could be said, of course, about Muslims. Despite the power and distraction of modern technology, all three religions remain rooted in important ways in literary traditions. The expansive halls at the Cairo International Book Fair were a reminder of how Muslims and Christians continually return to traditional sources for guidance as they seek to navigate the complexities and confusion of the modern world.

With best wishes,

Matthew Anderson

Director - Center for Arab-West Understanding

Executive Editor - Dialogue Across Borders (Brill)

February 13th, 2024