Yusuf Abu Rayya (1955 – 12 January 2009) was an Egyptian author.
Early life
He was born in 1955 in Hihya in the Sharqiya Governorate, and studied journalism at Cairo University. His first published book was a collection of short stories in 1985, followed by his first novel in 1989. He wrote over a dozen books including novels, children's books and short story collections. His best known work is ''Wedding Night'', published in 2002. This novel won the
Abu Rayya served on the governing board of the Egyptian branch of PEN International. He lent vocal support to the Syrian writer
Haidar Haidar
Haidar Haidar ( ar, حيدر حيدر, born 1936 in Husayn al-Baher) is a Syrian writer and novelist.
His novel ''Walimah li A'ashab al-Bahr'' was banned in several Arab countries, and even resulted in a belated angry reaction from the clerics o ...
, who was the subject of a
fatwa
A fatwā ( ; ar, فتوى; plural ''fatāwā'' ) is a legal ruling on a point of Islamic law (''sharia'') given by a qualified '' Faqih'' (Islamic jurist) in response to a question posed by a private individual, judge or government. A jurist i ...
by clerics at
Al-Azhar University
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in 2000. Abu Rayya died of
liver cancer
Liver cancer (also known as hepatic cancer, primary hepatic cancer, or primary hepatic malignancy) is cancer that starts in the liver. Liver cancer can be primary (starts in liver) or secondary (meaning cancer which has spread from elsewhere to th ...