Ahmad Reda
Encyclopedia
Early life
Born in Nabatiyeh, he was a main supporter of King FaisalFaisal I of Iraq
Faisal bin Hussein bin Ali al-Hashemi, was for a short time King of the Arab Kingdom of Syria or Greater Syria in 1920, and was King of the Kingdom of Iraq from 23 August 1921 to 1933...
's Greater Syria
Greater Syria
Greater Syria , also known simply as Syria, is a term that denotes a region in the Near East bordering the Eastern Mediterranean Sea or the Levant....
n rule , following the Arab Revolt
Arab Revolt
The Arab Revolt was initiated by the Sherif Hussein bin Ali with the aim of securing independence from the ruling Ottoman Turks and creating a single unified Arab state spanning from Aleppo in Syria to Aden in Yemen.- Background :...
in the First World War. With Ahmad Aref al-Zain, he represented Jabal Amel
Jabal Amel
Jabal Amel or Amil is a mountainous region of Southern Lebanon.The region is named after the Banu 'Amilah, a Yemenite tribe who, along with the kindred tribes of Hamadan, Lakhm, and Judham, settled in Syria, Palestine, parts of Jordan, and Lebanon. The area was known in ancient times as Jabal...
and Lebanon's Shi'ites
Shi'a Islam
Shia Islam is the second largest denomination of Islam. The followers of Shia Islam are called Shi'ites or Shias. "Shia" is the short form of the historic phrase Shīʻatu ʻAlī , meaning "followers of Ali", "faction of Ali", or "party of Ali".Like other schools of thought in Islam, Shia Islam is...
in most of the conferences which, at first, led to the creation of the short-lived Syrian Arab Kingdom ruled by Faisal and later, in 1936, were held to underscore Syrian unity
Greater Syria
Greater Syria , also known simply as Syria, is a term that denotes a region in the Near East bordering the Eastern Mediterranean Sea or the Levant....
.
As a writer, a poet and a linguist, he was a member of the Arab Academy of Sciences in Damascus
Damascus
Damascus , commonly known in Syria as Al Sham , and as the City of Jasmine , is the capital and the second largest city of Syria after Aleppo, both are part of the country's 14 governorates. In addition to being one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Damascus is a major...
, and considered to be one of the greatest intellectuals to have emerged from Greater Syria
Greater Syria
Greater Syria , also known simply as Syria, is a term that denotes a region in the Near East bordering the Eastern Mediterranean Sea or the Levant....
, in the twentieth century.
Reform
He was one of the three reformers to have started a scientific and social renaissance movement in Jabal AmelJabal Amel
Jabal Amel or Amil is a mountainous region of Southern Lebanon.The region is named after the Banu 'Amilah, a Yemenite tribe who, along with the kindred tribes of Hamadan, Lakhm, and Judham, settled in Syria, Palestine, parts of Jordan, and Lebanon. The area was known in ancient times as Jabal...
, the other two being historian Mohammad Jaber al-Safa and sheikh Suleiman Daher. They had formed a prominent intellectual gathering, known as "the Ameli Three", helping establish foundations and associations aiming at eradicating illiteracy in the region. This movement was part of what is known as Al-Nahda
Al-Nahda
Al-Nahda was a cultural renaissance that began in the late 19th century and early 20th century in Egypt, then later moving to Ottoman-ruled Arabic-speaking regions including Lebanon, Syria and others...
. He and his companions spent two months in Aley
Aley
Aley is a picturesque town in Mount Lebanon. It is located 17 km uphill from Beirut, just south of the summer resort of Bhamdoun and north of the strategic town of Souk El Gharb.-Demographics:...
's military prison, because of the group's violent stands against the Ottoman
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
rule.
Legacy
Sheikh Ahmad Reda wrote "Matn al-lugha", the first dictionary of Arab language since "Lisan al-Arab", written in the 13th century. He was described by Egyptian scholar Ahmad Amine as the "greatest writer in the LevantLevant
The Levant or ) is the geographic region and culture zone of the "eastern Mediterranean littoral between Anatolia and Egypt" . The Levant includes most of modern Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel, the Palestinian territories, and sometimes parts of Turkey and Iraq, and corresponds roughly to the...
, and the greatest linguist in the Arab world
Arab world
The Arab world refers to Arabic-speaking states, territories and populations in North Africa, Western Asia and elsewhere.The standard definition of the Arab world comprises the 22 states and territories of the Arab League stretching from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Arabian Sea in the...
". He is the uncle of prominent scientist Hassan Kamel Al-Sabbah
Hassan Kamel Al-Sabbah
Hasan Kamel Al-Sabbah, sometimes referred to as Camil A. Sabbah, was an electrical and electronics research engineer, mathematician and inventor. He was born in Nabatieh, Lebanon. He studied at the American University of Beirut. He taught mathematics at Imperial College of Damascus, Syria, and at...
.