[6] The newspaper's oppositional Islamism repeatedly brought it into confrontation with government authorities in Egypt.
[7] Shortly afterwards the newspaper's military correspondent Abdel-Sattar Abu Hussein was held in a military prison for allegedly publishing "top secret information", Hilmi Murad was held overnight in a police station for criticising a cabinet minister, and Adel Hussein spent 25 days in police custody after anti-government literature was supposed to have been found on his plane seat.
[3] On 24 February 1998, the editor-in-chief and a cartoonist of the paper was sentenced to one year in prison at hard labor due to libeling the sons of a former interior minister, Hassan Al Alfi.
Criticising the government for thereby promoting "rank atheism and blasphemy", the review helped spark a riot at Al-Azhar University, and the newspaper kept up pressure by denouncing secular literary figures including Tayeb Salih.
The government responded by arresting some junior Ministry of Culture figures for "assaulting revealed religion", shutting down Al Shaab, and banning Haidar's book.