Well written, well researched and covering a poorly understood, but vitally important culture The Arabs: A History should be required reading for pretty much everyone. Three or four events that I knew well from European history are covered and that’s basically everything I knew about the first 2/3 of the book. The last 3rd I was more familiar with, but there was still a ton I learned about recent history thanks to this book.
Anyway, for the time-starved in the audience, here are a few people I learned about (or learned more about) from this book and thought particularly noteworthy (bios cribbed from wikipedia):
Sayyid Qutb
Sayyid Qutb (Arabic pronunciation: [ˈsajjɪd ˈqʊtˁb]) (also Said, Syed, Seyyid, Sayid, or Sayed; Koteb, Qutub, Kotb, or Kutb) (Arabic: سيد قطب; October 9, 1906[2] – August 29, 1966) was an Egyptian author, educator, Islamist, poet, and the leading intellectual of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood in the 1950s and ’60s.
Author of 24 books, including novels, literary arts’ critique, works on education, he is best known in the Muslim world for his work on what he believed to be the social and political role of Islam, particularly in his books Social Justice and Ma’alim fi-l-Tariq (Milestones). His magnum opus, Fi Zilal al-Qur’an (In the shade of the Qur’an), is a 30-volume commentary on the Qur’an.
Even though most of his observations and criticism were leveled at the Muslim world, Qutb is also known for his disapproval of the society and culture of the United States[3][4] which he saw as obsessed with materialism and violence.[5] Views on Qutb vary widely. He has been described by supporters as a great artist and martyr for Islam,[6][7] but by many Western observers as one who shaped the ideas of Islamists[8] and particularly of terrorist groups such as Al Qaeda[9][10][11][12] Today, his supporters are often identified as Qutbists[13] or "Qutbee", though they do not use the term to describe themselves.
Abdullah Yusuf Azzam
Abdullah Yusuf Azzam (1941 As-ba’ah Al-Hartiyeh, British Mandate of Palestine – November 24, 1989, Peshawar, Pakistan) (Arabic عبدالله عزام) was a highly influential Palestinian Sunni Islamic scholar and theologian, who preached in favor of defensive jihad by Muslims to help the Afghan mujahideen against the Soviet invaders. He raised funds, recruited, and organized the international Islamic volunteer effort of Afghan Arabs through the 1980s, and emphasised the political ascension of Islamism.
He is also known as a teacher and mentor of Osama bin Laden, who persuaded bin Laden to come to Afghanistan and help the jihad,[1] though the two differed as to where the next front in global jihad should be after the withdrawal of the Soviets from Afghanistan.[2][3] He was killed by a bomb blast on November 24, 1989.[4]
Muhammad Ali Pasha
Muhammad Ali Pasha al-Mas’ud ibn Agha (Arabic: محمد علي باشا) (Mehmet Ali Pasha in Albanian; Muhammed Ali Paša in Bosnian; Kavalalı Mehmet Ali Paşa in Turkish)[2] (4 March 1769 – 2 August 1849) was an Albanian who became Wāli, and self-declared Khedive of Egypt and Sudan. Though not a modern nationalist, he is regarded as the founder of modern Egypt because of the dramatic reforms in the military, economic, and cultural spheres that he instituted. The dynasty that he established would rule Egypt and Sudan until the Egyptian Revolution of 1952.
Daher el-Omar
Daher el-Omar (also: Dhaher, Dhahar) (Arabic ظاهر آل عمر الزيداني ẓāhir Āl ʿumar az-zaydānī, born ca. 1690, died August 21, 1775) was the Arab–Bedouin ruler of the Galilee district of the southern Levant during the mid-18th century. The founder of modern Haifa, he fortified many cities, among them Acre (city).
[snip]
Politics and legacy
Daher el-Omar is considered by many Arab nationalists as a pioneer of the Arab liberation from foreign occupation[4]. He succeeded in creating an autonomous territory in the Galilee, helped by the governors of Mount Lebanon (the Vilayet of Tyre), Egypt, Russia, and to some extent the consuls of France.
He is also remembered in reference to his approach to minorities, showing tolerance towards and encouraging Jews and Christians.
Historically, his family, originally from TransJordan, was linked to the Qaissite party to which belonged the governors of Mount Lebanon, the Maans (1518 – 1697) and the Shihabs (1697 – 1842) whose territory included the Galilee. As allies of those powerful governors, members of Daher’s family had been appointed sheiks of some parts of the Galilee since 1518. The autonomy achieved by the governors of Mount Lebanon played an important role in forming the political views of Daher el-Omar.
Through marriage, he sealed the alliances with the Bedouin sheikhs and the prominent notables of Galilee. He encouraged Jewish families to settle in Tiberias around 1742[5]. The newcomers helped him with the influence of their network in Damascus and Istanbul. Also, Daher maintained excellent relationships with the Greek Orthodox church in Nazareth and Acre which secured for him the sympathy and support of Russia. Daher understood early on the importance of a multi-confessional society as a means of prosperity and political support.
Gamal Abdel Nasser
Gamal Abdel Nasser (Arabic: جمال عبد الناصر; Gamāl or Jamāl ‘Abd an-Nāṣir; 15 January 1918 – 28 September 1970) was the second President of Egypt from 1954 until his death. He led the bloodless coup which toppled the monarchy of King Farouk and heralded a new period of modernization and socialist reform in Egypt together with a profound advancement of pan-Arab nationalism.
Nasser is seen as one of the most important political figures in both modern Arab history and Third World politics in the 20th century. Although he was originally met with suspicion after putting the country’s new president, Muhammad Naguib, under house arrest in 1954, he soon gained immense popularity in Egypt and the Arab world when he nationalized the Suez Canal from its British and French stockholders two years later. The consequent British, French, and Israeli invasion of and withdrawal from the canal zone installed Nasser as the decisive victor in the eyes of his people. Meanwhile, he had commenced work on the major projects of the Aswan High Dam in Upper Egypt and the Helwan steelworks. Through his actions and the charisma of his speeches, Nasser’s version of pan-Arabism, also referred to as Nasserism, won a great following in the Arab world. By 1958, he united his country with Syria, forming the short-lived United Arab Republic (UAR). At the same time, he inspired successful and unsuccessful revolutions in several Arab countries.
This period of glory for Nasser quickly dissipated, and three years after the founding of the union, Syria split from the UAR. Afterward, he concentrated on pursuing increased socialist and modernizing measures in Egypt, which included the nationalization of more companies, reforming the al-Azhar Mosque, providing housing and universal health care, and other liberalization schemes. His commanding position among the Arab leaders was also re-established in the wake of Nasserist-led coups and revolutions in Algeria, Iraq, Syria, and North Yemen. The latter dragged him into war in North Yemen as he sent thousands of Egyptian troops to defend the new anti-royalist government. Nasser’s status as "leader of the Arabs" was severely tarnished as a result of the Israeli victory over the Arab armies in the Six Day War of 1967, yet many in the general Arab populace still viewed him as a symbol of their dignity and freedom; when he declared his resignation soon after, tens of thousands of Egyptians immediately protested, prompting him to retract his decision. After 1967, Nasser commenced the War of Attrition with Israel and his strategy of playing the world superpowers—the US and the USSR—against each other ceased as he developed closer relations with the latter.
On September 28, 1970, Nasser died of a heart attack following the conclusion of an emergency Arab League summit he had organized to end the civil war between Palestinian paramilitaries and the Jordanian Army. His funeral procession in Cairo drew five million mourners as many others mourned throughout the Arab world. His mixed legacy has been debated until the present day. Time magazine wrote that despite the mistakes and setbacks of his career, the elevation of dignity and pride Nasser instilled in Egyptians and Arabs everywhere "may have been enough to balance his flaws and failures."[1]
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