Rifa'a al-Tahtawi was an Egyptian

Egyptians

Egyptians are nation an ethnic group made up of Mediterranean North Africans, the indigenous people of Egypt.Egyptian identity is closely tied to geography. The population of Egypt is concentrated in the lower Nile Valley, the small strip of cultivable land stretching from the First Cataract to...

 writer, teacher, translator, Egyptologist

Egyptology

Egyptology is the study of ancient Egyptian history, language, literature, religion, and art from the 5th millennium BC until the end of its native religious practices in the AD 4th century. A practitioner of the discipline is an “Egyptologist”...

 and renaissance intellectual. Tahtawi was among the first Egyptian scholars to write about Western cultures in an attempt to bring about a reconciliation and an understanding between Islamic and Christian civilizations. He founded the School of Languages in 1835 and was influential in the development of science, law, literature and Egyptology in 19th-century Egypt. His work influenced that of many later scholars including Muhammad Abduh

Muhammad Abduh

Muhammad Abduh was an Egyptian jurist, religious scholar and liberal reformer, regarded as the founder of Islamic Modernism...

.

Background

Tahtawi was born in 1801 in the village of Tahta

Tahta

Tahta is a city in the Sohag Governorate of Upper Egypt. It is located on the west bank of the Nile.-Towns:Villages within the jurisdiction of Tahta include:*Bani Harb *Banja *El-Sawalem *Shattoura *Al-Koum al-Asfar -Notable Residents:...

, Sohag, the same year the French troops evacuated Egypt. He was an Azharite

Al-Azhar University

Al-Azhar University is an educational institute in Cairo, Egypt. Founded in 970~972 as a madrasa, it is the chief centre of Arabic literature and Islamic learning in the world. It is the oldest degree-granting university in Egypt. In 1961 non-religious subjects were added to its curriculum.It is...

 recommended by his teacher and mentor Hassan El-Attar to be the chaplain of a group of students Mohammed Ali

Muhammad Ali of Egypt

Muhammad Ali Pasha al-Mas'ud ibn Agha was a commander in the Ottoman army, who became Wāli, and self-declared Khedive of Egypt and Sudan...

 was sending to Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

 in 1826. Many student missions from Egypt went to Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

 in the early 19th century to study arts and sciences at European universities and acquire technical skills such as printing, shipbuilding and modern military techniques. According to his memoir Rihla (Journey to Paris), Tahtawi studied ethics, social and political philosophy, and mathematics and geometry. He read works by Condillac

Étienne Bonnot de Condillac

Étienne Bonnot de Condillac was a French philosopher and epistemologist who studied in such areas as psychology and the philosophy of the mind.-Biography:...

, Voltaire

Voltaire

François-Marie Arouet , better known by the pen name Voltaire , was a French Enlightenment writer, historian and philosopher famous for his wit and for his advocacy of civil liberties, including freedom of religion, free trade and separation of church and state...

, Rousseau

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Jean-Jacques Rousseau was a Genevan philosopher, writer, and composer of 18th-century Romanticism. His political philosophy influenced the French Revolution as well as the overall development of modern political, sociological and educational thought.His novel Émile: or, On Education is a treatise...

, Montesquieu

Charles de Secondat, baron de Montesquieu

Charles-Louis de Secondat, baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu , generally referred to as simply Montesquieu, was a French social commentator and political thinker who lived during the Enlightenment...

 and Bezout

Étienne Bézout

-External links:...

 among others during his séjour in France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

.

In 1831, Tahtawi returned home to be part of the statewide effort to modernize the Egyptian infrastructure and education. He undertook a career in writing and translation, and founded the School of Languages in 1835. The School of Languages graduated the earliest modern Egyptian intellectual milieu, which formed the basis of the emerging grassroots mobilization against British colonialism in Egypt. Three of his published volumes were works of political and moral philosophy

Philosophy

Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...

. They introduced his Egyptian audience to Enlightenment

Age of Enlightenment

The Age of Enlightenment was an elite cultural movement of intellectuals in 18th century Europe that sought to mobilize the power of reason in order to reform society and advance knowledge. It promoted intellectual interchange and opposed intolerance and abuses in church and state...

 ideas such as secular

Secularism

Secularism is the principle of separation between government institutions and the persons mandated to represent the State from religious institutions and religious dignitaries...

authority and political rights and liberty; his ideas regarding how a modern civilized society ought to be and what constituted by extension a civilized or "good Egyptian"; and his ideas on public interest and public good. Tahtawi's work was the first effort in what became an Egyptian renaissance (nahda) that flourished in the years between 1860–1940.

Muslim Modernity

Tahtawi is considered one of the early adapters to Islamic Modernism. Islamic Modernists attempted to integrate Islamic principles with European social theories. In 1826, Al-Tahtawi was sent to Paris by Mehmet Ali. Tahtawi studied at an educational mission for five years, returning in 1831. Tahtawi was appointed director of the School of Languages. At the school, he worked translating European books into Arabic. Tahtawi was instrumental in translating military manuals, geography, and European history. Tahtawi stressed that the Principles of Islam are compatible with those of European Modernity.

In his piece, The Extraction of Gold or an Overview of Paris, Tahtawi discusses the patriotic responsibility of citizenship. Tahtawi uses Roman civilization as an example for what could become of Islamic civilizations. At one point all Romans are united under one Caesar but split into East and West. After splitting, the two nations see “all its wars ended in defeat, and it retreated from a perfect existence to nonexistence.” Tahtawi understands that if Egypt is unable to remain united, it could fall prey to outside invaders. Tahtawi stresses the importance of citizens defending the patriotic duty of their country. One way to protect one's country according to Tahtawi, is to accept the changes that come with a modern society.

Tahtawi's writings

• "A Paris Profile," written during Tahtawi's stay in France.
• "The methodology of Egyptians minds with regard to the marvels of modern literature," published in 1869 crystallizing Tahtawi's opinions on modernization.
• "The honest guide for education of girls and boys," published in 1873 and reflecting the main precepts of Tahtawi's educational thoughts.
• "Tawfik Al-Galil insights into Egypt's and Ismail descendants' history," the first part of the History Encyclopedia published in 1868 and tracing the history of ancient Egypt till the dawn of Islam.
• "A thorough summary of the biography of Mohammed" published after Tahtawi's death, recording a comprehensive account of the life of Prophet Mohammed and the political, legal and administrative foundations of the first Islamic state.
• "Towards a simpler Arabic grammar," published in 1869.
• "Grammatical sentences," published in 1863.
• "Egyptian patriotic lyrics," written in praise of Khedive Said and published in 1855.
• "The luminous stars in the moonlit nights of Al-Aziz," a collection of congratulatory writings to some princes, published in 1872.

Tahtawi's translations

• " The history of ancient Egyptians," published in 1838.
• "The Arabization of trade law," published in 1868.
• "The Arabization of the French civil law," published in 1866.
• "The unequivocal Arabization approach to geography," published in 1835.
• "Small-scale geography," published in 1830.
• "Metals and their use," published in 1867.
• "Ancient philosophers," published in 1836.
• "Principals of engineering," published in 1854.
• "Useful metals," published in 1832.
• "Logic," published in 1838.
• "Sasure's engineering," published in 1874.
• "General geography."
• "The French constitution."
• "On health policies."
• "On Greek mythology."

Further reading

• Newman, Daniel(2004). An Imam in Paris: Al-Tahtawi's Visit to France (1826–31), London: Saqi Books. ISBN 978-0863563461

External links

• Gran, Peter. Tahtawi in Paris. Ahram Weekly. 10–16 January 2002.
• refaa el tahtawi