INTELLECTUAL LIFE IN THE CENTRAL ARAB LANDS OF THE ELEVENTH AND TWELFTH/SEVENTEENTH AND EIGHTEENTH CENTURIES
Many historians attributed the weakness in the intellectual life in the Ottoman Empire to its political system. So, for example, Carl Brockelmann commented, the decay of its power was paralleled by a decline in the intellectual life. None of the sultans and wazirs of the perios had the slightest interest in literature"(1). But to avoid generalization, we may take a quick look at this intellectual life in the Arab provinces.
In Egypt this activity was mainly confined to the institution of al-Azhar which represented both the environment and the centre of this life. While it was not to be considered a fertile or profound centre, it was nevertheless not quite useless, for it did contribute some things of value(2). Usāma al-CĀnūtī, in his study of the literary movement in Bilād al-Shām, argued that it would be a great mistake to consider al-Azhar as the only institution of its kind in the Arab provinces, since it was the the most important among the other institutions which were to be found in Iraq or Syria (3), and which boasted educational centres of Aleppo, Damascus, Jerusalem, and Nablus (4). Gibb and Bowen further specified these centres of education in Syria as existing in mosques, school, and madrasas (5).
In his studies of the literary history of Iraq, CAbbās al-CAzzāwī suggested that in the early Ottoman period, ranging from 941 to 1162/1534 to 1749, literature became neglected generally and poetry was avoided by the intellectuals because their lands had lost their independence and suffered under many harsh events. Poetry was not, however, completely dead and in the following Mamlūk era, which ranged from 1162/1748 to 1247/1831, the educational facilities of the country were improved with the opening of more schools. The Ottoman authorities did not interfere in their methods, but left their management to the care of the domestic authorities. This helped to strengthen the position of the Arabic language, which was flagging in the contest with Turkish and Persian and the improvement in the status of the Arabic language coincided with an improvement in the field of poetry. Poetry also benefited from the encouragement of some political figures of that era. Al-CAzzāwī concluded that the stabilization of the political affairs of the country resulted in the creation of good literary productions manifested in numerous dīwāns and historical accounts (6).
Another literary writer, Ihsān CAbbās, in his critical article Fī al-Adab al-Sūdānī, stated that the literary history of Sudan before the nineteenth century was a gloomy one.
With reference to two books – Tabaqāt Wadd Dayf Allāh and Ta’rīkh Muluk al-Sūdān - CAbbās concluded that it was natural that Egypt and Hejaz should be the two countries which had the greatest effect in the early period of educational awakening in Sudan, since some inhabitants of Sudan travelled to these neighbouring countries and Sudan itself received immigrants from Egypt and Hejaz. The main subject of concerning among the learned in Sudan was fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence), while the educational fields were expanded to include the study of nahw (grammar), Carūd (prosody), mantiq (logic), hadīth (the prophet’s traditions), and tafsīr (commentary on the Qur’ān). In addition to these disciplines, there were some people who became specialists in al-siyyar (biography of the prophet) and ikhbār (information). With this expanding educational curriculum, there arose in time the emergence of the khalwa ("religious hall"), where worship was mixed with learning and as the status of the khalwa increased, the shaykh (chief) of the khalwa became respected as a spiritual figue. His influence on the social life of the nation also meant the spread of Sufism as an important branch of knowledge among the Sudanese people (7).
In Tunisia, the first Husaynī era (1117/1705-1300/1882) was marked by the effort of some princes of the Husaynī family to increase the number of schools and spread education. These efforts led to the emergence of some writers who were promoted to high positions of government (8).
In his introduction to the poetical works of al-Imām al-Shawkānī (9), Husayn CAbd Allāh al-CAmrī sought to examine the intellectual life of the eighteenth century in Yemen and he concluded that it was a fertile one, in spite of the presence of a fanatical group of scholars. He attributed this fertility to the Zaydī school which produced such well-known mujtahidīn (experts in Islamic law) as al-Muqbilī (10), Ibn al-Amīr (11), and al-Shawkānī (12). The traveller M. Neibuhr, who visited Yemen in July 1761, expressed his admiration for the knowledge of the vizier of al Imām al-Mahdī ibn CAbbās (13), whom he called "Fakih Ahmed" (14). In describing his personality and his knowledge, he wrote, "The vizier received us with great politeness, and expressed himself highly pleased with what we shewed him. He put various questions to us, from which he appeared to possess considerable knowledge, and to have studied the sciences with a degree of care far from common among his countrymen… the Fakih knew very well the situation of the different states of Europe, with their respective powers and forces, both by sea and land" (15). Tāhā Husayn also stated that the most notable feature of the intellectual life of the Arabian Peninsula in the eighteenth century was the movement of shaykh Muhammad ibn CAbd al-Wahhāb (16). The Islamic movement which found the support of its allied school of al-Amīr al-SanCanī in Yemen, as mentioned in the previous chapter (17).
History of the Islamic Peoples, tr. J. Carmichael & M. Perlmann (New York, 1947) p. 342f.
Al-Ānūtī might have quoted Gibb abd Bowen’s reference to the educational institutions in the Arab provinces: "As regards the Arab provinces, there is ample evidence of an active educational tradition in CIrâk and Syria no less than in Egypt. It is a totally mistaken view that concentrates upon the college mosque of el-Azhar at Cairo as the only institution of the Kind, although it was undoubtedly the most important (because it was the richest) in the Arabic lands". (I.S.A. the West, vol.I, pt.ii, p. 154).
Muhammad ibn Ali-ibn Muhammad in-Cabd Allāh al-Ahawkānī was born in Shawkān of Bilād khawlān in Yemen in 1173/1760. He was one of the great CUlama' of Yemen and a great faqīh (jurisprudent) of his time. He was appointed as a judgeof the city of SanCā' in 1229/1813, where he died in 1250/1834. See al-AClām, vol. VII, p. 190f. His biography may be found in CAbd al-Hayy ibn CAbd al-Kabīr al-Kittānī, Fahras al-Fahāris wa'-l-Athbat wa- MuCjam al-MaCjim wa'l-Mashyakhat wa'l-Musalsilāt, ed. I. CAbbas, vol. II (Beirut, n.d.) p. 1082-8 (where the date of his death is given as 1255/1839); M. al-MatbūCāt, vol. II, p. 1160f.; & GAL, vol. II, p. 218f.
Salih ibn Mahdī ibn CAlī al-Muqbilī was born in Bilād kawkabān, to the north-east of SanCā' in Yemen. He was a follower of the Zaydī school which, however, he later rejected. He disputed the matter with some masha'ikh of his time, which caused him to emigrate in 1080/1769 to Mecca, where he also died. See al-AClām, vol. III, p. 285.
CAbbās ibn al-Qāsim ibn al-Husayn ibn Ahmad ibn al-Hasan ibn al-Qāsim, known as al-Mahdī, was was born in the city of Ibb in Yemen in 1131/1718. In 1140/1727 he succeeded his father, al-Mansūr Husayn, as Imām (ruler) of Yemen. He died in 1189/1775. See CAbd al-WasiC ibn Yahyā al-WāsiCī al-Yamanī, Furjat al-Humūm wa'l-Huzn fī Hawādith wa-Ta'rikh al-Yaman (Cairo, 1346/1927) p. 58f.
Ahmad ibn CAlī Hādī al-Nahmi al-SabCānī was bornin SanCā' in 1130/1717. He contacted al-Imām al-Mahdī CAbbās ibn al-Husayn (see above) before the latter succeeded ti the government of Yemen, after which al-Mahdī appointed him as his Grand Vizier until his death on Monday the 22nd RabīC al-Thānī 1186/1772. See Muhammad ibn CAlī al-Shawkānī, al-Badr al-TāliC bi-Mahāsin man baCd al-Qarn al-SābiC (Cairo, 1348/1929) p. 92f.
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