Egyptian liberalism in an age of "crisis of orientation": Al-Risāla's reaction to fascism and Nazism, 1933-39

Israel Gershoni

doi:10.1017/S0020743800057093

Egyptian liberalism in an age of "crisis of orientation": Al-Risāla's reaction to fascism and Nazism, 1933-39

Department of Middle Eastern and African History

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	551-576
Number of pages	26
Journal	International Journal of Middle East Studies
Volume	31
Issue number	4
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1017/S0020743800057093
State	Published - Nov 1999

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10.1017/S0020743800057093

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@article{3ae9e5fc341440929e3d99892e2a8ba4,

title = "Egyptian liberalism in an age of {"}crisis of orientation{"}: Al-Risāla's reaction to fascism and Nazism, 1933-39",

author = "Israel Gershoni",

note = "Funding Information: Author's note: This essay is based in part on research supported by a grant from the (American-Israeli) Binational Science Foundation. An earlier version of it was presented at the annual meeting of the Middle East Studies Association, Chicago, 4 December 1998. My special thanks are due to Ursula Wokock for her thoughtful comments on earlier drafts of this paper. I am also indebted to Eve Troutt-Powell and Tim Powell for their comments on the final version. Finally, I thank the (anonymous) review readers of UMES for some very useful remarks and suggestions. 'N. Safran, Egypt in Search of Political Community (Cambridge, Mass., 1961), 165-80. 2Ibid., 140. 3Ibid., 209-28. 4Ibid., 192. 5P. J. Vatikiotis, The Modern History of Egypt (London, 1969), 315; see also ibid., 323-27; idem, Nasser and His Generation (London, 1978), 27. For interpretations following a similar line in approaching this intellectual metamorphosis, see A. G. Chejne, {"}The Use of History by Modern Arab Writers,{"} Middle East Journal 14 (1960); 387-98; J. Berque, Egypt: Imperialism and Revolution (London, 1972), 508-36, 548-54; S. Botman, Egypt from Independence to Revolution (Syracuse, N.Y., 1991), 89-91, 138-44; S. Shamir, {"}Liberalism: From Monarchy to Postrevolution,{"} in Egypt from Monarchy to Republic, ed. S. Shamir (Boulder, Colo., 1995), 195-212, in particular, 195-200. 6C. Smith, {"}The 'Crisis of Orientation': The Shift of Egyptian Intellectuals to Islamic Subjects in the 1930s,{"} International Journal of Middle East Studies 4 (October 1973): 384. 7Ibid., 382-410; idem, Islam and the Search for Social Order in Modern Egypt: A Biography of Muhammad Husayn Haykal (Albany, N.Y., 1983), 89-157. 8Smith, Islam and the Search, 145 9Ibid., 145, 146-80, 184-88. IOA. Lutfi al-Sayyid-Marsot, Egypt's Liberal Experiment: 1922-1936 (Los Angeles, 1977), 230. See also ibid., 225-32, 247-49. {"}ibid., 248. l2Ibid., 229. l3lbid., 248. See also A. Lutfi al-Sayyid-Marsot, A Short History of Modern Egypt (Cambridge, 1994), 82-106; for a more recent look at {"}the failure of liberalism,{"} see R. Meijer, The Questfor Modernity: Secular Liberal and Left-Wing Political Thought in Egypt, 1945-1958 (Amsterdam, 1995), 12-26. The wide spectrum of studies dealing with the intellectuals' shift to Islamic subjects, is—despite great diversity—held together by one common denominator: the focus on the Isldmiyyat literature, as can be seen in M. Colombe, L'Evolution de L'Egypte, 1924-1950 (Paris, 1951), 122-59; P. Cachia, Taha Husayn: His Place in the Egyptian Literary Renaissance (London, 1956), 93-103, 197-98; G. E. von Grunebaum, Islam: Essays in the Nature and Growth of a Cultural Tradition (London, 1961), 196-98; 208-16, 226-31; A. Hourani, Arabic Thought in the Liberal Age (London, 1962), 333-34; B. Johansen, Muhammad Husain Haikal: Europa und der Orient im Weltbild eines dgyptischen Liberalen (Beirut, 1967), 125-212; A. Wessels, A Modern Arabic Biography of Muhammad: A Critical Study of Muhammad Husayn Haykal's {"}Hayat Muhammad{"} (Leiden, 1971), 1-19, 35-48; D. Semah, Four Egyptian Literary Critics (Leiden, 1974), 96-100; A. Busool, {"}The Development of Taha Husayn's Islamic Thought,{"} Muslim World 68 (1978): 259-84; M. M. Badawi, Modern Arabic Literature and the West (London, 1985), 53-60; and I. Gershoni and J. P. Jankowski, Redefining the Egyptian Nation, 1930-1945 (Cambridge, 1995), 54-78. For a critical discussion of Safran's and Smith's approaches, see I. Gershoni, {"}Egyptian Intellectual History and Egyptian Intellectuals in the Interwar Period,{"} Asian and African Studies 19 (1985): 333-64; idem, {"}The Reader—'Another Production': The Reception of Haykal's Biography of Muhammad and the Shift of Egyptian Intellectuals to Islamic Subjects in the 1930s,{"} Poetics Today 15, no. 2 (1994): 241-77.",

year = "1999",

month = nov,

doi = "10.1017/S0020743800057093",

language = "אנגלית",

volume = "31",

pages = "551--576",

journal = "International Journal of Middle East Studies",

issn = "0020-7438",

publisher = "Cambridge University Press",

number = "4",

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TY - JOUR

T1 - Egyptian liberalism in an age of "crisis of orientation"

T2 - Al-Risāla's reaction to fascism and Nazism, 1933-39

AU - Gershoni, Israel

N1 - Funding Information: Author's note: This essay is based in part on research supported by a grant from the (American-Israeli) Binational Science Foundation. An earlier version of it was presented at the annual meeting of the Middle East Studies Association, Chicago, 4 December 1998. My special thanks are due to Ursula Wokock for her thoughtful comments on earlier drafts of this paper. I am also indebted to Eve Troutt-Powell and Tim Powell for their comments on the final version. Finally, I thank the (anonymous) review readers of UMES for some very useful remarks and suggestions. 'N. Safran, Egypt in Search of Political Community (Cambridge, Mass., 1961), 165-80. 2Ibid., 140. 3Ibid., 209-28. 4Ibid., 192. 5P. J. Vatikiotis, The Modern History of Egypt (London, 1969), 315; see also ibid., 323-27; idem, Nasser and His Generation (London, 1978), 27. For interpretations following a similar line in approaching this intellectual metamorphosis, see A. G. Chejne, "The Use of History by Modern Arab Writers," Middle East Journal 14 (1960); 387-98; J. Berque, Egypt: Imperialism and Revolution (London, 1972), 508-36, 548-54; S. Botman, Egypt from Independence to Revolution (Syracuse, N.Y., 1991), 89-91, 138-44; S. Shamir, "Liberalism: From Monarchy to Postrevolution," in Egypt from Monarchy to Republic, ed. S. Shamir (Boulder, Colo., 1995), 195-212, in particular, 195-200. 6C. Smith, "The 'Crisis of Orientation': The Shift of Egyptian Intellectuals to Islamic Subjects in the 1930s," International Journal of Middle East Studies 4 (October 1973): 384. 7Ibid., 382-410; idem, Islam and the Search for Social Order in Modern Egypt: A Biography of Muhammad Husayn Haykal (Albany, N.Y., 1983), 89-157. 8Smith, Islam and the Search, 145 9Ibid., 145, 146-80, 184-88. IOA. Lutfi al-Sayyid-Marsot, Egypt's Liberal Experiment: 1922-1936 (Los Angeles, 1977), 230. See also ibid., 225-32, 247-49. "ibid., 248. l2Ibid., 229. l3lbid., 248. See also A. Lutfi al-Sayyid-Marsot, A Short History of Modern Egypt (Cambridge, 1994), 82-106; for a more recent look at "the failure of liberalism," see R. Meijer, The Questfor Modernity: Secular Liberal and Left-Wing Political Thought in Egypt, 1945-1958 (Amsterdam, 1995), 12-26. The wide spectrum of studies dealing with the intellectuals' shift to Islamic subjects, is—despite great diversity—held together by one common denominator: the focus on the Isldmiyyat literature, as can be seen in M. Colombe, L'Evolution de L'Egypte, 1924-1950 (Paris, 1951), 122-59; P. Cachia, Taha Husayn: His Place in the Egyptian Literary Renaissance (London, 1956), 93-103, 197-98; G. E. von Grunebaum, Islam: Essays in the Nature and Growth of a Cultural Tradition (London, 1961), 196-98; 208-16, 226-31; A. Hourani, Arabic Thought in the Liberal Age (London, 1962), 333-34; B. Johansen, Muhammad Husain Haikal: Europa und der Orient im Weltbild eines dgyptischen Liberalen (Beirut, 1967), 125-212; A. Wessels, A Modern Arabic Biography of Muhammad: A Critical Study of Muhammad Husayn Haykal's "Hayat Muhammad" (Leiden, 1971), 1-19, 35-48; D. Semah, Four Egyptian Literary Critics (Leiden, 1974), 96-100; A. Busool, "The Development of Taha Husayn's Islamic Thought," Muslim World 68 (1978): 259-84; M. M. Badawi, Modern Arabic Literature and the West (London, 1985), 53-60; and I. Gershoni and J. P. Jankowski, Redefining the Egyptian Nation, 1930-1945 (Cambridge, 1995), 54-78. For a critical discussion of Safran's and Smith's approaches, see I. Gershoni, "Egyptian Intellectual History and Egyptian Intellectuals in the Interwar Period," Asian and African Studies 19 (1985): 333-64; idem, "The Reader—'Another Production': The Reception of Haykal's Biography of Muhammad and the Shift of Egyptian Intellectuals to Islamic Subjects in the 1930s," Poetics Today 15, no. 2 (1994): 241-77.

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Egyptian liberalism in an age of "crisis of orientation": Al-Risāla's reaction to fascism and Nazism, 1933-39

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