Sheikh Al Junaydi

In the start of the novel, Naguib Mahfouz begins the story with Said Mehran walking out of jail after four years. From there, Naguib Mahfouz portrays Said as a man desperate to find redemption and to find himself in a corrupt and changed world in his eyes. In the novel we see Said constantly believing that the innocent tend to be unsuccessful whilst the guilty flourish.  In the novel Said  seeks guidance and help from Sheik al Junaydi. The Sheikh seems to be one of the only characters who are responsible for helping with Said’s lost sense of ethics during this quarrel that Said has with society  and repression. Not only does he represent fate and the will of God because of his social position in the mosque, but he is also seen  as Said’s righteous guide which as we know he obviously needs. Throughout The Thief and The Dogs, there are numerous cases of Said not truly understanding the meaning behind Sheikh Al Junaydi’s words of wisdom. This shows how Said is confused about the path that he must take in his life and how his internal conflict is affecting his decisions in every thing he does or thinks of. 

In the novel we see how Sheikh Al-Junaydi incessantly warns Said Mehran that retribution is not worth the consequences and he must let it go and therefore contributes to the theme of how vengeance leads to the eventual fall of the Said Mehran in the novel. In  the novel, Said is constantly told to go “wash and read” to which he only responds by blaming everyone around him.  By that the Sheikh is trying to get Said to forget the past and look towards religions and seek redemption through religion and of course move on with his life. Only on the second read, will readers understand that Said was given these opportunities to redeem himself but he just them due to his heavy thoughts of vengeance which cloud his mind with his excuses to not look for peace. A common trend within the novel is that Said justifies his decisions by blaming his circumstances. Towards the end of the chapter he reveals that he is on a trajectory that approaches hell rather than heaven. This means that Said had already accepted his fate as a criminal and had no intentions of saving himself. 

Through this indirect characterization of Said, we realize how Mahfouz brings in the Sheikh to go against Said’s doubting attitude and acts as a safe guard on how much we commiserate with him. Sheik al Junaydi plays a major role in the  theme of fate vs. free will as he unifies the free will piece in the novel. Through providing a contradiction between environments, the audience being to become aware of the main characters actions and begin to question. Said was so focused on  revenge and seeking retaliation He believes that this is the only way that he could finish his mission. Sheik al Junaydi introduces the reader with a different idea of ethics and morality as he provides a positive and more spiritual path.