Sati' al-Husri
Sāṭi` al-Ḥuṣrī (
Early life
Of Syrian descent, Al-Husri was born in
Before studying the
Career as an educationalist
In 1900, he graduated from the Royal Academy, and worked as a schoolteacher in
The Ottoman government granted al-Husri the post of director-general of education in the Syria Province at the beginning of World War I in 1914.[3] In 1919, after the establishment of an independent Arab state in Syria under Faisal, al-Husri moved to Damascus where he was appointed Director General of Education, and later Minister of Education.[5]
Al-Husri followed Faisal to
In 1941 nationalist army officers, from the first generation to have come under the influence of al-Husri's ideas,
Al-Husri's next major enterprise was the reform of the educational system in Syria. In 1943 the newly elected Syrian president
In 1947, al-Husri moved to
He has been described as "the foremost theoretician of Arab nationalism."[10]
Ideological views
Al-Husri's approach to Arab nationalism was influenced by nineteenth-century European thinkers, especially German romantic nationalists such as Herder and Fichte. Historian Maher Charif describes him as having a "cultural-sentimental" approach to nationalism. Al-Husri's conception of the nation is a primordialist one. He viewed the nation as a living entity, and like other thinkers of his school insisted on its long-standing historic existence, even if its members were unconscious of that or refused to be considered an Arab. For al-Husri, the basic constituent elements of a nation were a shared language and a shared history. He rejected the idea that other factors, such as state action, religion, or economic factors, could play a part in bringing about nationalist sentiment; this was solely an emotional phenomenon arising from unity of language and culture.[11]
Al-Husri rejected the idea of an Islamic nation on the basis that this would cover cultural and geographic scopes that are too broad. He argued that even if this were to be the ultimate goal, it would nevertheless be impossible to achieve without achieving Arab unity first. He also sought to distance Arabic from Islam, arguing that both the Arabs and Arabic existed before it.[12]
Al-Husri saw localist tendencies as the main obstacle to the realisation of nationalist goals, but he pointed to the German and Italian experiences as indications that they would eventually be overcome.
Charif states that al-Husri "established a barrier between civilisation on the one hand, and culture on the other hand, taking the view that the first, which comprises the sciences, technology and modes of production, is intrinsically 'universal', while the latter, which comprises customs and language, is 'national'." The Arab nation should, therefore, adopt all that the west had to offer it in the first sphere, but it should jealously preserve its own culture. This distinction was influential among later nationalist theorists.[14]
Al-Husri paid particular attention to questions of language, a difficult issue in the Arab world due to widespread diglossia. He considered that a language reform was necessary given the situation whereby most Arabs were unable to use Classical Arabic, the universal Arab written language, yet could not communicate successfully with each other in the greatly differing spoken dialects of the Arab world. His proposal was that, at least as a temporary measure pending improved education, a somewhat simplified form of Classical Arabic should be developed which should be closer to the spoken dialects to some degree, but it should retain its position as a universal language which should be commonly spoken by all Arabs.[citation needed]
Quotes
- Every Arab-speaking people is an Arab people. Every individual belonging to one of these Arabic-speaking peoples is an Arab. And if he does not recognize this, and if he is not proud of his Arabism, then we must look for the reasons that have made him take this stand. It may be an expression of ignorance; in that case we must teach him the truth. It may spring from an indifference or false consciousness; in that case we must enlighten him and lead him to the right path. It may result from extreme egoism; in that case we must limit his egoism. But under no circumstances, should we say: "As long as he does not wish to be an Arab, and as long as he is disdainful of his Arabness, then he is not an Arab." He is an Arab regardless of his own wishes. Whether ignorant, indifferent, undutiful, or disloyal, he is an Arab, but an Arab without consciousness or feeling, and perhaps even without conscience. (Translation from Adeed Dawisha, Arab Nationalism in the Twentieth Century: From Triumph to Despair [Princeton and Oxford, 2003] p. 72.)
See also
Notes
- ^ Cleveland, William L. A History of the Modern Middle East (Westview Press, 2013) pg 131
- ^ Choueiri, Youssef M. (2012-04-24), "Sāṭiʿ al-Ḥuṣrī", Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, Brill, retrieved 2023-12-27
- ^ a b Dawisha, p.49.
- ^ Kara, pp. 264-293.
- ^ a b c d Charif, pp. 239-240.
- ^ Mufti, pp. 28-29
- ^ Mufti, p. 34
- ^ Mufti, p. 37n.
- ^ Moubayed, p.
- ISBN 978-0-691-16915-6.
- ^ Charif, p. 204.
- ^ Al-Husri, Sati‘. “Muslim Unity and Arab Unity.” In Islam in Transition: Muslim perspectives, 2nd edition, edited by John J. Donohue and Jon L. Esposito, 49-53. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007.
- ^ Charif, p. 205.
- ^ Charif, pp. 204-205.
Sources
- Charif, Maher, Rihanat al-nahda fi'l-fikr al-'arabi, Damascus, Dar al-Mada, 2000
- Cleveland, William L.: The making of an Arab nationalist. Ottomanism and Arabism in the life and thought of Sati' al-Husri. Princeton, N.J. 1971.
- Dawisha, Adeed. Arab nationalism in the Twentieth Century: From Triumph to Despair, New Edition. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2016.
- Hourani, Albert. Arabic Thought in the Liberal Age 1798-1939. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983.
- Kara, Cevat, "Das Dârülmuallimîn unter Sâtı Bey. Wegbereiter moderner Pädagogik im Osmanischen Reich," in: Yavuz Köse (ed.), Istanbul: Vom imperialen Herrschersitz zur Megapolis. Historiographische Betrachtungen zu Gesellschaft, Institutionen und Räumen, Munich: Meisenbauer, 2006, 264-293
- Moubayed, Sami, The George Washington of Syria: The Rise and Fall of Shukri al-Quwatli, Beirut, Dar al-Zakira, 2005
- Mufti, Malik, Sovereign Creations: Pan-Arabism and Political Order in Syria and Iraq, Ithaca, Cornell University Press, 1996
- Suleiman, Yasir. Arabic Language and National Identity. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2003.
- Tibi, Bassam. Arab Nationalism: Between Islam and the Nation-State, 3rd Edition. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1997.