British Society for Middle Eastern Studies

Ibn Rushd (Averroes) and the Egyptian Enlightenment Movement

Author(s): Fauzi M. Najjar
Source: British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, Vol. 31, No. 2 (Nov., 2004), pp. 195-213
Published by: Taylor & Francis, Ltd.
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4145508 .
Accessed: 10/03/2011 22:01
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at .
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless
you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you
may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use.
Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at .
http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=taylorfrancis. .
Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed
page of such transmission.
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of
content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms
of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

Taylor & Francis, Ltd. and British Society for Middle Eastern Studies are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize,
preserve and extend access to British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies.

http://www.jstor.org

British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, November 2004

31(2), 195-213

Ibn

Rushd

Egyptian

CarfaxPublishing
&Francis
Taylor

Group

the
(Averroes) and
Movement
Enlightenment

FAUZI M. NAJJAR*
ABSTRACTFully aware of the pressing need for change in the Arab-Muslim
world, a group of Egyptian intellectuals have formed the Egyptian Enlightenment Society to promote the necessary reformfor the challenges of the twentyfirst century. They seek to restore a liberal-secularist trend by disseminating the
ideas of rationality,freedom, equality, emancipation of women, and so on. They
champion a civil society as against the religious society advocated by the
Islamists.
The advocates of enlightenment have mobilized the ideas and theories of
Egyptian and Muslim liberal thinkers, in particular those of Ibn Rushd (Averroes), the great commentator and interpreter of Aristotelian philosophy, regarded by many as one of the key figures in the development of the European
Enlightenment.Averroes, a defender of the freedom of rational investigation,
and a precursor of the modern scientific outlook, sought to reconcile philosophy
and religion, and thus introducephilosophy into a Muslim society governed by
the shari'. The future of the Arab-Muslimworld will depend on the outcome of
the struggle between enlightenment and Islamic fundamentalism.
Introduction
'What has happened to the traditionof enlightenment that had become part of
Egyptian culture from the middle of the 19th to the middle of the 20th
centuries?' asks Jabir 'Asfur, one of Egypt's leading intellectuals and founding
member of the present Egyptian Enlightenment Association. What 'Asfur is
referringto are those reforms in government, law, religion, education and other
aspects of Egyptian culture that took place during that period.
The nineteenthcenturywas the formativeperiod duringwhich Egypt received
the distinctive features of its modem culture. Following Napoleon's expedition
in 1798, the pace of European intervention in Egypt and the Muslim world
moved more rapidly. So did the process of modernizationor Westernization.In
addition to the military and technical reforms introduced by Muhammad 'Ali,
more than the externals of Western civilization were adopted. New social and
political ideas and practicespenetratedinto Egyptian society and culture. By the
mid-nineteenth century, Muhammad 'Ali's grandson, Khedive Isma'il, could
declare, not without extravagantexaggeration, that 'Egypt has become a part of
Europe.'
Instrumentalin this process of change was the rise of a new kind of literature,
* College of Social Science, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, USA.
ISSN 1353-0194 print/ISSN1469-3542 online/04/020195-19 @ 2004 British Society for Middle EasternStudies
DOI: 10.1080/135301904042000268213

FAUZI M. NAJJAR

which played a leading role in disseminating modernist ideas and views. It has
been said that the printing press was 'far and away the most revolutionaryand
influential of all contributionsof Europe to the Moslem world.' The establishment of British control in Egypt in 1882 caused the Westernizingmovement to
broaden out and expand in different directions. Education reforms and the
adoption of Western laws, commercial, criminal and civil, underscored the
modernist transformationof Egyptian society. Lebanese immigrants played a
decisive role in expanding journalism and literary, scientific and political
publications. By the turn of the twentieth century, European political thought
was generally accepted, consciously and unconsciously. A parliamentarysystem
of government and certain constitutional reforms were established. Freedom of
the press, fundamentalhuman rights and secularist education were championed
along with democratic institutions. The secularist conception of the nation-state
had for all practicalpurposesreplaced the notion of an Islamic caliphateor unity.
A new political consciousness was created amongst the mass of the people by
the rapid rise and extension of journalism. An impressive general political and
intellectual level was raised.
The pioneer of that 'tradition of enlightenment' (tanwir) was Rifa'a Rafi'
al-Tahtawi (1801-1873), who as Muhammad'Ali's appointedImam of a study
mission in Paris, had learned French and studied Europeanthought,in particular
the works of Voltaire, Rousseau and Montesquieu. Tahtawi was instrumentalin
transmittingthe liberal thought of the French Englightenmentto his Egyptian
compatriots. The present Tanwir Association regards him as its intellectual
mentor, and it has recently organized a conference under the title 'Rifa'a
al-TahtawiPioneer of Tanwir,' at which eighty-five papers dealing with his life
and works were discussed by Arab and Western scholars.'
The reform movement inauguratedby Tahtawi was developed and sustained
by a number of intellectuals, religious and political leaders. Two main trends
were generated. The first was a religious reform movement culminating in the
works of Muhammad 'Abduh, a disciple of Jamal al-Din al-Afghani, and an
advocate of religious reform in Islam. To this day, 'Abduh remains the symbol
of Islamic reform, and the authorof the fundamentalpropositionthat Islam and
modernityare not incompatible.To be modern does not necessarily compromise
Islamicity. His book al-Islam Din al-'71m wa al-Madaniyya (Islam is the
Religion of Science and Civilization) remains the landmarkin the Islamic reform
movement.
The second was a liberal-secularisttrend representedby the dissemination of
ideas such as rationality, freedom, equality, constitutionalism, independent
judiciary, government responsibility and separationof powers. Movements and
political parties calling for social justice, equality before the law, free public
education, free press, and emancipationof women were formed. Most important
was the idea of a national secular society, strongly opposed by religious
conservatives to this day.2
In his seminal work, Arabic Thought in the Liberal Age, Albert Hourani
1 al-Ahram, April 20, 2002.
2 See Muhammad Nur
Farahat, 'al-Qanun w-al-Tafa'ul al-Thaqafifi Misr al-Haditha,' (Law and Cultural
Interactionin Modem Egypt), in MuradWahba and Mona Abousenna (eds.) Nadwat al-Tanwir, (Cairo:Goethe
Institute, 1990), p. 88.

196

THE EGYPTIAN ENLIGHTENMENT MOVEMENT

stresses the liberal-secularcharacterof that period, secular 'in the sense that it
believed that society and religion both prospered best when the civil authority
was separatefrom the religious, and when the former acted in accordance with
the needs of human welfare in this world, liberal in the sense that it thought the
welfare of society to be constituted by that of individuals, and the duty of
government to be the protection of freedom, above all the freedom of the
individual to fulfill himself and to create civilization.'3
The religious reform movement has been fully covered by Charles C. Adams
in his book Islam and Modernism in Egypt (Oxford: Oxford University Press,
1933), and Malcolm Kerrin Islamic Reform: the Political and Legal Theories of
Muhammad cAbduh and Rashid Rida (University of California Press, 1966).
Otherworks have dealt with the political, constitutionaland educationalchanges
of that period, notably Qassim Amih's Tahrir al-Mar'a (Emancipation of
Woman). Amin was the first Egyptian to attack the inferior position of Muslim
women, the Islamic practice of polygamy, divorce and the use of the veil.
The liberal reform movement was carried forward by writers like Taha
Husayn, Lutfi al-Sayyid, and 'Ali 'Abd al-Raziq, among others. In his book
Mustaqbal al-Thaqafafi Misr (The Future of Culture in Egypt), Husayn called
upon the Egyptians to turn their faces West, urging them to adopt Western
culture, science and techniques. As minister of education, he introducededucational reforms, stressing freedom of academic research and the freedom of the
universityfrom governmentcontrol. Similarly, al-Raziq, in his book al-Islam wa
cUsul al-Hukm (Islam and the Principles of Government), shocked the Muslim
world with his argumentthat Islam is a religion and not a state, as he called for
the separation of the two. Government systems and laws depend on the
circumstances and requirementsof the public interest, he argued. Many other
writers added to these landmarkson the road to Tanwir.
It is this traditionof Tanwirthat the modem Tanwiriyyun,as the advocates of
enlightenment are called, claim is at risk from two major developments in
contemporaryEgyptian life. The first challenge to this liberal tradition came
from the authoritarianregime of Gamal Abdel Nasser and Anwar al-Sadat.
Parliamentarygovernment and political parties were banned, the press was
nationalized and muzzled, and all aspects of social and educational life were
controlled by the military regime. Dissidents were persecuted, forcing many
intellectuals to flee their own homeland. There was a general decline in the
quality of culture, education and the arts.
The Islamists
The second challenge comes from the contemporaryIslamic discourse, and the
activities of its adherents. For the Islamists, who hold the shari'a to be
immutableand valid for all times, Westernizationand secularizationrepresenta
threat to fundamentalIslamic values and way of life. Consequently, not only
Western ideas and institutions have suffered the animosity of the Islamists, but
also those who advocate them. The contemporaryTanwirmovement is basically
an endeavor to check the negative influence of the Islamists, considered
detrimentalto reform and progress in all aspects of life. The Tanwiriyyunseek
3 Albert Hourani,Arabic Thought in the Liberal Age (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1983), p. 343.

197

FAUZI M. NAJJAR

to reset Egypt on the road to modernity in order to cope with the challenges of
the times. They are the heirs of the early liberals, champions of freedom of
thought and expression, who believe that there is no incompatibility between
Islam and modernity.
The 'Islamic Movement' comprises all Muslims whose activities aim at
establishing an Islamic state instead of the existing 'secular' or 'civil' state. It
includes those engaged in direct political activities, as well as those whose
activities have an indirect influence on the movement. Included in the first
category are the Muslim Brothers, Islamic Jihad, al-Jama'at al-Islamiyya, and
the cAmal(Labour)Party. Included in the second category are individual writers
and scholars with an Islamic bent such as Fahmi Huwaydi (columnist in
al-Ahram),MuhammadSalim al-'Awwa, Kamal Abu al-Majd(professorof law),
and many Azharites, all regarded as 'enlightened Islamists.'4
There has always been an Islamic movement calling for a returnto the purity
of the Islamic past. The movement for the restorationof the Caliphate in the
early 1920s, the Muslim Brotherhoodmovement in the late 1920s, and a number
of small organizations branching out of the Brotherhood,all argued against a
civil society and state. These early movements were, on the whole, kept under
control, either by the government or by their own leaders. However, the
shatteringdefeat of the 1967 War may be regardedas the startingpoint of what
an Egyptian professor called the 'increasing theocratizationof the Arab world.'
Consequently, the fall of Nasserism opened the way for the Islamists to present
themselves as the only alternativeto the existing order. 'Petro dollars' from the
oil-producing Gulf states, particularly Saudi Arabia, enabled the Islamists to
pursue their political activities more vigorously, and even to establish armed
units to confront their enemies. By using part of the funds to build hospitals,
schools and mosques, and other services the civil government had failed to
provide, they have succeeded in mobilizing large segments of the population,
especially the unemployed youth. President Sadat's 'economic opening' played
into their hands by creating wider economic and social disparities, forcing the
poor to seek supportfrom the Islamic groups. At the same time, in his effort to
combat Nasserist and leftist tendencies, Sadat indulged the Islamists, allowing
them to operate freely and sometimes with impunity. Furthermore,the success
of the Khomeini revolution in Iran convinced the Islamists of the possibility of
establishing a religious state by violence.5
The establishmentof a religious state is not a new idea: it has always been the
aspirationof many, if not most, Muslims. What is painfully new is the claim by
the extremists that force is the only means to bring it about. All forms of
violence, threats, vilification and assassinations have been used to promote this
fundamentalist project. Not all advocates of an Islamic state resort to such
means; many have launched an Islamic discourse to promoteIslamic values, and
to discredit all attempts in favour a modem civil society. In their view,
liberalism, secularism and democracy are Western imports, alien to the Islamic
polity. This attitude has created a chasm within Egyptian society between the
liberal-secularintelligentsia and the Islamists of all colours.
The mounting influence of the Islamists, their violent activities and virulent
4 See MuhammadIbrahimMabruk,Muwajahat al-Muwajaha (Cairo: 1994), pp. 13-14.
5 Wahba and Abousenna, Nadwat al-Taniir, p. 94.

198

THE EGYPTIAN ENLIGHTENMENT MOVEMENT

discourse have alarmedthe liberals, who see them as a threat to the civil state
and the cultural achievements of the last century. Most intellectuals and writers
are concerned about how 'fundamentalismis conspicuously permeating many
circles in our region. Symptoms of bigotry and intolerance are decomposing the
otherwise compassionate and benevolent tenets of all monotheistic religions
embraced by millions in the Middle East. Terrorism is resorted to in lieu of
persuasion and dialogue. Enlightened thinkers and writers have increasingly
become a prime target of extremists who emanate from convoluted value
judgments and arbitraryinterpretationsof our luminous heritage.'6
A numberof intellectuals and writershave expressed similar forebodingabout
the implications of the Islamist ascendancy, in particularto democracy, freedom
of thought and expression and the quality of culture as a whole. They question
the Islamist slogan la hukma illa li-llah (sovereignty belongs to God alone),
which is the call for a religious state governed by the shari'a. It was Abu al-'A'la
Mawdudi (1903-1979), the Pakistanileader, who resurrectedthis Shi'ite notion,
rejecting democracy as the 'sovereignty of the masses.' The notion of hakimiyya
was later popularized by Sayyid Qutb, a leading spokesman for the Muslim
Brotherhood, who was executed in the fall of 1966, for his advocacy of
overthrowingthe 'un-Islamic' Nasser regime by force.
For the Islamists a modem democraticcivil society is a jahiliyya (pre-Islamic
age of ignorance), infringing God's right to legislate. They reject democratic
freedoms as excessive, allowing people to do whatever they please. In modem
democracy there is no distinction between right and wrong, faith and unbelief,
the good and the bad. Democracy calls for equality of all citizens, the believer
and the atheist, the learned and the ignorant.In short, Islamists of all hues reject
democracy's secular postulates, and accuse the secularists of doubting the
credibility of Qur'anictexts, contending that Islam is a religion and not a state,
calling for the adoptionof Western civilization and reducing God's revelation to
a 'cultural product.' According to Yusuf Qaradawi, 'no king or president, no
government or revolutionary council, or any power on earth has the right to
change any of God's rules.'7 For their part, the secularists call the Islamists
'agents of darkness, bats of thought who prefer the darkness; their eyes are
unable to face light and brightness.'8
The conflict between secularism and Islamic conservatismhas been going on
for the last century and a half. It has assumed various degrees of intensity,
contingent on economic and political crises. It has been argued that the masses
are oblivious of the conflict, and that its 'final settlement will be determinedby
the social and economic interests of social groups.'9
Convinced that the triumph of the Islamist movement would set Muslim
society apartfrom the rest of the world, and out of date and out of touch with
real life, Egyptian secularists and intellectuals have determined to use their
talents to ward off the onslaught of what they call 'the contemporaryIslamic
discourse.' Their central argument is that Islam, properly understood, is in
harmony with the modern age. Islamic history as well as the demands of the
6 MuradWahba and Mona Abousenna
(eds.) Averroes and the EnlightenmentMovement,(New York: Amhert,
1990), p. 18.
7 Mabruk,Muwajahat al-Muwajaha, pp. 80-81, 179, 214.
8 'Atif al-'Iraqi, al-'Aql wa al-Tanwirfi al-Fikr al-'Arabi al-Mu'asir (Beirut: 1995), p. 138.
9 Wahba and Abousenna, Nadwat al-Tanwir, English section, p. 91.

199

FAUZI M. NAJJAR

modem age provide sufficient argument in favour of the use of reason in the
management of human affairs. Their efforts and activities have been somewhat
timid, sporadic and haphazard.Yet enough has been written and done to form
the core of a promising intellectual and cultural movement.

The Tanwir Association

Of a number of anti-Islamist organizations that have emerged in the last two
decades, the EnlightenmentAssociation (Jam'iyyatal-Tanwir)has been the most
consistent and enduring. Established in October 1992 by a group of Egyptian
scholars and intellectuals, the Association has set forth an agenda to counteract
the claims, teachings and interpretationsof the Islamists, whom they describe as
salafi (adherentsof the interpretationsand teachings of the pious ancestors) and
reactionary.Their approachis to revive Egypt's tanwir traditionby disseminating liberal and rational ideas. In addition to holding seminars, lecturing and
writing, they publish an irregularbulletin (al-Tanwir) to propagatetheir views.10
More importantis a series of books on liberal and rationalsubjectsby scholars
and writers, which has been published by the General Egyptian Book Organization. Such books as Farah Antun's Falsafat Ibn Rushd, 'Ali 'Abd al-Raziq's
al-Islim wa 'Usul al-Hukm, Taha Husayn's Mustaqbal al-Thaqafafi Misr, and
Salama Musa's Ma Hiya al-Nahda are reprintsof earlier editions, and are meant
to emphasize Egypt's earlier liberal tradition, as well as to challenge the
traditionalIslamic outlook on society, law and culture. In the words of the first
president of the Association, they are meant 'to liberate the mind from rigidity
and bondage, to save women from ignorance and idleness, emancipate them
from the harem-prison, and to open up to different cultures of the world.'11
In collaboration with the ministry of culture, the Association publishes a
Confrontation Series (Silsilat al-Muwidjaha)the goal of which is to confront
terrorism,extremism and dogmatism. In the words of the minister of culture,
'We confront these negative phenomena with the values of enlightenment,'
foremost of which is rationalism.12
In terms of publicity, the Association has organized a numberof activities in
the name of Tanwir. For example, the 1990 InternationalBook Fair was held
under the motto 'A Hundred Years of Tanwir.' It has also inaugurateda TV
programme (Hiwar al-Tanwir), presented in the late afternoon and rebroadcast
at midnight. 'Islam and the Arts,' 'Has the Egyptian Woman Achieved her
Aspirations,' 'Reform of Islamic Jurisprudence,' and 'The Relation between
Philosophy and Religion' are some of the topics discussed by university
professors and prominent writers.13
A play, Rihlat al-Tanwir (Enlightenment Journey) by Samir Sarhan and
Muhammadal-'Inani, details the intellectual and political careers of some of the
pioneers of enlightenment, stressing their championing of freedom of thought,
use of reason, freedom of the press, openness to world thought and, in particular,
their assertionthat thinkingis an Islamic obligation. The play startswith a group
10 al-Ahali, No. 637, December 22, 1993.
11 al-Ahram, May 26, 1993.
12 Wahba and
Abousenna, Averroes and the Enlightenment,p. 21.
13 al-Ahram, March 18 and 21; April 4; and May 16, 2002.

200

THE EGYPTIAN ENLIGHTENMENT MOVEMENT

of students studying in a small village not far from Cairo. The method of
instruction is memorization. When one student questions this method, citing
Muhammad'Abduh's call for the use of reason, he is dismissed from school.
The student wonders out loud: 'What does enlightenment mean if not the
liberationof women from men's oppression, liberation of the heritage from the
myths embedded in it, liberation of government from the tyranny of the ruler,
who does not consult and does not believe in consultation (shura)?' Narrator:
'These are different, disparate and many-sided tasks.' Student: 'But they all
come together in one magic word, freedom.'14
The last part of the play focuses on Taha Husayn, the blind litterateur, his
study at al-Azhar and in France, and his courage to introduce new methods of
instruction.When he says: 'Nothing should be accepted without examinationand
discussion, and everythingis subject to the authorityof reason, because God has
given us reason so that we think until we find the truth,' he is ridiculed by a
village elder, while the chorus in the back of the stage chants: 'It is the human
being's right to think independently, because thinking is an individual obli-

gation.'15
What is Tanwir?
The Arabic word 'tanwir' is a translationof enlightenment.Nur is light. It is
used in the Qur'an numeroustimes in the sense of those who believe and follow
God's rules are led from the depths of darkness into light. (Q. 2:257) In the
present context, Tanwir has been used with many different understandingsand
nuances, ranging from the equivalent of the EuropeanEnlightenmentto 'Islamic
Tanwir.' In his book Ma Hiya al-Nahda? (What is the Renaissance), Salama
Musa understandsenlightenment as the humanistic underpinnings of the European Enlightenment. He stresses that science has nothing to do with the
supernatural.'We must depend on ourselves in realizing our happiness on this
earth, and not renounce it in favor of a life to come. We will be deceiving the
Egyptianyouth if we tell them that the EuropeanRenaissanceis anythingelse.'16
Jabir'Asfur defines the term as 'the belief in reason and not tradition,science
not superstition,progress not underdevelopment,freedom to differ not consensus, government by consultation not oppression.' In short, tanwir means 'civil
society and state.' For cAsfur,civil society is based on tolerance and the right
of all citizens, irrespective of race, gender and religion, to participate in its
political affairs.It is the membersof society who know best their worldly affairs,
and face their problems according to the requirementsof the age in which they
live. 'In civil society there is no restrictionon the right of ijtihad (independent
thinking)or disagreement.'Tolerancemarksthe distinctionbetween civil society
and theocracy. 'Asfur concludes that only tanwir, which upholds the values of
reason, justice and freedom, can stand against the obscurantismand fanaticism
of the advocates of a religious state.17
For Hasan Hanafi, a professor of philosophy at Cairo University, tanwir is 'a
14 Samir Sarhan and
Muhammadal-'Inani, Rihlat al-Tanwir (Cairo, 1991), pp. 8-14.
15 Ibid., p. 64.

16 Salama Musa, Ma
Hiya al-Nahda (Cairo, 1993), p. 15.
17 Jabir 'Asfur, Difa'an 'an al-Tanwir (Cairo, 1993), pp. 7-8.

201

FAUZI M. NAJJAR

philosophical attitude,based on a number of concepts which together constitute

one consistent world view. These concepts are: reason, nature, man, freedom,
equality and progress.' Hanafi does not include God. 'Reason,' he adds, 'is
opposed to authority and inherited traditions, thus paving the way for the
individual to lay the foundation of a new epistemology, based on the laws of
nature and on sensory experience and experimentation.'18It is obvious that
Hanafi's definition of tanwir is in line with the postulates of the European
Enlightenment.
The secularists' avowal of Islam is promptednot only by the belief that it is
amenable to reform, but also by the conviction that it is the most effective way
to convince the believers that there is no conflict between reason and religion,
and that to be enlightened and rational is being truly Islamic. Such arguments
have not appealed to the Islamists who argue that 'Islamic tanwir,' is superior
to that of the 'Westernized intellectuals.' Consequently, we now have Islamic
tanwiri books, a large numberof which were exhibited at the 2002 International
Cairo Book Fair, ostensibly 'to correct the Westerners' misunderstandingof
Islam'.19
According to Muhammad Zaqzuq, minister of religious endowments and
presidentof the Egyptian Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs, the superiorityof
'Islamic tanwir' lies in the fact that it 'combines religion and reason, whereas the
European Enlightenment upheld reason and ignored religion.' 'The tenets of
Western Enlightenment,' he adds, 'threatenour Islamic identity and culture in
this globalization age.' Advocates of the 'Islamic tanwir' stress Islam's respect
for and exaltation of reason, but the religious light is necessary to complement
the light of reason. 'Reason is the foundationand religion is the edifice.'20There
are many verses in the Qur'an that encourage the use of reason, but we cannot
make a religion out of rationality, argues Muhammad Julaynad. Reason's
domain is the sensible world ('alam al-shahada) but not the supernatural('alam
al-ghayb). 'Only by revelation and faith can we know something about the world
beyond.'21

Ibn Rushd and Enlightenment

Of all Muslim authorities summoned by the Tanwir Association in support of
reason and liberalism,none has been given greatercoverage and importancethan
the philosopher Abu al-Walid Ibn Rushd (1126-1198), known to the West as
Averroes. His philosophy is thought to be indispensable for the revival of
Islamic intellectual civilization, and social and political development within the
context of the twentiethand twenty-firstcenturies.Ibn Rushd, the great commentator on, and interpreterof, Aristotelian philosophy, is regardedby liberal-secular Arab intellectuals, as well as by some Europeans,as one of the key figures
in the development of the EuropeanEnlightenment.If the Rushdianphilosophy
played such an importantrole in the West, it is only logical to assume that it
18 Wahba and Abousenna, Nadwat al-Tanwir, English Summary,p. 63; Arabic text, p. 42.
19
al-Ahram,
16, 2002.
20 al-Ahram, January
Friday Supplement, April 13, 2001, p. 10.
21 MuhammadJulaynad,
Minhaj al-Salafbayna al-'Aql wa al-Taqlid (Cairo, 1999), pp. 50-63; Cf. Qur'an 2:2;
151; 262.

202

THE EGYPTIAN ENLIGHTENMENT MOVEMENT

could do the same in the East.22Moreover, he is regardedas 'a precursorof the

modem scientific outlook,' and a defender of the freedom of rational investigation.
Averroes' philosophy is beyond the scope of this paper. My main concern is
to explore those aspects of his thoughtregardedby the Tanwiriyyunas necessary
to combat Islamic fundamentalism and the contemporary Islamist discourse.
'The terror of fundamentalism,' writes Mona Abousenna, chairperson of the
English Departmentat 'Ayn Shams University, 'cannot be met by arms or other
forms of security, but by the power of reason, that is, philosophy.'23 This is not
the first time that Averroes' philosophy is employed to generate religious,
intellectual, political and social reform in Egypt and the Arab world. In 1903,
FarahAntun (1861-1922), published his book Falsafat Ibn Rushd (The Philosophy of Ibn Rushd), in which he advocated the separation of temporal and
spiritual authorities.Without that separation 'there will be no true civilization,
tolerance,justice, friendship, science, philosophy or progress.' He was the first
to use Ibn Rushd's teachings 'to promote the establishmentof a secular state and
the Western scientific culture.' He thought that Ibn Rushd's philosophy 'is a
strong endorsement for scientific thinking, which for Antun was the key to
modem civilization.'24
A Christian Jmigre from Lebanon, Antun thought that only in a modem
secular state would Christians have equal political and social rights with
Muslims. He accepted Ernst Renan's contention that according to Ibn Rushd,
philosophy is the 'hidden poison' (al-samm al-kamin) against religion, and that
'in Arabic philosophy as shown by Ibn Rushd, the Aristotelian tradition had
eliminated Islam and put itself in its place.' When Ibn Rushd died, Renan wrote:
'Arab philosophy lost in him its last representative, and the triumph of the
Qur'an over free thought was assuredfor at least six hundredyears.'25 Needless
to say, Renan's views arousedstrongcondemnationof Antun's book by Muslims
in general.
It is no coincidence that Antun book was the first to be reprinted in the
Tanwir series in 1993. The goal was to pioneer an enlightenmentmovement in
the Arab world, based on the authorityof the great Muslim philosopher. There
is a general agreementamong the Tanwiriyyunof all shades that the absence of
Ibn Rushd's philosophy from the Middle East is the 'obstacle facing the
prevalence of reason from its culture.'26 Islamists have always regardedphilosophy as an enemy of religion, as they have been intent on 'smotheringthe seeds
of secularism' in Ibn Rushd's thought, because if the seeds germinate 'they
would emancipate reason, whose absence in the Muslim world is at the bottom
of its backwardness,' That is why when Antun's book was first published,
al-Manar magazine accused the authorof blaspheming Islam and its 'ulama. It
was Rashid Rida, the editor of the magazine, who urged Muhammad'Abduh to

22

For a polemic on Averroes' role in the EuropeanEnlightenment, see Charles E. Butterworth, 'Averroes,
Precursorof the Enlightenment?'Alif 16 (1996), pp. 6-18.
23 Murad Wahba and Mona Abousenna (eds.) Averroes Today: Fundamentalismand Secularization in the
Middle East, (Cairo: 2000), p. 11.
24
Hourani,Arabic Thought,pp. 253-259.
25 Ibid.,
p. 62; Stefan Wild in Wahba and Abousenna, eds. Averroes and Enlightenment,pp. 157, 159.
26 Wahba & Abousenna Averroes
Today, pp. 84, 87.

203

FAUZI M. NAJJAR

respond to Antun's contentions, charging him with atheism, as he later charged

'Ali 'Abd al-Raziq for his views in al-Islam wa 'Usul al-Hukm.27
Dr. Murad Wahba, professor of philosophy at 'Ayn Shams University in
Heliopolis, founder and honorary president of the Afro-Asian Philosophy Association, and a pioneer of the EgyptianEnglightenmentMovement, was the first
to call for an Arab enlightenment movement based on the philosophy of Ibn
Rushd. In November 1979, he organized the First InternationalIslamic philosophy Conference with the title 'Islam and Civilization.' His main idea was that
the problem of the developing countries was the absence of the 'rule of reason.'
In his opinion, the EuropeanEnlightenment 'liberatedreason not only from the
religious authorities,but also from any authorityexcept that of reason itself,' and
that Ibn Rushd's philosophy 'helped breed the Enlightenment in the West,
whereas it failed to do the same thing in the East.' That is what Wahba calls the
'Paradox of Averroes.'28
Wahba cites the case of EmperorFrederickII of Hohenstaufen(1215-1250),
who ruled both Sicily and Germany,and who orderedthe translationof all of Ibn
Rushd's works as a means to counteractthe theocracy of the Catholic Church.
The implication and the intention are that the dissemination of Ibn Rushd's
philosophy will help stem the tide of Islamic fundamentalism.Wahba sees in
Averroism the possibility of reaching the same conclusion in Islam that Europe
had reached in Christianity,namely separationof church and state. If Averroism
contributedto religious reform and enlightenmentin the West, it is likely that it
may do the same in the Arab-Muslim world.29
Other writers have voiced similar views, in particular Dr. 'Atif al-'Iraqi,
professor of Islamic philosophy at Cairo University, and a champion of Ibn
Rushd's philosophy. He has devoted much of his academic careerto propagating
Rushdian thought. He has, among other things, edited a volume on the Muslim
philosopher, with contributionsby 18 prominent scholars. In it, as well as in
other writings, he stresses Ibn Rushd's rationalism, his impact on European
thought, and the need to rehabilitatehis philosophy in the Muslim world.
In his dedication of the book 'To the Spirit of Ibn Rushd,' 'Iraqidescribes him
with some extravagance as the 'doyen of rationalist philosophy in the Arab
world, the pioneer of the enlightenment movement, the towering intellectual
pyramid and the giant of Arabic philosophy.' The book is also dedicated to the
pioneers of enlightenment in the contemporary Arab world. However, 'it is
regrettable that the West has recognized the true value of [Ibn Rushd's]
philosophy, whereas we, the Arabs, have failed to understandit accurately,'
especially 'when irrational and mythical thought has spread all over.' 'Iraqi
laments this 'retreatfrom reason, and the constraintson its domain.' At a time
when the Islamist discourse calls for the rejection of Western civilization and its
scientific achievements, the need for the Rushdian philosophy is more pressing
than ever, he reiterates.30
"Iraqi is a believer in reason, and is fully convinced that "there is no
enlightenment without reason." Crying over the tulul (abandoned encampments)
27 al-Ahali, No.
607, May 26, 1993.
28 al-Ahali, No.
581, November 25, 1992.
29 'Atif al-'Iraqi, (ed) Ibn Rushd
Mufakkiran'Arabiyyanwa Ra'idan li-Ittijah al-'Aqli. (Cairo, 1993), p. 32.
30
Ibid., pp. 81, 165.

204

THE EGYPTIAN ENLIGHTENMENT MOVEMENT

and singing the praises of the heritage,' as the Islamists do, representbackwardness and 'ascendanceto the abyss.' He describes the condition of the Arab world
as one of 'disequilibriumand weightlessness,' a state of 'profoundapathy,while
the world aroundus is moving fast.' He warns of a fate not unsimilarto that of
the Red Indians or other ethnic groups that have become extinct. He calls for the
adoptionof the methods of the advancedWesternnations. In his judgment a dark
outlook envelops the Arab-Muslim world today, superseding 'a somewhat
enlightened outlook,' that prevailed until the middle of the twentieth century.
Since that time, a kind of ridda has taken place. One finds regression in the
sphere of individual freedom, and a tendency toward a kind of reactionary
intellectual dictatorship.He blames the Nasser regime and the intellectuals who
sang its praises for much of the present conditions in today's Egypt. 'A state
without enlightened thought is a body without brains' he avers.31
'Iraqi's enlightened futuristicoutlook envisages taking from the heritage what
will not interferein the way of progress and prosperity. 'Why don't we open up
to the West instead of rejecting everything Western?' he wonders. His goal is to
dismantle the 'terrain of tradition,' and make reason, and reason alone, the
foundation of the new structure.'There is no hope for our intellectual progress
except by relying on reason ... The way of tradition leads to a dead end, to
illusion and perdition,whereas renewal (tajdid) on the basis of reason is the way
of progress.'32The Arab-Muslimworld is 'still spinning in the sphere of taqlid
(tradition),' he affirms. The path of taqlid, unlike that of 'ijtihad, leads to
irrationalityand darkness,whereas 'ijtihad leads to enlightenment.Decrying the
dominance of the reactionaryIslamist thought, which he calls 'petro thought'
[referenceto oil-producingcountries' supportof the Islamists], 'Iraqi says: 'Had
we continued on the path of enlightenment, we would have been spared such
lame and distortedopinions which betray mental retardation,and lead us to ages
of darkness, decline and reaction.'33
'Iraqidoes not reject the heritage, provided it is 'beneficial in our contemporary life.' However, he does not hesitate to discard any part of the heritage that
is incompatible with enlightenment.What may have been good in another age
may not be good now, he declares confidently. For example, the Caliphate,
which is one of the most cherished institutions Islamists would want restored,is
no longer in harmonywith the modem age. He ridicules those who consider the
assimilation of Western ideas a 'cultural invasion,' that has to be resisted and
fought, and those Islamists who attempt to derive scientific theories from
Qur'anic verses.34
Why Ibn Rushd?
Why have the Tanwiriyyunchosen Ibn Rushd as the antidote to the Islamic
discourse?What is the basis of their conviction that Averroism, 'which has been
instrumentalin generatingthe EuropeanEnlightenment' will generate a similar
enlightenment in the Arab-Muslim world? Are they solely concemrnedwith
31 Ibid., pp. 7-10.

32 Ibid., pp. 11 and 22.

33 Ibid., pp. 28-29.
34 Cf. Zaghlul al-Najjar, 'Min Asrar al-Qur'an al-Karim wa Maghza Dalalatiha al-'llmiyya,' has been
serialized in al-Ahram since the beginning of 2002.

205

FAUZI M. NAJJAR

combating fundamentalism,or are they also convinced that Ibn Rushd's philosophy will help move the Arab-Muslim world into the 21st century?
In addition to his influence especially over Europe, the great Muslim philosopher and jurist has more to commend him to a movement seeking to regenerate
a liberal, secular, enlightened and progressive tradition in the Arab-Muslim
world. As the great commentator on Aristotelianism, he stresses the use of
reason and the scientific method, both regardedby the Tanwiriyyunas the key
to reform in a society still shackled by traditionand mythology. Ibn Rushd is the
only Muslim philosopherto dedicate a whole treatise to the connection between
philosophy (science) and religion, which is the pressing issue in Arab-Muslim
world in facing the challenge of the modem age.
In his famous treatise, Fasl al-Maqal, as well as in his other writings, Ibn
Rushd seeks to prove that there is no conflict between the shari'a and philosophy
or science.35 In Fasl al-Maqal and the Paraphrase of Plato's Republic, he
stresses the relevance of Greek thought to Muslim society. In the first treatise of
the Paraphrase, he discusses the need of cities, including Muslim cities, for
political science. This practical science and art he finds in Aristotle's Nicomachea and Politics, the latter 'has not yet fallen into our hands,' as well as in
Plato's Republic.He uses the Qur'an to demonstratethat the study of philosophy
is 'obligatory' according to the sharica. 'That the Law summons to reflection on
beings, and the pursuit of knowledge about them by the intellect is clear from
several verses of the Book of God ... such as His saying "Reflect, you have
vision." '36 [Cf. Quran 59:2; 8:185; 6:75; 88:17-18; 3:191]. This study must be
conducted by demonstrativereasoning (qiyas burhani),beginning with the study
of logic, an instrument that must be learned from the ancient masters, the
Greeks. After mastering logic, 'we must proceed to philosophy proper,' Ibn
Rushd advises. He reiterates that the study of the 'books of the ancients' is
obligatoryby Law, 'since their aim and purposein their books is just the purpose
to which the Law has urged us, and that whoever forbids the study of them to
anyone who is fit to study them ... is blocking people from the door by which
the Law summons them to knowledge of God, the door of theoretical study
which leads to the truest knowledge of Him.'37
It is this argumentthat the Tanwiriyyunhave capitalized on to underminethe
Islamist attack on Western civilization as being a 'foreign invasion,' and
anti-Islamic. They stress Ibn Rushd's call for openness to ideas from other
nations and cultures.If such a step was advisable and valid in Ibn Rushd's days,
why should it not be advisable and valid today? Why depict such an intellectual
opening as a form of kufr as the Islamists do? The Tanwiriyyuninvoke Ibn
Rushd's warning against any ideas, thought and theories that are not based on
reason, in particularhis warning against the fallacies of the Ash'aritetheologians
(Mutakallimun) and the errors of al-Ghazali. He does not spare them his
criticism on every occasion. In discussing Plato's programme of teaching
children the right informationand values, Ibn Rushd criticizes the Ash'arites for
35 Although in his Paraphrase of Plato's Republic, he hints that the shari'a may be in need of 'supplement

and correction.'
36 Abu al-Walid Ibn Rushd, Fasl al-Maqal fi ma bayna al-Hikma w-al-Shari'a min al-Ittisal. Translatedinto
English by George F. Hourani,Averroes on the Harmony of Religion and Philosophy. (London:Luzac & Co.,
1961), pp. 44-45. Henceforth Fasl al-Maqal
37 Ibid., p. 48.

206

THE EGYPTIAN ENLIGHTENMENT MOVEMENT

saying 'God is the cause of good and evil.' 'This is a sophistic state, God is
perfectly good; He neither does evil at any time whatever nor is the cause of
it.'38 What is it in the thought and teachings of these theologians that the
Tanwiriyyunconsider inconsistent with modem times, and inimical to progress
and modernity?
Abu al-Hasan 'Ali al-Ash'ari (873-935), founder of the Ash'arite school of
theology, renouncedthe Mu'tazilite doctrines that the Qur'an is created, that the
eyes of human beings will never see God in the afterlife, and that we are the
authorsof our actions. Rejecting these tenets, he sought to recover the traditional
doctrine by returningto the Holy Book and the teachings of the early Muslims.
His main contention was that no purely rationalistictheology could be devised.
Only reliance upon the word of God, the hadith and Sunna of the Prophet, and
the way of life of the pious ancestors would guarantee a true theology. Faced
with the question of the Qur'anicanthropomorphismof God's face, hands, feet,
etc. [Cf. Q. 7:54; 20:5; 75:22] Ash'ari opined that they were to be taken without
how and without drawing any comparison (bila kayfa wa la tashbih). Thus he
sought to safeguard divine transcendence and the explicit affirmationsof the
Qur'an at the same time.39
Abu Hamid al-Ghazali (1058-1111) adhered to the central theses of
Ash'arism. In his Tahafutal-Falasifa (The Incoherence of the Philosophers) he
defends the dogma 'contre le rationalismeinsidieux et destructeurdes faldsifa.'40
It was al-Ghazali who established the hegemony of Ash'arite orthodoxy in the
East. It was under the Saljuq rule that Ash'arism had a great boost, when the
great vizier Nizam al-Mulk established the Nizamiyya Academy at Baghdad for
the study of the orthodox system. It was in this Academy that al-Ghazalilectured
for four years (1091-1095).41
In seeking to save the 'obvious sense' of the religious text against the
Mu'tazilites and, later, against the philosophers, Ashcari asserted that the obligation to use reason is purely legal. In other words, reason 'is no more the
source, but the instrument, of belief in God.' Accordingly, 'reasoning, as a
human effort, generates no knowledge; it is simply an occasion after which
knowledge is createdby God.' God is the only Creator,He creates in the human
being power and choice. Human actions are created by God and acquired by
humanbeings. By means of the theory of kasb (acquisition), Ash'ari thoughtthat
he had resolved the question of human responsibility. Ash'arism rejects the
Aristotelian theory of the eternity of the universe, and denies causality, since
God's' free will is the cause of everything.By denying the law of causality, what
Ignatz Goldziher calls 'cette source et cette boussole de toute science rationnelle,' Ash'arism destroys the possibility of philosophy and science, as well
as the law of nature.42
The ethical consequences of Ash'arism are as serious as its metaphysicalones.
38 Averroes on Plato's Republic. Translatedby Ralph Lerner. (Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press,
1974), p. 20.
39 See Louis Gardet and Georges Anawati, Introduction a la Thdologie Musulmane: essai de thdologie
comparee (Paris: 1948), pp. 55 and 66.
40
Ibid., p. 72.
41 Philip K.
Hitti, History of the Arabs (New York: 1951), pp. 410-411, 431.
42 Gadet and Anawati, op. cit., pp. 58-59. Also
Majid Fakhry,History of Islamic Philosophy (New York and
London: Columbia University Press, 1983), p. 208.

207

FAUZI M. NAJJAR

The constant interventionof God leads to the negation of human responsibility.

The humanbeing is no more the authorof his/her actions. 'In his Ibanah, Ash'ari
describes the arbitrarypower of God in terms that leave hardly any scope for
human initiative.'43Ibn Rushd attacks the theologians for using rhetorical and
dialectical methods ratherthan the demonstrative,because 'wisdom can only be
completed throughknowledge of the end of man ... And it is evident that we can
only perceive the end of man throughthe theoreticalsciences.'44By equating the
philosopher with the 'bringerof the shari'a,' he implies that wisdom 'ought to
be firmly established in the ruler of the city and rule over it.'
Ibn Rushd bemoans the fact that Muslim societies fall far short of the ideal
delineated in Plato's Republic. For example, when discussing the timocratic
association [where 'love of violence and domination and that a man forever be
lord, and not lorded over, and be served, not serve], he comments that this kind
of government [was] frequently found among us [Muslims].'45He calls the
associations of many of the Muslim kings 'entirely domestic, where propertyis
designated for the sake of the household of the lords among them.' In such cities
'the multitude are plunderedby the mighty, and the mighty go so far in seizing
their property that this occasionally leads them to tyranny,just as this comes
about in this time of ours and in this city of ours.'46
IllustratingPlato's account of the transformationof the virtuous governance,
Ibn Rushd cities the 'case of the governance of the Arabs in early times, for they
used to imitate the virtuous governance. Then they were transformed into
timocrats in the days of Mu'awiya. So seems to be the case in the governance
now existing in these islands.' The reference is to the Almohad dynasty, under
whose rule Ibn Rushd lived most of his life.47 He is strongly in support of
freedom and is opposed to tyranny. Following Plato, he describes the tyrant as
most unhappy, and the 'most enslaved of people.'
Ibn Rushd's liberal position may also be demonstratedby his discussion of the
position of women. He seems to go along with Plato's views that women 'would
have the very same standing as men in those classes, so that there would be
among them warriors, philosophers, rulers and the rest ... And we say that
women, in so far as they are of one kind with men, necessarily share in the end
of man. They differ only in less or more.'48Reflecting on the position of women
in 'these [Muslim] cities,' he says that their competence is unknown, 'since they
are only taken in them for procreationand hence are placed at the service of their
husbands, and confined to procreation, upbringing and suckling. This nullifies
their other activities. Since women in these cities are not preparedwith respect
to any of the human virtues, they frequentlyresemble plants in these cities. Their
being a burdenupon the men in these cities is one of the causes of the poverty
of these cities.'49
It must have become clear that Ibn Rushd's ideas, whether on methodology
and emphasis on demonstrativeproof, or his attitudetoward governance and his
43 Ibid., p. 207. Cf. Q. 16:40; 37:96.
44 Averroes on Plato's Republic, pp. 49-50.
45 Ibid., pp. 108-109.
46 Ibid., pp. 112-113.
47 Ibid., p. 121.
48 Ibid., p. 57.

49 Ibid.,p.59.

208

THE EGYPTIAN ENLIGHTENMENT MOVEMENT

championing of the cause of women, would be attractive and relevant to a

movement concerned with reform in the Arab-Muslim world. Of particular
significance to the Enlightenment Movement is Ibn Rushd's methodology of
allegorical interpretation(ta 'wil). He defines ta 'wil as follows: 'If the apparent
meaning of Scripture conflicts with demonstrative conclusions it must be
interpretedallegorically ... The meaning of 'allegorical interpretation'is: extension of the significance of an expression from real to metaphoricalsignificance,
without forsaking therein the standardmetaphoricalpractices of Arabic. So we
affirm definitely that whenever the conclusion of a demonstrationis in conflict
with the apparentmeaning of the Scripture, that apparentmeaning admits of
allegorical interpretationaccording to the rules of such interpretationin Arabic.'50

By reintroducingphilosophy and rational thinking into Islamic culture, the

Tanwiriyyunseek to ward off Islamic fundamentalism,and the orthodox legacy
of Ash'ari and Ghazali. They also want to open up to Western knowledge and
scientific techniques, and to usher the Arab-Muslim world into the twenty-first
century. They are fully aware that the existing political regimes have become
anachronisticand out of touch with reality. They want better education for Arab
children, more freedom of opinion and expression, more equality and rights for
all citizens irrespective of gender, race and colour.
In orderto make Ibn Rushd's philosophy acceptablein a conservative Muslim
society, the advocates of enlightenment have often stressed its Islamic dimension. They often cite his statement that religious and philosophical truths are
identical, in order to whitewash philosophy in a hostile environment.However,
Dr. ZaynabKhudayri,a professor of philosophy, submitsthat by using ta'wil Ibn
Rushd 'has placed Aristotle above the religious text.' Conversely, Hamid Tahir,
a well-known writer, argues that Ibn Rushd has established a link between
rational demonstrationand shar'i rules, and demonstratedthat the shari'a is a
rational law.51However, there is unanimity among secularists and liberals that
Averroism will serve as an antidote to fanaticism, extremism and the obscurantism of the Islamic discourse, and a remedy against the 'traffickers in the
shari'a,' the religious propagandists.
Advocacy of Ibn Rushd's ideas has spreadbeyond the Egyptian frontiers.An
independentArab organization, 'Ibn Rushd's Institute for Free Thought,' registered in Germany, gives annual prizes to those who promote freedom, democracy, social justice, science and human rights in Arab societies. Its first prize
went to al-JazeeraTV Channel on December 10, 1999, in recognition of its role
in opening its channels for a free and democraticdialogue. The second prize was
given to Mrs. 'Issam 'Abd al-Hadi, presidentof the GeneralUnion of Palestinian
Women, and an activist in the movement for the emancipationof Arab women,
and for their rights in equality and justice. An Egyptian intellectual, and a
founding member of the Enlightenment Association, Mahmud Amin al-'Alim,
was the recipient of the third prize, and 'Azmi Bishara, a member of the Israeli
Knesset and defender of Palestinian rights, the fourth prize.52
50 Fasl al-Maqal, pp. 50-51.

MuradWahba (ed.)
hawla Ibn Rushd. (Cairo: 1995), pp. 59-60.
51
52 al-Ahram, DecemberHiwdr
13, 2001, May 15, 2002, and January 12, 2003; al-Ahali, October 23, 2002. The
Institute bestows these prizes in early December to coincide with the anniversary of Ibn Rushd's death
(December 9th), and the anniversaryif the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (December 10th). The

209

FAUZI M. NAJJAR

Critics of Enlightenment
Like most Muslims, Egyptians are strongly attachedto Islam and its Law. They
have always been suspicious of any reform that may lead to changes in their
religious beliefs and practices. The Egyptian Constitutionproclaims Islam the
official religion of the state and the principles of the shari'a the primarysource
of legislation. Moreover, Egypt is the home of al-Azhar, the supreme Islamic
institution,which has often resisted change. Mosques and Islamic academies are
much more influential than universities and other institutions of learning. No
wonder then that the contemporaryenlightenmentmovement has more enemies
than supporters. Consequently, the Tanwiriyyun are often accused of being
misguided in their 'enchantment' with the Western notion of enlightenment.
Conservative writers and religious scholars have wielded their knowledge of
Islamic law and literatureto attack and 'refute' the ideas and argumentsof the
adherents of Tanwir, and Mosque preachersuse the khutba [Friday sermon] to
discredit them in the eyes of the masses.
Opponentsof the Tanwirmovement reject secularismand separationbetween
religion and state, and view its adherentsas the vanguardof a Western 'cultural
invasion.' Muhammad'Imdra,a noted Islamic scholar, and a prolific writer on
Islamic subjects, has accused the Tanwiriyyunof adoptingthe philosophy of the
'atheist-positivistWestern Enlightenment,' and of having confused the secular
enlightenment of the West with the 'Islamic reforms' of Tahtawi, Afghani and
'Abduh. He maintains that none of these three reformershas gone as far as to
advocate the separation of religion and state. He chides Murad Wahba for
saying: 'There is no sovereignty above reason except that of reason,' and Jabir
'Asfur for saying: 'Empiricism is the twin (qarin) of reason ['aql], and reason
is opposed to tradition [naql],' adding cynically: 'We are faced with the
deification of reason, which was worshipped during the French Revolution
instead of God and religion.'53
MuhammadJulaynad, another writer on Islamic subjects and a professor of
Islamic philosophy at Dar al-'Ulum of Cairo University, alleges that the three
terms, 'secularism,' 'enlightenment,'and 'progress,' that the Tanwiriyyunentertain and disseminate, are attractive concepts in which truth and falsehood are
intermingled.To reject them is also to reject what is true in them; to accept them
is to accept what is false in them. He warns against their 'distortions and
falsifications.' His main charge is that Egyptian advocates of enlightenmenthave
accepted the 'cultural pollutants' associated with Western Enlightenment, primarily the rejection of religion and the belief in the supernaturalas superstitious.
Enlightenmentin the West developed out of the conflict between the Churchand
science, he argues. Opposition to the Churchwas transformedinto opposition to
religion. People have mistakenly rejected religion as being opposed to science
and reason. He says the Tanwiriyyunin the Arab world fail to realize that Islam
is not a Church, and that it is not opposed to science and reason. They portray
the battle as if it were a struggle between Islam and science, religion and reason,
the heritage and the future. 'This polarity between religion and science has been
Footnote continued
Chairmanof the Board of Directorsof the Instituteis ProfessorNabil Bushnaq,a Germanof Palestinianorigin.
The Instituteseeks nominationsfor futureprizes, and has listed an e-mail address [info@ibn-rushd.org]for this
purpose.
Muhammad'Imara, al-Islam bayna al-Tanwir wa al-Tazwir (Cairo: 1995), pp. 13-14, 105, 107, 186.

210

THE EGYPTIAN ENLIGHTENMENT MOVEMENT

the hallmarkof the TanwirMovement in our country.' He concludes that the war
against Islam and its clergy will, as in the West, lead to atheism, dissolution of
morals, and surrenderto materialism.54
Chargedwith being 'poisoned' by Western thought, and influenced by Freud,
Marx and Nietzche, the Tanwiriyyun have 'abolished our history and our
morality.'55For 'Abd al-'Aziz al-Tuwayjiri, Director General of the Islamic
Organizationfor Education, Culture and the Sciences, Tanwir is 'a right word
used for the wrong reason, because it is misleading public opinion, confounding
sound thinking and creating an intellectual and cultural confusion.' He argues
that enlightenment is a European concept based on separation of religion and
life; it does not apply to Islam. He claims that the term does not appearin the
Qur'an, but its verbal noun, nur (light) appears 43 times. The Islamic understanding of Tanwir is based on the principle of faith and science ('ilm). 'It is
enlightenmentof the mind and the heart.Enlightenmentof the heartcomes about
by faith, and it is more important than that of the mind.' He concludes by
asserting that 'there is no enlightenment, no progress and no true renaissance
except throughIslam.'56The abundantanti-Tanwirliteratureby Islamists underscores the obstacles facing the contemporaryenlightenmentmovement not only
in Egypt, but also in the Arab-Muslim world as a whole.
The Tanwir movement has also faced criticism from those who espouse its
basic principles. Hasan Hanafi, a prominent supporter of the Movement, has
been critical of its method of turning 'reason into a da'wa [religious propaganda], and rationalism into rhetoric, without a clear definition of reason.' He
objects to using Ibn Rushd for solving contemporaryproblems, 'because it will
belittle his philosophical value.'57 He makes the distinction between treatingthe
philosopherof Cordobaas a contemporary,namely re-readinghim while we are
concerned about contemporaryissues, and delivering 'orations' about him and
his rationalism.This is not beneficial, he asserts. On the contrary,all it does is
to increase in us the tendency toward oratory and verbosity, which is contrary
to rationalism.There is a difference between using Ibn Rushd as a contemporary
modernist (mu'asiran) and using him against political enemies, the Islamists.
Hanaffconsiders the state to be as extremist as the Islamists, 'should we not use
Ibn Rushd's philosophy against all irrationaltrends in Egyptian society, including trends inside and outside of the state system?' he pointedly asks.58
Putting the case more succinctly, Alfred Ivry agrees that to adopt Averroes
'for contemporaryliberal purposes is ... problematic,and threatensto distorthis
life and work. Are we to create myths and invent the past for political
purposes?', he wonders. 'It is, however, shortsightedto believe that the scholar
or philosopherwill maintaincredibilityand influence once he or she is perceived
to be a propagandistfor a particularpolitical view. The philosopher particularly
must remain, like Socrates, the gadfly of society, questioning and challenging
accepted truths... Our Muslim philosophers did not become spokesmen for

54 MuhammadJulaynad,Falsafat al-Tanwir (Cairo: 1999), pp. 7-9, 15-17, 28-29.

55 MuhammadJalal Kishk, Jahalat 'Asr al-Tanwir (Cairo: 1990), pp. 30, 36, 40.
56 From an interview in al-Ahram, December 14, 2001.
57 Hiwar, pp. 104, 181.
58 Ibid., p. 184.

211

FAUZI M. NAJJAR

particularregimes. We should not turn them into such today, or become such
ourselves,' he wisely counsels.59

Conclusion
Laudable and necessary as the activities of the EnlightenmentMovement may
be, there is sufficient evidence that their impact on Egyptian society has been
negligible. Most of its activities have been limited to a small group of
intellectuals, who exchange philosophical, cultural and political ideas, and
publish books and articles accessible only to a limited number of individuals.
Such discussions are way above the reach of the ordinary citizen. Most
Egyptians, as well as most Arabs and Muslims, are either illiterate or too poor
and too busy with the problems of daily living to be more than oblivious and
indifferent to intellectual endeavours. Most of them depend on their religious
leaders and-mosquepreachersfor guidance; the intellectual elite are too remote,
and too arrogant,to have any appeal for them. Economic, social and educational
disparitieshave created a chasm between classes, sharp enough to preclude any
meaningful communication, not to say dialogue.
Moreover, Egyptian authoritieshave been suspicious of, even hostile to, some
of the activities and ideas of the advocates of enlightenment. Disseminating
liberal ideas such as freedom, democracy and equality is frowned upon by a
governmentnot especially tolerantof criticism and opposition. For example, the
Egyptian Ministry of Social Affairs has recently refused, without giving any
reasons, to license the Society of Egyptian Intellectuals, whose goal is to unify
the intellectuals, promote enlightenmentand safeguard freedom of thought and
expression.60

Under pressure from the intellectuals, and from the United States following
the occupation of Iraq, most Arab regimes 'have made gestures of a sort [toward
reform], but they don't add up to much as yet,' as The Economist put it.61In
order to pre-empt American pressure, the Egyptian National Assembly on June
15 and 16 unanimously approved a bill establishing the National Council for
Human Rights [NCHR], with the aim of 'deepening the cultureof human rights
in Egypt.'
Hailed as a 'bold initiative,' and as a 'partand parcel of the modem state,' the
Council falls short of the expectations of the advocates of enlightenment.
Expressing scepticism, critics point out that the law 'is silent on torture in
prisons and police stations, Egypt's leading human rights violation.' They point
out that while the bill was being debated, Egyptian authorities 'rejected the
registrations of two rights groups, the Land Center for Human Rights, which
defends peasantsrights, and the New Woman ResearchCenter,which focuses on
women's issues.' Moreover, the law 'empowers the prosecution to detain
suspects for up to 60 days and grants it investigative powers in addition to its
existing prerogative of preparing cases against suspects.'62Expressing similar
scepticism, The Daily Star of Lebanon foresees that neitherthe Egyptian NCHR
59 Wahba and Abousenna Averroes and the Enlightenment,pp. 122-124.
60
al-Ahali, January24, 2002.
61 The
Economist, July 19, 2003, p. 35.
62 The Cairo Times, vol.
7, Issue 16, 19-25 June 2003; The New York Times, June 17, 2003.

212

THE EGYPTIAN ENLIGHTENMENT MOVEMENT

nor similar councils established in Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria and Jordan, will
'spur a significant improvementin human rights conditions.'63
Despite these developments, it would be unfair to dismiss the Enlightenment
Movement as being totally ineffective. Against great odds, it has persevered in
propagating its mission. Some of its ideas and teachings, in books, articles,
lectures and TV programmes,are bound to percolate down to ordinarycitizens.
In addition, it has prompted a number of Islamic organizations and religious
writers to call for 'religious reform,' albeit defensively. In most cases, they seek
to defend Islam against the currentcriticisms from the West. But they have made
it clear that the 'renewal of Islamic thought' should in no way infringe upon 'the
fixed forms of the dogma, acts of worship and the definitive rules of the Qur'an
and the Sunna.'64
However, an irreversiblemovement for religious and political reform has been
generated.Early in July 2003, the Egyptian Supreme Council for Culture, with
the help of the Tanwir Association, sponsored a conference of more than a
hundred Arab intellectuals to discuss the 'renewal of the cultural discourse.'
Under the title 'Towards a New Arab Cultural Discourse: from Present Challenges to Future Horizons,' tens of papers were presented, focusing on a
discourse 'in harmony with reason, and in agreement with logic, and which is
responsive to the needs of the existing reality.' Other topics were 'freedom of
expression,' 'the relationshipbetween the state and religion,' and 'the pressing
need for change,' etc. The central question facing such discussions is, in the
words of Ahmad 'Abd al-Mu'ti Hijazi, former president of the Enlightenment
Association, 'to get out of the ages of decline without rejecting all of our history,
and to enter modern culture without melting into others or becoming alienated
from ourselves.' Hijazi adds: 'We want to preserve the living roots and active
elements in our national heritage, because they are the constituents of our
personality, and the prerequisiteof our independence and freedom, just as we
want to adopt what is human in Western civilization'.65
Whateverwill come out of this conference, the pressurefor reform is on, and
Arab Muslim governments can no longer ignore what the Tanwir Association
calls for-freedom, democracy and human rights-if they hope to be a part of
the twenty-firstcentury.The alternativeis that they will be left behind, and have
a lot of catching up to do.

63 The Daily

Star, July 22, 2003.

64 al-Ahram, June 4, 2001.

65 Ibid., July 16, 2003.

213