The ideas of Arab nationalism PDF
Preview The ideas of Arab nationalism
THE IDEAS OF ARAB NATIONALISM THE IDEAS OF ARAB NATIONALISM HAZEM ZAKI NUSEIBEH M.P.AM.A., Ph.DPrinceton University Cornell University Press ITHACA, NEW YORK © 1956 by Cornell University CORNELL UNIVERSITY PRESS First published 1956 Second printing 1959 The Library of Congress card information will be found on page 228. PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA PREFACE THIS book is an attempt to explore the genesis, ideas, at titudes, and orientations of Arab nationalism as they are discernible in contemporary thought on the subject. The Arab peoples of the Middle East and North Africa—in habiting a constellation of territories stretching from Syria in the north to the Sudan in the south and from the At lantic Ocean in the west to the Persian Gulf in the east —include the Syrians, the Lebanese, the Palestinians, the Jordanians, the Egyptians, the Sudanese, the Libyans, the Tunisians, the Algerians, the Moroccans, the Iraqis, the Saudi Arabians, the Yemenites, and the inhabitants of the Persian Gulf sheikhdoms. Most of the seventy million peo ple of these territories regard themselves as Arabs, and in their striving to reconstruct the foundations of their life after centuries of disastrous lethargy they are embracing Arab nationalism as the standard-bearer of their hopes and aspirations for the new order struggling grimly to be bom. Books and articles on the manifold activities of the Arab ▼ vi PREFACE world have been so abundant over the past half-century as to impose upon any new contributor to the subject the task of justifying further additions. To begin the task, let me say that the great bulk of the available literature is episodi cal and descriptive, whereas this book is intended as an analysis of ideas and provides descriptive material only insofar as that material contributes to the task of analysis. While a great deal is known about the outward activities of the Arab world, there is profound ignorance concern ing what lies behind those stirrings and activities—what goes on in the realm of thought and belief, which, after all, are the volitional and dynamic forces in the lives of nations. Apart from George Antonius’ The Arab Awakening— written almost twenty years ago—there has been no serious attempt at a systematic study of the ideas of modem Arab nationalism. Western scholars well versed in the problems of the Arab and Muslim worlds are seemingly reluctant to recognize this movement as a viable, durable, and crea tive force. They deal with it—if at all—either as an aberra tion or as a European virus, transient, ephemeral, and erasable. The claim to attention—let alone the fascination—which the classical studies of the old Arab-Islamic legacy offers to scholars is easily understandable and should by no means be disparaged. The results of these painstaking researches are a treasured achievement of modem scholarship because of the light which they have so brilliantly shed on the life, thought, and beliefe of a people whose contribution has been of signal import in the ever-expanding horizon of knowledge and the progress of human civilization. But, are not the living Arabs of the contemporary world deserving of some of the attention which their forefathers attract in the exertions of modem scholars? While it is true f that contemporary Arabs are still in the stage of muddling : through and of probing their way toward a new and un- PREFACE ▼ii charted order of existence and while it is a fact that they are, and for quite a while will continue to be, mainly recipients of rather than contributors to the common pool of human knowledge, they do nevertheless deserve atten tion and study for two reasons: (1) because they are active participants in one of those historic encounters between different civilizations, the outcome of which may well be epoch-making in the political as well as the ideological alignments of our contemporary world and (s) because it is with the living Arabs and not those of ages long past that the rest of the world has to deal. Needless to say, the thought and the beliefe of the contemporary Arabs are substantially at variance with those of their predecessors in ages past, notwithstanding that the past has thrust its char acteristics upon the present in varying degrees and in mani fold ways. Such being the case, the tendency—so persistent in modem Arabic scholarship—to portray the Arabs in terms of static pictures and stereotype images is unfor tunate if not decidedly misleading. Is it any wonder, then/ that modem Arab nationalism is misunderstood, vilified, and opposed by many people throughout the Western world? Furthermore, nationalism per se is presently in a state of disrepute among widespread sections of opinion on ac count of the excesses to which it has led and the miseries which it has wrought upon millions of people throughout the world during the past few decades. It is difficult, there fore, not to be apologetic in presenting a case of national ism, however commendable. Let me say at the outset that nationalism, like all other phenomena pertaining to hu man relationships, is a mixture of good and evil. It is a force for integration and co-operation as well as for dis sipation and conflict. It has to its credit such praiseworthy qualities as patriotism, loyalty, and self-denial, while at the same time it must answer to certain inexcusable traits of viii PREFACE moral corruption and decivilizing instincts which it has evoked and nourished. It is in recognition o£ the serious divergencies of opinion concerning the fundamental postulates of nationalism that I have deemed it necessary to review critically the various approaches which have been used in its study and evalua tion. This study has been placed in an appendix to the book, and it will be seen that a balanced combination of the empirical and the universal approaches, referred to as the comparative approach, is recommended as the most promising procedure. Although this book is addressed to one specific nationalism and not to a systematic comparison of different ones, an attempt has been made to work out the implications of the comparative method and to heed its standards, criteria, and prerequisites. Chapters I, II, and III are a quest for the historical genesis of Arab nationalism. Specific chronologies of events have been avoided in favor of important milestones and general trends. These, it is submitted, correspond more accurately to the actual state of affairs than does the speci fication of dates or of events. Contemporary Arab national ism stems from three sources corresponding to three main periods: the pre-Islamic, the Islamic, and the modern. The division is primarily ideological rather than chrono logical and is not intended to be mutually exclusive or amenable to watertight differentiation. Chapters IV and V are devoted to an exploration of the factors constituting contemporary Arab nationalism as they are expounded in the literature on the subject. The study highlights the controversial and tentative nature of the formulations, which reflect the confusions of a move ment still in its embryonic stage. In the formulation of the postulates of Arab nationalism two principal sources have been used. The first is the legacy of the past as exemplified in the community of language, of tradition, and of his- PREFACE ix torical experiences. The second is the cultural impact of the West. The deep impress of Western concepts is evident in the treatment of such vital issues as the relationship of the temporal and the spiritual and the concepts of national interest, race, national character, and special mission. In Chapters VI, VII, and VIII an attempt is made to canvass the political theories, attitudes, and tendencies dis cernible alike in theoretical expositions and in existing patterns of government. Because of the dearth of political theory in the cultural legacy of the Arabs, the discontinuity in their political life and traditions, and the diversification of their existing political systems, considerable attention is devoted to the question of political antecedents, with a view to ascertaining their relative influence in the con sciousness of the present. This survey covers over a century of political theorizing and constitutional developments and is presented against a background of the historical- social milieu of which these theories are the outcome and a register. The last two chapters deal with the ideas of contem porary Arab thought regarding the all-important problem of social change. Three attitudes are identified and dis cussed: (1) zealotry, which is averse to change in all its forms, (2) a selective approach, which draws a distinction between civilization and culture, between the material and the nonmaterial aspects of change, and (3) a comprehen sive approach, which sees a direct link between the spirit of a culture and its outward achievements and which advo cates Westernization in all its aspects. Jerusalem H azem Zaki N useibeh March, 1956
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