The History of Modern Palestine before the Occupation (1900-1948)

The roots of the Palestinian issue .. and the emergence of the Zionist occupation state, and the history of modern Palestine before its occupation

Palestine before the occupation

Palestine before the occupation

Palestine is still the main issue in the Middle East, where its developments are reflected on the neighboring countries and the Arab countries in general. We will try to follow the conflict between the Palestinians and the Arabs with the Zionist project before the establishment of the occupation state.

Since the collapse of the Mamluk state in front of the Turkish armies in the early sixteenth century, a new era has begun, not only for Arabs but for the whole world. The empires of the Arab East, which were under its rule, were replaced by the Ottoman Empire. It has also had great effects on the history of the world, but most importantly, the Middle East is considered one of the largest areas of international conflict since then. The Arabs did not congratulate the independence celebrations of the Turkish state until they came under French, English and Italian occupation. These, L. To extract the liver of the Levant and to establish the occupying state of Israel in occupied Palestine.

In this article, we will review the most important historical stages in the Palestinian cause, from the beginning of the twentieth century, until the establishment of the occupying state, through the Arab and international agreements in this period, as well as the Palestinian and Arab movements against the establishment of the State of Israel.

1

Palestine under Ottoman rule

The Ottomans took control of the Levant after the defeat of the Mamluks in the Battle of Marj Dabak in August 1516, dividing Palestine into five areas: Sanjak, Safad, Nablus, The Ottomans maintained the Islamic identity of Palestine on the grounds that the Ottoman Empire was the Islamic Caliphate State. Many of the features of Jerusalem and the facilities of the Al-Aqsa Mosque were restored during the reign of the Ottoman Empire. This remained true until the last years of the ninth century Ten, which witnessed the birth of the Zionist movement, by repudiation (The Jewish State), to the Austrian Jewish journalist Theodor Herzl, the first Zionist Congress was held in Basel, Switzerland, in the last three days of August 1897.

The new century and the birth of Zionism

After Zionism held its first conference, the Zionists announced the establishment of the (World Zionist Organization), as they openly declared their goal of establishing (a national homeland for the Jews in the land of Palestine), through several steps, most notably:

Encourage Jewish immigration to Palestine.

And the establishment of the Jewish Agency that will sponsor this transition.

The new century began with Zionist attempts to obtain international support for the establishment of the Promised Land in the Promised Land, where Herzl conducted extensive contacts with several international parties, the most important of which was the Ottoman Sultan Abdul Hamid II, but the Sultan's response came decisive in 1901. "I can not give up About one inch of the land of Palestine ... ", and Herzl died in 1904, before seeing the results of his work, but Zionism did not die then, but continued to strive to reach Palestine, especially since Sultan Abdel Hamid imposed many restrictions on the migration of Jews to Palestine, and the sale and purchase

2

World War I ended with the division of the Levant

The laws of Abdelhamid II regarding limiting the arrival of Jews to Palestine remained in force. Some scholars doubt the sincerity of his intentions. Jordanian researcher Fadwa Nusairat published the book "The Role of Sultan Abdul Hamid II in Ottoman Facilitation of Zionist Control of Palestine" (1876-1909) The Sultan, but it is hard to say that immigration control laws continued to be overthrown by the Turkish Union and Progress Party of 1909.

Still, some analysts consider that there is a link between the Union and the Progressive Movement and the Zionist movement, especially that the promotion did not destroy the Sultan's regime; it was the allegiance of Sultan Muhammad - the brother of Sultan Abdul Hamid - and continued the Ottoman Empire (the sick man) until the outbreak of World War I in 1914, The British and the French by counting the property of the Ottoman Empire, including Palestine, where the English troops arrived in Rafah, and expelled the Turkish soldiers in 1917, to bring Palestine from the Ottoman occupation to the English occupation.

The Ottoman Empire ended the era of the Turkish father Kemal Ataturk, where the arrival of Ataturk to the rule of Turkey, the end of the link between Arabs and Turks, whether religious or other, modern Turkey is very different from the Sultanate, which considered Arabs an important part of its power, Are on the agenda of modern Turkey.

3

Sykes Pico and the Balfour Declaration

The Arabs participated in the First World War in order to obtain their independence. The Ottoman Empire had also continued its oppression, especially during the reign of Gamal Pasha, the murderer of Damascus, who was preoccupied with killing. Even the Syrians and the Lebanese still celebrate the Martyrs' Day. In commemoration of the fighters executed by the thief in the public squares.

As for the Great Arab Revolt, it was led by Sharif Hussein, the captain of Hegaz, along with his son Faisal, where they managed to mobilize the people of the Levant and the Hijaz to stand by the Allies in their war with the Turks in exchange for the independence of the Arab countries. , And the Levant after the defeat of 1918. But Communist Russia betrayed the secret of the Allies in 1917, when it revealed the secret of the Sykes-Picot Agreement, a French-English treaty signed in May 1916, Sham and Iraq, between France and Britain, coupled with the Balfour Declaration, presented by the Minister of Foreign Affairs Yeh Albraita(Arthur Balfour) to the Jews on November 2, 1917, supporting the establishment of their racist state in Palestine. The British and the French tried to anesthetize the Arabs after they discovered these agreements, until the end of the war. 4. The Conference of Reconciliation, Versailles Conference In 1919, after the end of the First World War, the Allies sat at the dialogue table to share the legacy of the Ottomans and the harvest of the war, known as the Versailles Conciliation Conference of France in 1919, June of the same year, Prince Fis was He also sent a memorandum to the conference explaining the right of the Arabs to self-determination, as well as the preservation of Syria's unity (including Syria, Lebanon and Palestine with the east of the Jordan River), as stated by Dr. Hassan Halaq in his book (Palestine in international and Arab conferences): "... Palestine, the vast majority of the Arab and Jewish population is ethnically linked to the Arabs, and there is no difference between the two peoples in the creation and the benefits. We Jews, in principle, are one people. The Arabs can not take responsibility for maintaining a balance in the event of a collision between the different "The Arab opposition was clear regarding the division of Syria and the establishment of the Jewish state in Palestine. It was clear in the streets, in all political movements, in addition to official letters, but the royal government in the region, England, had decided with the Allies the fate of this region in advance, and all I tried to do in this period, is to tame the feelings of the Arabs, and to gain time until the Jews to establish their state, and among the attempts to procrastinate, was the King - The Arabs rejected the Zionist project (Joined the First World War in 1917) Committee to meet the demands of the Arab peoples, named the King-Crane Commission relative to its members Monday, and arrived in the Levant in June 1919, remained roaming the cities of Syria and Palestine about The report also pointed out that "72% of the petitions filed by the Syrian region confirm the hostility with the Zionist movement and categorically reject the possibility of establishing a homeland." National of the Jews on the land of Palestine " Najliz in the Syrian region confirmed that the national homeland that Zionism dreamed of can not be established except by force of arms, so the idea should be put aside (note as mentioned by Hassan al-Hakim in his book pages from the history of modern Syria), and recommended the establishment of restrictions on the immigration of Jews, That the number did not exceed fifty thousand, compared to 650 thousand Arabs in Palestine.6 The British proved their fulfillment of their promises to the JewsThe Arab efforts to independence continued through several letters to the governments of the allies, as well as the Syrian and Palestinian conferences, all of which emphasized the unity of the region, , But society d The Arab project did not have enough wisdom and organization to deal with the great calamities, especially after the Ottoman rule for four centuries, but it did not stop at the calls and the distress, as tensions began to increase among the Arabs And Jews in Palestine in the early 1920s, including the events of Jaffa in May of the same year, which resulted in the deaths of dozens of Arabs and Jews, and the Jews tried in the subsequent period to attract Arabs to their ranks, where Dr. Emil Luka writes in his book Palestinian conflict) on the treatment of Jews with the events of Jaffa: "In this Once again, the Zionist leadership accused the English security forces of the work and promoted the myth of the Arab Afandis who incite the Arab destitute over the Jews because of the loss of their privileges and pretended that the issue is no more than the issue of the Zionist custodian who wants to build the country, Which insists on the survival of the country swamps. " But this did not work, and the British also tried to reassure the Arabs, and the Palestinian and Syrian delegations, but the latter used to invoke the countries back and forth to demand rights based on the promises of the Allies before the war. However, all these efforts ended with the British Mandate officially declaring Palestine in 1922. In accordance with the Mandate Act of July 1922, the League of Nations decided to place Palestine under the British Mandate. It issued a twenty-seven article confirming Britain's commitment to "establish a national homeland for the Jewish people in Palestine, To understand clearly not to perform To the detriment of the religious and temporal rights enjoyed by the non-Jewish groups now in Palestine. "Thus Britain stripped Arabs of their rights in Palestine, considered them guests of the racist occupation state, and the Jews began to prepare for a future bloody phase, Arab history is dark.7 The Al-Buraq revolution was triggered by the Jewish attacks on the Buraqasad Wall. The relative calm between Arabs and Jews between 1925 and 1928 was mainly due to the economic crisis in Europe, which eased Jewish immigration to Palestine. With alexa And the religious conflict began to unfold, until bloody clashes broke out between Arabs and Jews against the backdrop of Jewish claims and attacks on the Al-Buraq Al-Sharif Wall, which they called the Wailing Wall, and claimed that it was a remnant. HeckSuleiman al-Muqaddam, the clashes led to casualties on both sides, but the Mandatory government sided with the Jews and arrested the Palestinian youths. Three of them were executed the following year: Muhammad Khalil Jamjoom, Fuad Hijazi and Atta al-Zeer. The only reason, but the increasing pressure of Jewish immigration to Palestine, in addition to the expansion of Jewish property in the territories and homes, led to congestion in the Palestinian Arab street, resulting in the revolution of the mentioned Buraq.8 The world was burning in the mid-thirties of the twentieth century for the arrival of Adolf Hitler Ruling Germany, explaining the situation In addition to the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, the occupation of Ethiopia by Fascist Italy, and the emergence of the seeds of the Second World War, all these events were between 1933 and 1936. Syria also witnessed large protests, Palestine was under the pressure of Jewish immigration, and the transfer of feudal property to the Jews, which led to the displacement of the Palestinian peasants (the Marbians), and their expulsion from their lands, and increased unemployment as a result of all this tension, and fled the labor organizations and socialism from the scene. Izz al-Din a In 1838, he began to launch armed operations against the British until they were able to reach him in his hiding place in Jenin. There were violent clashes between them and ended with the martyrdom of the Qassam Brigades and some of his comrades. The revolution of 1936, even called the Qassam revolution, or the Great Palestinian Revolution. The most prominent events of the Great Palestinian RevolutionThe leadership of the revolution Sheikh Farhan al-Sa'di, succeeding Sheikh Izz al-Din al-Qassam, and the Great Palestinian revolution began on April 15, 1936, the assassination of two Jews On the Nablus-Tulkarm road, and then broke out And the people stopped paying taxes. This revolution lasted until October 12 of the same year, but it was a temporary halt, awaiting the outcome of the negotiations being conducted by the Higher Arab Committee Under the leadership of the Mufti of Jerusalem, Sheikh Amin al-Husseini. The revolution was resumed in September 1937, after all political efforts to stop Jewish emigration failed, and the decision to divide Palestine into two states, Arab and Jewish, came back to the expectations of the British and Jews. Strongly, and extended to wider areas, k Which has become centers outside the borders of Palestine for the organization and assistance, so that the British began to hunt down all wearing the headband and kaffiyeh (the dress of the Palestinian farmer), because of the assassinations carried out by the Casamians within the cities, but the Revolution Council issued a directive to the Palestinian people, The revolution continued until the beginning of World War II in 1939, when the British sensed the coming of the war and wanted to liquidate the rebellion in Palestine. They conducted a sweeping sweep of the Palestinian villages and cities, reoccupied most of the liberated places, and lost Th Most of its leaders, to stop in September 1939.9 The Hebrew State of the Zionist criminal gangs founded the Zionists in Palestine a group of armed gangs, which followed the organization of street gangs, and the weapon came to them with the knowledge of the English, or without their knowledge, day and night, The Haganah gang was one of the first armed Zionist gangs. It was also the military arm of the World Zionist Organization. It was founded in 1921, as an alternative to a former organization with a few dozen members. The first (Hashomer) is h The Haganah is the main nucleus of the Israeli enemy army that formed after the Nakba. Among its most prominent figures were Polish Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, the director of the subsequent invasion of Lebanon in 1982, and Yitzhak Rabin, the architect of peace with Jordan and the Palestinian Authority in the 1990s. In 1927, Irgun Tihomi decided to form a military faction independent of the Haganah in 1931, called Irgun or the National Military Organization of Israel. The Irgun Gang was more c. After the Zionist-Zionist Menachem Begin took over the presidency in 1942 (peacemaker with Egypt in the seventies), and carried out many military operations against the British, and hit them their interests in Palestine, was the most prominent operations Arjun bombing of the Prophet David Hotel Jerusalem, July 22, 1946, which resulted in the deaths of more than ninety people, mostly civilians, including fifteen Jews and sixteen British, and the rest of the Palestinians. The bombing of the British Embassy in Rome, on the twenty-ninth of December / December 1947, to be Arjun so, p And the damage of the Second World War played a major role in the abandonment of the entire region in favor of the Zionist gangs that established their racist state immediately after the British left. The Stern Gang founded it in 1960 by splitting it from the Haganah as well, For the freedom of Israel, but known by his name (Stern), where this gang joined with Irgun policy, which requires the removal of the British from Palestine by force, perhaps for fear of failure to meet the British promises, these gangs exploited the period of World War II, and military collapses in Europe, It carries out a series of operations against the English and Arabs, and membersThe Polish prime minister Yitzhak Shamir, who was the prime minister of the enemy when the Iraqi army bombed the occupied territories, the period of the second Gulf War 10. The Zionist gangs overtook the Arab armies. The English were able to continue to occupy Palestine. The United Kingdom was no longer the same, (English colonies), and equipped the Second World War on the ability of the English military, in addition to the pressure of Zionist gangs inside the Palestinian, England resorted to the United Nations, which adopted on 29 November 1947, a decision to divide The Arabs rejected the decision at the summit of the Arab League held in Syrian Bloudan on June 8, 1946, and the League announced the formation of the Arab Salvation Army, but the Zionists accepted the solution, And continued to organize the terrorist operations that targeted the Arabs and the British until Britain announced its withdrawal from Palestine on May 14, 1948. The announcement of the establishment of the State of Israel a few hours later on the fifteenth of the same month, Palestinian conflict, and the date of the beginning of the war The Arab Salvation Army, consisting of seven regiments led by Fawzi al-Qaouqji, was launched from several axes along the Palestinian border with the neighboring countries. The liberation battles began on the day when the Israeli occupation was declared. It is hoped that until the Security Council imposed the first truce for four weeks, from June 11 to July 10, the Arabs resumed their fight with the Zionist gangs, but on different terms. The Zionist gangs exploited the truce period, To enhance its financial and military capabilities, The Arab army was also equipped with corrupt weapons and ammunition that was not suitable for military use. The gangs were able to make significant progress since the first day of the resumption of the fighting. Negotiations began on Rhodes Island at the end of that year and ended with the signing of ceasefire agreements between the modern state and the states. The Arab participation in the fighting was between February and July 1949, to turn history into a dark page, and to open a darker one. Finally, it was a difficult period in which the whole Arab world, and Palestine in particular, Reflecting on the political and social reality of the Arabs, Some of the researchers consider that the existence of the Israeli occupying state is responsible for the existence of totalitarian and individual regimes, as well as the suffering of our people in occupied Palestine, as a result of the continuous attacks on their rights, sanctities and lives. 1967 and the subsequent wars and massacres committed by Israel against the Palestinian people. 10 Photographs of Life in Palestine Before the birth of Israel 6 months ago, the Palestinian Museum launched the "Family Album" project to explore the photographic treasures held by Palestinians in their homes, G Aya for Palestinian history, culture and society. Family photographs are not only a way of documenting precious family moments, but rather a collective memory of events, places and social patterns, reducing political events and important historical moments. In the past, the museum has documented more than 3,500 digital photographs by conducting 85 interviews with Palestinian families in West Bank, Jerusalem and Palestinian towns and villages before completing the project in the Gaza Strip and in the diaspora, hoping that this photo collection is a rich material for researchers and interested During its availability on cyberspace during the coming period. The opening of the second Arab exhibition was an industrial exhibition in the Palace Hotel's hall. Jerusalem, 1934. From the album of Said al-Husseini © The Palestinian Museum: Life in Palestine Before the Creation of Israel - 1 photo of Abdel Salam al-Barqawi from Jenin (center) with a group of children who adopted part of their education. He is known to have supported the Palestinian revolution in the 1920s and 1930s and his resistance to the purchase of land by Zionist organizations. He was assassinated in 1937. Haifa, 1920. From the album of Wafa Mari © The Palestinian Museum: Life in Palestine Before the Creation of Israel 9 British Army entry into Jerusalem, Bab al-Khalil, 1917. From the album of Said al-Husseini © The Palestinian Museum. Life in Palestine before the birth of Israel. Jerusalem, 1925-1929. From the album of Jamil al-Husseini © The Palestinian Museum - Life in Palestine Before the Creation of Israel - 7 Youssef Abdel Fattah Ghazal from Nablus He was a mujahideen in the Holy Jihad Army with Abdul Qadir al-Husseini, fought in the Battle of Qastal and was wounded. He later settled in Kuwait. The place is unknown, 1930-1939. From the album of Nabila al-Nabulsi © The Palestinian Museum - Life in Palestine before the birth of Israel - 6 The annual photo of the family of Spridon Sarouf. Jaffa, 1928. From album Abla and Alfred Tubasi © The Palestinian Museum: Life in Palestine before the birth of Israel 3 - Haj Amin al-Husseini (right) with his nephews during his service in the Ottoman army. The place is unknown, 1914-1917. From the album of Said al-Husseini © The Palestinian Museum of Life in Palestine before the emergence of Israel - 5 unit against the Zionist Stern Gang, belonging to the British Mandate. 1945-1948. From the album Fatin Jabir © The Palestinian Museum. Life in Palestine before the emergence of Israel - 8 Fayez Khammash family, who was an officer in the Palestinian police. Haifa, 1935. From the album Ershid family. © The Palestinian Museum - Life in Palestine before the emergence of Israel - 10 groups of political figures participating in the Palestinian Arab delegationThe first to Britain, including Musa Kazem al-Husseini (sitting to the right), 1921. From the album of Said al-Husseini © The Palestinian Museum.

Babel Civilization

The political and administrative system

Known in the Babylonian monarchy hereditary system, rarely enjoy the kings of absolute sovereignty, Royal Houalemrkz administrative Vakasr alongside the Temple, and with the claim of the Kings that the gods are chosen to govern the country, and authorized them to act in parish affairs, did not Aalhoa themselves, as did the others, and the King he decides adult staff at the palace tasks limits. As it was costing them military Bloamal days of the war. King did not have a loose titles such as King of the four regions that were common in the Akkadian kingdom, but they were satisfied the title of "Great King," "strong king," as Hammurabi called himself the title of "sponsor parent." And it was. The minister ( "Suklo") to assist the King, and the conservative "Rpejanon" (rabiianum, the Great) manages the provinces and territories on behalf of the king. Then spread the name "Khozaanm / Khoznm" him. And it had to various management personnel to be able to write, so they often refer to them as a writer for "Tabhro" (Tubxharru, book), and turned the palace Agriculture and temple affairs. As they had to land a measure of the property owners or tenant farmers, and monitor animal and hunting husbandry affairs, and found staff responsible for organizing major and maintenance of water channels, and the establishment of barriers and dams on the rivers, and ordered the collection of taxes and fees of various merchants and owners of different professions were located on the responsibility of tax collectors. " Max "(makisu).

Ancient Babylonian State

Babel was founded by Amorites (1894- 1830 BC), led by "Somo- Ibom", which start building a wall around Babylon he called "bounties Enlil" (Amgeor-Enlil Imgur-Enlil), and he finished his successor built "Somo- not - El" ( Sumu-la-El). The Hammurabi, the sixth king of the Babylonian, were alerted early to the political situation of the city-states in the region in ancient times, and exploited it with tact through his control of the trade route at the narrowest area between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, making Babylon one of the most important cities of the Orient then, and the susceptibility of Elam and Subartu and those of Ashnuna, became Hammurabi Mr. Ashur, too. The opening Larsa stretched state to include areas that were Sumerian and Akkadian state lands, bringing the Babylonian state became the strongest in Mesopotamia. Hammurabi has proved his experience in foreign policy, can create as many irrigation and buildings systems, and governing the country according to the penal code to collect chapters known as the law of Hammurabi, who was caught PROCEDURE (282 legal substance) laws that included all social strata, I have written the provisions of this law on the monument and figure It offered in the cities, and raise the Hammurabi Lord Murdoch to the rank of chief god of Babylonia.

With the beginning of flesh "Hamsho- Ilona" (Šamšu-iluna) son of Hammurabi began to rebel movements permeated the cities of the south, what Adharh to fight in Marak several, but the control of Babylon on the region started to weaken with time, as these internal rebellions foreign invasions contributed to the loss of Babel their capacity to adjust Babylonia, and ended the State of ancient Babylon with the invasion of King Alehita Morchila first (Muršili I), who ruled between (1604-1594 BC) to the city of Babylon.

Babylonian rulers subsequent

Considered the subsequent period to the era of the ancient Babylonian state of the dark periods in the history of the scarcity of written sources, they were sentenced Kushans Babylonian period 400 years, has lent the influence of the state from the Euphrates to the Zagros and made it in the 15th century BC regional power between the old world powers wearer of countries recital and Almitanip and Egyptian. This was followed by a short period to the beginning of the Assyrian tide affects Babylonia.

In the year 1155 BC attacked Elam Babylon area and entered the city of Babylon itself and destroyed and looted, and loot was obelisk famous Code of Hammurabi, which developed in the city of Sousse.

In the year 1137 BC was able "Nebuchadnezzar first" King of Essen, a city of exclusion rulers Alcahien second Essen strain and the inauguration of the rulers to the Babylonian, also fought against Elam and destroyed the city of Sousse and returned the obelisk of Hammurabi in Babylon, and the attempts of Nebuchadnezzar the first to expand the influence of Babylon has watched and Thbttha State Assyrian, though he did not get a direct confrontation between the two states, but soon included the Assyrian state of Babylon was destroyed and did not affect the temples, which was considered sacrilege. As a pair, "Houlmano- Acharid" third son "Hamsha- Adad" V Princess of the Babylonian "Hmiromat" known under the name of Semiramis, who ruled after her husband Assyrian State for four years death. He also "Tocolta- Abeli- indicated" the third crowned himself in Babylon after the unrest took place there, and thus unite the royal crown of Babylon and Assyria for the first time in history and in response to attempts Babylonian preparing to belong to the rule of Assyria and with the help of Elam, the "O. Ohai- Iriba" ( Snharib in Altnach) in the year 689 BC Bmhajh city of Babylon and its destruction, has tried his son "Achur- Ohai- our hands" (Esarhaddon in Altnach) to rebuild the city and restore the old grandeur, but the political Assyrian changed the direction of Babylon after him, and the consequences have been wars and destruction In the year 648 BC, was the city's surrender to Lemke "Achur- Bana- apli" after being besieged for two years.

State Babylonian modern

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He ascended the military commander Nbo- Abla- insisted in 625 BC. The throne of Babylon opened the modern era of the Babylonian state, it has united the Babylonian groups and alliance with the Medes, who succeeded Elam in control of the areas in the east of Babylon, where the two countries held a kind of treaty as son married Nbo- Abla- insisted Hvidt King MIDI, and through this Alliance can become the face of Assyria and even go about Nineveh, the capital of Assyria, where they fell in the year 612 BC, after a siege that lasted three months. After the death of Nbo- Abla- insisted rule "Nebuchadnezzar" II (605-562 BC), who demonstrated outstanding capabilities as a statesman and military leader and peacemaker and the owner of a huge building projects, Nebuchadnezzar has enabled in the custody of all the cities of the country to rebuild its temples and motherR. hard-water channels and build a fence known fence MIDI Ishtar Gate Alshahyrh.akhadda Nebuchadnezzar West Fertile Crescent regions (the Levant) and the imposition of the Almmlk and Alamrat and cities tribute performed to Babylon, and attacked the cities that tried to revolt, as happened with Oorslam where destroyed and the transfer of some of its population to Babylon and Babylonian. After the death of Nebuchadnezzar in the year 562 BC, succeeded by his son, "Nbo- Choma- Akin" (Nabû-šuma-ukîn) who changed his name to the man Murdoch, "Murdoch Aml-" (Amel-Marduk), but that his reign lasted only two years where neighbor turned against him military commander "Nrjal- Chara- Asour" (Nergal-šarra-usur) and wrested the throne from him. The sharp tendencies with priests to enable "Nabonidus" (Nbo- Na- hands Nabû-nā'id), who was a slave Deus Seine to assuming the throne of Babylon in 556 BC, was "Nbonid" tried to curb the priests of the god Marduk, what brought a lot of problems in the redistribution of agricultural land and organize Ojaratha.turk "Nbonid" the process of the state headquarters for his son "BULL Haro- Asour"

Kuwait's history

Urban presence in the Kuwait area stretching back more than four thousand years also indicate the remnants of cultural monuments found in Almntqh- due to the location of Kuwait's unique that makes them ring land and sea link between the parts of the world Alkadim- center gathering and distribution of civilizations Mokhtlvh- and signed an important strategic controls in the corridor to those civilizations and Alosoaq- Kazma (it was one of the old names for the region) station for the next convoys from Persia and Mesopotamia to the east of the island and Dakhlha- and was for a long time the trade link between the Indian Ocean and the Levant world and Europe- then the confluence of a point the longest trade routes of the ancient world and the most important. Failaka as they were with their own wells and fresh water station commercial vessels that connect the ports located at the head of the Gulf and the rest of the southern parts of it on its way to Oman, India and East Africa.

The Abbasid Caliphate ruled over the Islamic world, making it one of the influential and longest Islamic dynasties. During the rule of Umayyad, the Abbasids came in a rebellion with the help of coalition of various forces which were unhappy with the rule of Umayyad. Once the Abbasids were in power they continued with many policies that were built by Umayyad. One thing that made unique the Abbasids than the Umayyads was that the Abbasids embrace Persian culture and moved the capital to the new city to the Baghdad while the Abbasid had grown and faced rise as well as fall in the caliphate that are linked to diversity in terms of ethnicities and culture as their openness to Non Muslims also. This period is considered as the most successful and golden age for the Islamic culture.

Islam after the death of Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H) spread far and wide and was accepted by different people of different languages, culture and lands. Hence it became enriched by the intellectual contribution of many individuals and communities in various diverse fields of learning such as philosophy, literature, law, theology, arts, mysticism and natural science. Thus, Islam was elaborated in a multitude of forms and interpretations and by the 1oth century, it completely flourished as a civilization

To discuss the significance of these issues, a seminar entitled INTELLECTUAL TRADITIONS IN ISLAM was organized by the institute of Ismaili studies at the Mellor centre, Churchill College, university of Cambridge during 14-20 august 1994.

This book contains the edited and reviewed versions of the papers presented at the seminar excluding Professors M. Mahdi, M. Arkoun and A Sachedina's contributions.

The report is an overview of all the essays presented in this book excluding the essay Some Observations on the Religious Intellectual Milieu of Safawid Iran by John Cooper and Present Day Islam Between its Tradition and Globalization by Mohammed Arkoun. It discusses all the key points and topics addressed by different authors in their respective essays.

The concepts and the key points described in the book are discussed below with respect to each chapter:

The introduction is the key note address which was presented at the seminar by Dr. Aziz Esmail. He in his essay explores the key concepts of "Intellectual Life", "Tradition" and "Islam".

He raises many questions about concept of an intellectual life. He asks about the designation and position of an intellectual in the society. He asks whether the intellectual thoughts and the intellectual themselves are very distantly placed from the society. He further confronts the readers by asking questions such as what is the place of intellect in one's persona. What is the relationship of intellect with feelings, character and most importantly with the faith of a person? He further explores the role of intellectual life in the development of personality and character and in the making of identity of a person. He asks what is the relation of intellect in our daily lives. What is its relation to one's relationship with God? How does it effect the relation of an individual with its society? Does the intellect enable any participation in the society or does it retards it? He confronts the readers with such questions and enables them to think, to review and to divulge in his thoughts.

Furthermore, he deals with the concept of tradition and traditionalism. He defines the relationship of old age and youth with tradition. He says that the old age identifies with the past whereas the youth has a relationship of dependence of defiance with the past. He identifies the different models of schooling which provide the basis of relationship of an individual with his traditions. The author explains that the tradition becomes an object of anxiety and attention when it ceases to work not when it is actually at work. He says that you can't find the idea of traditionalism or tradition in traditional societies. He explains that the main confronting question facing the people today is that in this world which is characterized by a pluralism of tradition which tradition one should uphold? The other question is what is the future of any traditions in such a rapidly changing world?

When the author talks about Islam he asks the meaning of Islam. He also asks what is the relationship of past and present in Islam. The author describes the challenge of relativism in today's world. Relativism says that all doctrines, ideas and values can be explained by reference to time and place. But if all ideas and values are thus explained, one's confidence in upholding a single culture or tradition is shattered. The author says that today the culture is becoming a supermarket of ideas, values and doctrines where one chooses according to taste not according to objective essence. It the past, community came first and the individuals second, today, the scenario is opposite. Today, in such a pluralistic world, there is a need of a genuine mutual appreciation between faiths. The author says that engagement with other faiths doesn't mean to surrender, for criticism too is a form of engagement. How Islamic theology may engage with the modern world without becoming a prisoner of the modern understanding of modernity is one of the major challenges facing Islamic thought today?

The author in his essay surveys the intellectual life of the Muslims in the first four centuries of Islam. He also describes the development of the intellectual life in this era. He explains that the first main issue that confronted the Muslims after the death of Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H) was that of the leadership of the community. People raised many questions such as who should lead the community. How they should be chosen and what powers they should enjoy? There were two different groups of people who had two different view points. One group believed that the leadership should be inherited by the Ahl al-Bayt (family of the Prophet). The other idea that found favor was that of a tribal Sheikh.

The early Islamic intellectuals faced a very important issue that how they were going to preserve and record the utterances and deeds of the Holy Prophet (P.B.U.H) and his companions, secondly, they faced the issue of explanation of Quran & Sunna to the new Muslims who were Non-Arabs. Consequently, a whole series of sciences developed in order to solve these problems.

These sciences include grammar, genealogy, poetry and history and were known as the Islamic sciences. Grammar was a part of such sciences. It became the essential constituent of all the intellectual activities as it was vital to understand the basis of religion. Science of genealogy also found its way in the minds of the Muslims intellectuals. It was used to establish relations between different tribes and people. To understand the Quran completely, it was equally important to learn the language and thoughts of the Prophet's contemporaries. So, poetry of pre-Islamic Arab and the early days of Islam became a very important part of the Muslim Intellectual life. History was another aspect of systematization of learning. Historical writing came into form just due to the need to record the life of the Prophet (P.B.U.H) and the events of the Islamic conquests.

The non-Islamic sciences that Muslims were concerned with were medicine, philosophy, astrology and astronomy. All these sciences were brought into the Islamic tradition by translations made from Greek language in the 9th century. The Muslims in the early era of Islam pursued only those sciences that they thought were practically useful for them. Philosophy was studied by Muslims because it was required for analysis of arguments and logic study of medicine was required for obvious reasons. Astronomy and astrology were regarded as practical sciences by Muslims because many of them believed in the influence of planets on people's lives.

The author highlights that in the early intellectual life of Islam certain subjects were studied because they were perceived to be useful and there was no structure of intellectual life for there did not exists any academic profession. Thus, in the first four centuries of Islam, there was no institutional frame work for intellectual life; people who were engaged in such activities lived on their private income.

Overall, the Muslims in the four centuries of Islam were pre-occupied by Islamic sciences which developed from just being recordings of the early days of Islam to becoming immensely rich intellectual work.

The author in his essay describes the development of scientific & philosophical enquiry in the Muslim history. The author says that after the death of Prophet Mohammad (P.B.U.H), the Islamic empire expanded and extended to the various parts of Middle East where a variety of civilization were established for a very long time. The new Muslim rulers came into contact with people who had very sophisticated ideas about theology, medicine, astronomy and mathematics. Now they had to decide whether to reject this kind of learning or to study it. They chose to study it and learn from it and as a result a pluralistic society of different cultures and religious was formed

There were basically two reasons for using the discoveries and theories which were present in the Middle East at that time. One was the need to argue and debate with the people of other religions and to persuade them to become Muslims. It was necessary to use the methodologies of the older religious to defend Islam and to prove to people what improvements Islam has brought.

The other rational for using science and philosophy of existing cultures was a practical one. When the Muslims came to Syria, Iraq and later on Persia, they found out that those people had a high standard of living. They were relatively more educated and healthy. They had better management skills. The Muslims wanted to learn how they achieved this state of affairs. This resulted in a great deal of interest in early Islamic world for philosophical, scientific and medical discoveries which were all around them.

The author further explains that these new communities had a bulk of philosophical works especially those of Aristotle and Plato. Philosophy is all about the ability to debate, to argue. There was a great demand by the people for philosophical material with which they could persuade others about the validity of their point of views. The philosophical literature was widely read in the first few centuries of Islam and great evidence of scientific work is also found.

The author further explains that to the positive approach of the philosophers, thinkers and intellectuals towards ancient philosophy and science, the ulama had a different approach. They thought that if the Muslim intellectuals were forming a philosophy based on the philosophies of Plato and Aristotle then they were developing a philosophy based on pagan thought. They thought that Islam in itself contains the solutions of all the problems faced by the people. They argued that we need not approach ancient Greek philosophy for solutions of our

problems. But the philosophers thought that if something is good or true there is no harm in incorporating it in our daily lives.

The author says that the questions that arose as a result of all this debate were: how much is it acceptable for one to borrow from a culture that is not one's own? How far could Muslims incorporate secular knowledge in their own culture and still maintain their culture?

The above mentioned debate was a dispute about who would sort out the theoretical problems of the Islamic world. Would it be the philosophers inspired by the Greek science and philosophy, or would it be the ulama and the fuqaha, the traditional Islamic scholars and jurists?

I would like to focus on the historical perspectives of the rational tradition in Islam. The author points out in the start of his essay that whenever in history Muslims including scientists, philosophers and mystics tried to express themselves, they had to use reason.

The author traces back the history of rationalism from the age of enlightenment and the French revolution in European culture and history in the 17th and 18th centuries. It happened that some learned encyclopaedists started destructive rationalism by trying to get rid of religion and religious ideas, thoughts and prejudices. They wanted to establish a society that is purely based on reason.

The author asks a question: how the rational tradition arose in Islam in the first place? He replies by saying that it arose after the death of the Prophet (P.B.U.H.) when Islam and Muslims faced the crisis of leadership. The question: who has the claim to rule Muslim religious community after the Prophet (P.B.U.H.)? Is it by the prophet's designation of an imam or is it by election? The origin of Islamic religious thought and theology is based on this question. And, thus, begins the whole process of rationalism in Islam.

Within the tradition and knowledge that came in from other cultures and societies to Muslims, the concept or idea of Neoplatonism also found its way. Neoplatonism is the theory that speaks of god as something that is hard to understand, that is above and beyond reason. Thus, Neoplatonism provided the revealed religions with a support. It taught them that the divinity is active; it's not just a mind it is something that acts and causes things to be.

Now as the rationalist ideas began to develop, the contradictions between the rationalists and the fundamentalists began. One illustration of rationalism in Islam was Abu Bakr Muhammad al-Razi, the physician who opposed all forms of human authority in matters of religious knowledge, even that of the prophet. He completely opposed prophecy and criticized religion. He proposed that organized religion was a device used by the evil men to establish their rule over mankind and that it leads to violence, conflicts and wars.

The whole idea of extreme rationalism is to get rid of all religions and to form a society based purely on reason. But no tradition ever thought of a society completely based on reason. One can make justifications about prophecy, revelations and religious transactions. The author here states his point of view that the only way that a society can be held together and the only way that people can be encouraged to pursue virtues and avoid vices which may not always be in their rational interests is by a divine law and through a doctrine of reward and punishment hereafter.

In Islam two kinds of rationalist traditions are found. One is that of Averroes (Ibn Rushd) who believed in acquiring rational knowledge to find a way to the divine. He believed that as one perfects it to its limits, then he has a vision of what is beyond it. The other tradition is that of Ibn al-Arabi who believed in practicing and learning from people and experiences to find the way to the divine.

Norman Calder in his essay firstly explains that in this essay he wants to discover the outside limits of Islamic Orthodoxy with respect to the Sunni Islam. The author defines the terms Orthodoxy and Orthopraxy. Orthodoxy means "the right teachings" whereas Orthopraxy means "the right practice". According to the author, the Sunni Islam is a religion of Orthodoxy.

The author describes that one of the places where the right teachings of Islam can be found are those books which are called Aqida or Aqaid in Arabic meaning creed. These books set out the agenda of beliefs that represent being a Muslim.

The author gives the example of Christianity, that in the first five centuries of Christianity, they faced a debate about what it was you had to believe to be a Christian and they decided a creed under the authority of a council and the pope. But there is no such source of authority in Islam. There is no such council and there is no such creed that is found in which all the Muslims believe.

According to the author one thing found common in all the creeds is the components of the Shahadat i.e. the belief that God is one and Muhammad (P.B.U.H) is the messenger of God.

The author further explains that there are five possible forms of religions beliefs including scripture, community, gnosis, reasons and charisma.

Some people claim that the way towards the knowledge of God is through scripture i.e. God's revelation others claim that God's self-revelation to man is through a community that has been chosen by God and in which correct belief is preserved. A third group claims that way towards knowledge of God is through gnosis i.e. mystic knowledge, experience or just mysticism. A fourth group claims that way towards understanding God is by using reason or by being rational. Finally, there are communities that believe that God has appointed throughout the generations one particular person to express His message, they are also claim that this particular person has the knowledge of God.

All great religious traditions of the world including Hinduism, Islam & Christianity have all fine elements described above. The author classifies different groups of believers according to the above mentioned forms. Within Islam, the Twelve Shi'a & the Ismaili Shi'a are the communities which lay stress on charisma as the most important form of achieving knowledge of God. There are two sets of people in Islam which lay great stress on reason as the means of achieving knowledge of God. One group is represented by philosophers like Al-Farabi and Avicenna i.e. Ibn Sina. The other group is the Mutazila which are rejected by the Sunnis because they claim that they overstress the role of reason. The group representing gnosis or mysticism in Islam is the Sufis. According to the author, the Sunnis are the group that lie somewhere between scripture and community.

The author further explains that the Sunnis have formed intellectual writing traditions, there literature to which they refer as the expression to their understanding of their relationship to God and His Prophet (P.B.U.H). This list of literary genres is as follows: - Qisas Al Anbiya, Sirat Al-Nabi, Qur'an, Hadith, fiqh, Kalam, Tafsir and Sharh Al Hadith. At intellectual level, the limits of orthodoxy are represented by the contents of the set of books defined above.