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Shakib Arslan(Arabic:شَكيب أَرْسَلان; 25 December 1869 – 9 December 1946) was aLebanesewriter, poet, historian, politician, andEmirin Lebanon. A prolific writer, he produced some 20 books and 2,000 articles,[1]: 103 as well as two collections of poetry and a "prodigious correspondence".[2]: viii He was known asAmir al-Bayān(Arabic:أَميرُ البَيان,lit. 'Prince of Eloquence') due to his influential writings.
Shakib Arslan | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 25 December 1869 |
| Died | 9 December 1946(aged 76) |
| Nationality | SaudiLebanese |
| Other names | Amir al-Bayān |
| Occupations |
|
| Children | May Arslan |
| Relatives | Emir Majid Arslan II Emir Talal Arslan Walid Jumblatt(grandson) |
Biography
editInfluenced by the ideas ofJamal al-Din al-AfghaniandMuhammad Abduh,Arslan became a strong supporter of thepan-Islamicpolicies ofAbdul Hamid II.As an Arab nationalist, Arslan was an advocate of pan-Maghrebism (the unification of Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco).[3]: 69–70 He also argued that the survival of theOttoman Empirewas the only guarantee against the division of theummahand its occupation by the European imperial powers. For Arslan,OttomanismandIslamwere inseparable, and reform of Islam would naturally lead to the revival of the Ottoman Empire.[4]: 131
Exiled from his homeland by theFrench Mandateauthorities, Arslan spent most of the inter-war years inGeneva,where he served as the unofficial representative of Syria andPalestineto theLeague of Nationsand wrote a steady stream of articles for the periodical press of Arab countries. There he cofounded and edited a newspaper entitledLa Nation Arabe.[5]His partner in this activity wasIhsan Al Jabri,a Syrian exile.[5]Arslan was also a contributor toBarid Al Sharq,a propaganda newspaper published in Berlin, Nazi Germany.[6]: 88 However, Arslan did not personally agree with Nazism, instead viewing them as a tool to break the other colonial powers. In 1939, he wrote to Daniel Guérin that if the Germans proved to be no better to the Arabs, "they would have only changed masters."[7]In his diary, he remarked that the Italians would simply turn Palestine into an Italian colony.[8]
Advocacy
editAmir Shakib proposed an interpretation of Islam imbued with a sense of political power and moral courage. He sought to rebuild the bonds of Islamic unity, urging Muslims from Morocco to Iraq to remember their common commitment to Islam despite their individual differences. Shakib believed that recognising and acting upon this common bond could lead to liberation from their existing subjugation. He also saw this unity as a way of reviving what he saw as their illustrious history. Arslan's work inspiredanti-imperialistpropaganda campaigns, much to the irritation of the British and French authorities in theArab world.[3]: 69–70
He defended Islam as an essential component of socialmorality.His message, with its call to action and defence of traditionalvaluesin a time of great uncertainty, was well received and attracted widespread attention in the 1920s and 1930s.[9]It was during this period that he wrote his most famous work,Our Decline: Its Causes and Remedies,which described what Arslan believed to be the reasons for the weakness of existing Muslim governments.[10]
He contributed toMuhib Al Din Al Khatib's Cairo-based magazineAl Fath,a modernist Salafi publication.[11]
Personal life
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Born into a Druze family, he always tried to combine his faith with mainstream Islam, but later converted toSunni Islam,"establishing himself as an orthodox Muslim serving the interests of Sunni Islam".[2]: 49
He married Suleima Alkhas Hatog, a Jordanian ofCircassiandescent. They had a son, Ghalib (born 1917 in Lebanon) and two daughters,May(1928–2013) and Nazima (born 1930 in Switzerland). His daughter May married the Lebanese Druze politicianKamal Jumblatt,making the Lebanese politicianWalid Jumblatta grandson of Arslan.[12]
Arslan died on 9 December 1946, three months after returning to Lebanon.[9]
Work
edit- Arslan, Shakib (2004).Our Decline: Its Causes and Remedies.Islamic Book Trust.ISBN9789839154542.OL9198790M.
References
edit- ^Kramer, Martin (2017).Arab Awakening and Islamic Revival: The Politics of Ideas in the Middle East.Routledge.ISBN9781351531313.OL36233138M.
- ^abCleveland, William L. (1985).Islam Against the West: Shakib Arslan and the Campaign for Islamic Nationalism.University of Texas Press.ISBN9780292737334.OL28477052M.
- ^abLawrence, Adria K. (2013).Imperial Rule and the Politics of Nationalism: Anti-Colonial Protest in the French Empire.Cambridge University Press.ISBN978-1-107-03709-0.OL26182119M.
- ^Cleveland, William L.; Bunton, Martin (2016).A History of the Modern Middle East.Avalon Publishing.ISBN9780813349800.OL26884840M.
- ^abNir Arielli (2008). "Italian Involvement in the Arab Revolt in Palestine, 1936–1939".British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies.35(2): 188.doi:10.1080/13530190802180597.S2CID145144088.
- ^Motadel, David (2014).Islam and Nazi Germany's War.Belknap Press.doi:10.4159/harvard.9780674736009.ISBN9780674736009.OL27419676M.
- ^Guérin, Daniel (1954).Au Service Des Colonisés, 1930-1953.Éditions de Minuit. p. 20.
- ^Gershoni, Israel (2014).Arab Responses to Fascism and Nazism: Attraction and Repulsion(First ed.). University of Texas Press. pp.90–91.ISBN978-0-292-75745-5.
- ^abMakram Rabah."Arslan, Shakib (Emir [Prince], Amīr, Amir al-Bayān".1914-1918 Online.Retrieved26 October2023.
- ^"Shakib, Arslan".Wilson Center Digital Archive.Retrieved26 October2023.
- ^Mehdi Sajid (2018)."A Reappraisal of the Role of Muḥibb al-Dīn alKhaṭīb and the YMMA in the Rise of the Muslim Brotherhood".Islam and Christian–Muslim Relations.29(2): 194, 196,201–204.doi:10.1080/09596410.2018.1455364.S2CID149627860.
- ^William L. Cleveland (1985).Islam against the West. Shakib Arslan and the Campaign for Islamic Nationalism.Austin, TX:University of Texas Press.pp. 38, 166.doi:10.7560/775947-012.ISBN9780292771536.S2CID240112446.
External links
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- Emir Shakib Arslan biographyby Hassan Shami at Aide Sanitaire Suisse Aux Palestiniens
- The Arab Nation of Shakib Arslan,a review ofIslam Against the West,by Martin Kramer
- Swiss Exile: The European Muslim Congress, 1935(an event organized by Arslan), a chapter fromIslam Assembled: The Advent of the Muslim Congresses(New York: Columbia University Press, 1986) by Martin Kramer
- Rabah, Makram:Arslān, Shakīb, Amīr,in:1914-1918-online. International Encyclopedia of the First World War.