Abstract
The Arab world of today consists of twenty-two sovereign and non-sovereign Arab states which are members of the Arab League. With the exception of Morocco and Yemen, the Arab world entered the modern period as part of the Ottoman Empire. This Empire stretched from the Balkans to the Sudan and from Persia to the Atlas Mountains. In the major portion of the Arab provinces of the Empire, government affairs were conducted by a ruling elite of predominantly Turkish origin, while the language of communication among the Arab masses, as well as the language of instruction and culture, remained Arabic. The Turks tried at one time or another, during their rule over the Arab provinces, to displace Arabic with Turkish as a means of communication, but their attempt ultimately ended in failure. The Arab masses viewed themselves as segments of the Islamic Ummah (Community) headed by the Ottoman Caliph, but they committed themselves to the preservation of their Arab cultural identity.
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Notes and References
Philip Hitti, ‘The Impact of the West on Syria and Lebanon in the Nineteenth Century’, Cahiers d’histoire mondiale, 2 (1955), p. 610.
For more information on the history of Arab and Islamic education, see A. L. Tibawi, Islamic Education (London 1972);
Roderic Mathews and M. Akrawi, Education in Arab Countries of the Near East (Washington 1949);
Fahim Qabain, Education and Science in the Arab World (Baltimore 1966);
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A. L. Abd-al-Karim, Tarikh al-Talim fi Misr, 1848–1882 (Cairo 1917);
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Zaydan, ‘Tarikh al-Nahda al-Ilmiya al-Akhira’ (The History of Recent Scientific Awakening), al-Hilal, 9 (1901), p. 202.
On the impact of the French Revolution on Arab and Turkish thought, see Raif Khori, Al-Fikr al-Arbi al-Hadith (Modern Arab Thought) (Beirut 1943);
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On Bulaq Press, see J. Heyworth-Dunne, ‘Printing and Translation under Muhammed Ali of Egypt: The Foundation of Modern Arabic’, Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, 3 (London 1940), pp. 325–49.
On the translation movement, see, Ibrahim Abu-Lughod, Arab Rediscovery of Europe (Princeton 1963);
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For an examination of the first Egyptian student mission to France, see Alain Silvera, ‘The First Egyptian Student Mission to France under Muhammad Ali’, Middle East Studies, 16 (1980), pp. 1–22.
For Turkish students sent to France, see the article by Richard L. Chambers in his collection Beginnings of Modernization in the Middle East in the Nineteenth Century (Chicago 1968).
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S. al-Rifaai, Tarikh al-Sahafa al-Suriya (History of Syrian Press) (Cairo 1967), p. 100.
Philip Tarazi, Tarikh al-Sahafa al-Arabiya (Beirut 1913), 4 vols (hereafter cited as Tarikh al-Sahafa) and
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On this decision see H. Jessup, Fifty-Three Years in Syria (New York 1910), vol. 2, pp. 707–8.
J. Zaydan Tarajim Mashahir al-Sharq (Cairo 1902), pp. 27–34 (hereafter cited as Tarajim).
Quoted in Hisham Sharabi, ‘The Burden of the Intellectuals of the “Liberal Age”’, Middle East Journal, 20 (1966), p. 228. For Tahtawi’s influence and a list of his works, see Ahmad Badawi, Rifat al-Tahtawi Bey (Cairo n.d.), pp. 87–92, 93–149, and Zaydan, Tarajim, pp. 22–26.
On the history and aims of the SPC: al-Muqtataf, 3 (1878), pp. 113–15; ibid. 9 (1885), pp. 633–36; 24 (1904), pp. 866–69 and H. Jessup, Fifty-Three Years in Syria (New York 1910), 2 vols.
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Quoted in Ahmad Seraj al-Din, ‘Al-Haraka al-Tarbawya fi Lubnan wa Suria’ (Educational Movement in Lebanon and Syria), al-Abhath, 19 (1966), p. 333. Throughout this study, all translations are mine, unless otherwise indicated.
A. L. Tibawi, A Modern History of Syria (Edinburgh 1969), p. 142.
K. al-Yaziji, Rowwad al-Nahda al-Arabiya (Beirut 1962), p. 107.
Yusuf Sarkis, a well-known Arab biographer mentioned that a Lebanese by the name of Ibrahim al-Najjar (1822–1864) who studied medicine in Egypt and graduated in 1842 was appointed as a Military Medical Doctor in Beirut. Yusuf I. Sarkis, Muajm al-Matbuat al-Arabiyya wa al-Muarraba (Cairo 1921–31), vol. 1, p. 21 (hereafter cited as Muajm al-Matbuat).
L. Cheikho, ‘Ubil Kulliatuna al-Fidi’ (The Silver Jubilee of Our College), al-Mashriq, 4 (1901), p. 8. Cheikho also wrote on the Golden Jubilee of the College and named 760 medical doctors who graduated from the college during the years 1875–1925. Al-Mashriq, 23 (1925), p. 332.
Cornelius van Dyck (1818–1895) was born in New York where he graduated from medical school. He came to Beirut in 1840 as an American missionary. As part of his work as a medical doctor, van Dyck was active in establishing schools in Syria. When the SPC was founded in 1866, he was appointed a professor of medicine and remained so until his resignation in 1882. Van Dyck wrote many scientific books on chemistry, physics, astronomy and, of course, medical texts. He helped in the translation of the Bible into Arabic. See J. Zaydan, Tarajim Mashahir, pp. 45–51. For more discussion on his life and work, see al-Muqtataf, 9 (1884), pp. 120–21; Yusuf Khouri, ‘Cornelius van Dyck: Mualafatuh al-Ilmiya’ (his scientific work), Al-Abhath, 18 (1965), pp. 389–418.
Lutfi M. Saadi, ‘Al-Hakim Cornelius van Allen van Dyck (1818–1895)’, Isis, 27 (1937), pp. 20–45.
William van Dyck (1857–1939), third son of Cornelius van Dyck, joined the teaching staff of the Medical School of the SPC in 1880. Like his father, he was very active in promoting science among the Syrian population. He contributed many scientific articles to al-Muqtataf and brought Darwin’s books with him to Beirut. He resigned in 1882 but went back to the SPC to teach medicine in 1918, where he remained until 1923. See Nadia Farag, Al Muqtataf 1876–1900: A Study of the Influence of Victorian Thought on Modern Arabic Thought (unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, University of Oxford, 1969), p. 75 (hereafter cited as Influence of Victorian Thought on Arabic Thought).
On his life and work, see Zaydan, Tarajim pp. 239–42; Tarazi, Tarikh al-Sahafa, pp. 116–19; Lutfi M. Saadi, ‘The Life and Work of George Edward Post (1838–1909)’, Isis, 28 (1938), pp. 385–417, al-Hilal, 18 (1910), pp. 222–26.
On the publications of the staff members of the SPC, see Suha Tamim, Bibliography of AUB Faculty Publications 1866–1966 (Beirut 1967).
Antonius, Arab Awakening, p. 51 see also Zaydan, Tarikh Adab al-Lughah al-Arabiyah (Cairo 1911, 4 vols), vol. 4, p. 79 (hereafter cited as Tarikh Adab).
Quoted by Fuad Sarruf, ‘Tatawwar al-Fikr al-Ilmi fi Miat Sana’ (The Development of Arab Scientific Thought) in Nashat al-Arab al-Ilmi fi Miat Sana (Beirut 1963), (Arab Scientific Thought in a Hundred Years), pp. 404–5.
Yusuf Sarkis, ‘Al-jamaya al-Mashriqya fi Beirut’ (Oriental Society in Beirut), al-Mashriq, 12 (1909), pp. 32–38.
On the history and the activity of this institute, see Zaydan, Tarikh Adab, p. 93. Cheikho, ‘Kitab al-Dhab’ (On Golden Jubilee of the Egyptian Scientific Society), al-Mashriq, 3 (1900), pp. 193–201.
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On his work, Hourani, Arabic Thought, pp. 246–247. Thomas Phillip, Gurgi Zaidan: His Life and Thought (Beirut and Wiesbaden 1979).
J. Zaydan, Tarikh al-Tamaddun al-Islami (Cairo 1902);
Zaydan, Al-Arab Qabl al-Islam (Cairo 1908);
Zaydan, Tarikh Adab al-Lughah al-Arabiyah (Cairo 1911).
Although Afghani was not an Arab, his work had a great impact on Arab intellectuals and for this reason he was considered in this study. For the list of his publications, A. Albert Kudsi-Zadeh, Middle Eastern Studies, 2 (October 1965), pp. 66–72.
For his general ideas, M. al-Makhzumi, Khatirat Jamal al-Din (Beirut 1931) (Thought of Jamal al-Din).
For his political activities, Nikki R. Keddie, Sayyid Jamal al-Din al-Afghani: A Political Biography(Berkeley 1971);
S. al-Shahrestani, ‘Al-Sayyid Jamal al-Din al-Asaadabadi’, al-Irfan, 24 (1933), pp. 58–68, 235–40.
The translation of The Refutation from the original Persian into English can be found in N. Keddie, An Islamic Response to Imperialism (Berkeley 1968), pp. 130–74 (hereafter cited as Islamic Response).
On Abduh’s ideas, see Charles C. Adams, Islam and Modernism in Egypt (London 1933), pp. 104–74 and Hourani, Arabic Thought, pp. 130–60.
He had great influence, for example, on Rashid Rida, who wrote a book on Abduh, Tarikh al-Ustadh al-Shaykh Muhammad Abduh (History of Muhammad Abduh) (Cairo 1907).
S. Penrose, That They May Have Life: The Story of the American University of Beirut (New York 1941), p. 70 and Al-Hilal, 25 (1917), pp. 422–26.
Y. Sarruf ‘Dr. Shibli Shumayyil’, al-Muqtataf, 50 (1917), p. 107.
M. Kurd Ali, ‘Al-Ustad al-Aab Louis Cheikho’, Amal al-Majma al-Ilmi al-Arabi, 8 (1928), pp. 231–35.
Published in Cairo in 1947 and translated into English by L. Schuman, The Education of Salama Musa (Leiden 1961).
S. Musa, Tarbiyat Salama Musa (Cairo 1947).
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© 1986 Adel A. Ziadat
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Ziadat, A.A. (1986). Introduction. In: Western Science in the Arab World. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-18345-6_1
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