Pioneerof Enlightenment Refa'aAtTahtawi

Refa'aAtTahtawiiscon sideredbymanyArabschol ars and intellectuals the god father of theArab rising and of enlightenment in modern Egypt. He undertook the responsibility of introducing the European culture by translating many European masterpieces as well as of modernizing throughout his writingsonreform. AtTahtawi's approach has threemainfeatures:thetotal itarian vision and the aware ness of the social and politi cal phenomena mixing work,thoughtandthepracti cal experience together, and finally mixing the Islamic heritagewiththemodernsci ences enlightened with understanding of the Euro peanculture. AtTahtawiwasthefirst to call for keeping the heri tagewithoutbigotryandtak ing from the west without dependency,thushebecomes the first thinker who estab lishedarelationshipbetween heritageandmodernity.He did not refuse quoting and takingoutfromtheEuropean civilization, but on the other hand, he did not accept it without thorough examina tion, where he called for interacting with it. That's why he asked AlAzhar

schoolmosque to teach all civilsciencesandknowledge side by side to the Islamic law jurisprudence(sharia). Instinctively, AtTahtawi wasateacherandeducatoras alongashelivedhislife.He started his life as a sheikh surrounded by alAzhar stu dents and ended his life as a teacher to the nation who saw no way to its advance ment except by science, whichisavailabletoallpeo ple without differences between the rich and the poor,ormaleandfemaleand exerted his best effort to achieve this goal and wrote books that supporthisideas. AtTahtawi lit the torches ofthoughtandenlightenment afterhehadfoundanewcul tural system. He mixed both western and eastern cultures without touching the Egyp tian culture. Throughout his thought and writings, he introduced a thorough vision to the way of reforming the society. CulturalBackground Refa'ah Rafie AtTahtawi was born in Tahta, Sohag, Upper Egypt, on 15 October 1801.Hewasamanofnoble birth.Heenjoyedhisfather's outstanding care in spite of their moving between many towns in upper Egypt. He

committed the Koran to memory before leaving UpperEgypttoCairo,where he joinedAlAzhar in 1817. He studied Hadith, juris prudence, Sufism, interpreta tion, syntax,...etc, and learnedatthehandsofmany ulammas (scientists) of al Azhar such as Hassan al Attar, who associated with theFrenchexpeditionandits scientists, from whom he learned and motivated towardseverynewandmod ern knowledge. AlAttar called to learn these knowl edge for the progress in Egypt. AtTahtawistrengthened histiestoSheikhHassanal Attar, accompanied him and learned the modern science from him as he spent six yearsinAlAzharandstarted teachingin1821attheageof twentyone. Had had a sim plified way of explanation that he became a source for students to resort to. His teachingcareerlastedfortwo years, then he left teaching and joined the Egyptian ArmyformedbyMohammed Ali and was appointed as a preacher. He benefited from this period by discipline and accuracy. InParis Mohammed Ali Pasha

appointed Rifa'ah atTahtawi an Imam of the educational mission to Paris in 1826 for his intelligence, eagerness to science and patriotism. His ambitionpushedhimforward to gain knowledge and learn Frenchasifhewaspreparing himself to be a member of the mission and not just an imam.ThatiswhytheEgyp tiangovernmentjoinedRefa'a as a member of its educa tional mission to be special izedintranslationforhisout standingArabiclanguageand Azhar culture. He had a dis tinguishedtreatmentfromthe French scientist "Gomard" a French Expedition scientist to Egypt and responsible for issuingtheencyclopedicbooks "DescriptiondeL'Egypte" with the great orientalist De Saso. AtTahtawispentsixyears in Paris. He translated the French constitution in 1818 underthetitleof"theFrench Police", referring to its con tents of values and princi ples. He translated French masterpieces in different fields and concluded his manuscript of the book he wrote which is entitled "Takhlees AlIbress fi Talk heesParis"(AParisprofile) . This book was not a description to a journey ratheritisacalltopromotio nandresearch. Positions and Translations The first position he occu pied, just after his return in 1831, was a translator in the school of medicine. He was the first Egyptian that held such a position and worked for two years in which he translated few medical stud ies. He reviwed the transla tionofsomebooks.In1833, Rrefa'ah was moved to

Tobigia school ( Artillery School) in Tora where he worked as atranslator of engineeringandmilitaryscienc esandestablished theschoo lofmanagement in 1834 the basetotheLawSchool. AlAlsonSchool AtTahtawi had hope in establishing a high school to teach foreign languages and prepareagenerationoftrans lators who shoulder the responsibilityofbuildingthe Egyptian cultural edifice in an unprecedented Egyptian movementsofar.Hesubmit tedhissuggestionto Muhammed Ali Pasha and convinced him to establish a school for translators named AlAslun School, whose studytermoughttotakefive years. It was inaugurated in 1836 in Cairo. AtTahtawi heldthepositionofitshead master. At the early begin ning,ithadclassesforteach ing French, English, Italian, Turkish and Persian in addi tiontoEngineering,Algebra, History, Geography and "Sharia". Refa'a exerted his effortsinthisschooluntilthe graduation of the first group in1839.Thisgroupconsisted of twenty students.AlAlsun Schoolwasextendedtohave a department for the general administration of Monarchy toprepareemployeestowor kinthegovernmental offices, and another department to study organic agricul ture.Adepartmentfor Sharia sciencewasestablished in 1847accordingtothedoctri neofAbiHanefa AlNomani topreparejudges.Hence,Al Alsun School became a uni versity that has the faculties of arts, law and commerce. Refa'a, with his students, translated 2000 books. They

translatedthemasterpiecesof modern sciences and knowl edge, hence, the Arabic lan guage had the ability to speak of the requirements of theage. ClosureandEx The school lasted for fif teen years as a minerate of scienceandknowledgeandit was a meeting point of both westernandArabculturestill it was closed by the new governor, Abbas I, because he was not contented by his grandfather'sanduncle'spol icies. Hence, he stopped the process of translation and distributed AlWaqa'a Al Masreya newspaper only to the Turkish statesmen. Abbas I ordained to send Refa'a to Sudan under the pretext of holding the posi tionoftheheadmasterofthe primary school that Abbas was building there. Refa'a received the order patiently anddevotedhimselftotrans latetheclassicFrenchlitera ture where he translated the famous novel "Telmak Adventures". He established the primary school in Sudan where there were 40 stu dents.Moreover,hemanaged that school and paid much attention to the brilliant stu dents. GoodReturn After Khedive Abbas I died, AtTahtawi came back more energetic than before. He established offices to eliminate illiteracy to spread science among people and went back to the field of translation and encouraged Boulaq's press to publish the Arab literature masterworks. He held many educational posts at the age of Khedive Said.Hewasheadedthemil itary school established by

Khedive Said to graduate staff officers in 1856. At Tahtawi paid the school spe cial care made Arabic the officialcompulsorylanguage and dedicated one elective oriental languages: Turkish orPersian,inadditiontoone European language: English, French or German. He also constituted a group special ized in accountancy and established a department of translationheadedbyhisstu dent and the writer of his biographySalehMagdy.The Military school looked like AlAlsunSchool. RevivingtheArabHeritage Not only did Refa'ah do thesegreatachievements,but also he endeavored to achieve the first project to revivetheIslamicArabheri tage. He managed to per suade the government to reprint several masterworks of theArab heritage such as the 'Explanation of Qura'n' for 'Fakhr AlRazy', known as"MafatehAlGhaib" Ma'hedAlTansesAlaShaw ahed AlTalkis in rhetoric Khazanat AlAdab for Al BaghdadiMakamatalHariri and others. This constant activitystoppedin1861when AtTahtawi was retired and the school of staff officers was canceled. He became unemployed until Khedive Ismailascendedthethronein 1863, Rafa'a then went on actively in spite of his old age. He embarked boldly on education, trying to give a hand to his nation towards thesupremepositionsof advancement.Hence,he supervisedteachingArabicat schools,selectingtheirteach ersandsettingguidelinesfor thecurricula.Heheadedalot

ofcommitteesforbothEgyp tianandforeignSchools. Department of Translation The tangible achievement thatAtTahtawididattheage of Khedive Ismail was hold ing the head of the transla tion department that was established in 1841. That department,withAlAlsun (language) school, repre sented a window where the Arab world overlooked the European civilization. The headquarters of that depart ment was just a room in the Schools'Department(Dewan Al Madares). Moreover, that did not stop realizing the greatest achievements. They translated the French law in manyvolumesandprintedin Boulaq press. It was not an easy task. It required a good knowledge of the French laws and the Islamic laws to selectthecoincidentjurispru denceexpressions. He had a great favour on journalism in Egypt and the Arab world.Although Napo leon Bonaparte got the press to Egypt during the French expedition, he issued only two newspapers in French with limited distribution. AlWaqa'iAlMisrea (EgyptianEvents)newspaper was first issued in 1828 while atTahtawi was in France. It was issued in Turkish language with weak Arabic translation. After Refa'a had come back to Egypt in 1831, he was appointed an editorinchief of AlWaqa'i AlMisrea in 1842. He spread the journa listic spirit crystallized the public opinion. He issued it in Arabic with a Turkish Translation. The Egyptian news was the headlines then the foreign news came after.

HeshiftedtheeditorialofAl Waqa'i from praising the khedive to a deep analyzing essay on one of the main political and social issues that touch the life of thema jority. RawdatAlMadares Refa'a was assigned to issue the first cultural and scientific magazine in 1870 in cooperation with Ali Mubarak Pasha. Rawdat Al Madares was a bimonthly magazine.Thefirstissuewas published in April, 1870. It was a real garden full of fruitful pens as well as a training field to the young writers. He made it a miner ate to teach the nation and spread culture among youth. He organized it as depart ments and appointed one of the great scientists on top of eachone.Themagazinepub lished historical, geographi cal, social, health, and liter ary articles, in addition to stories and poetry. It pub lishedalsodigestsoflessons lectured in "Dar alOlum". The magazine paid atten tion to the woman's issues and called for her emancipa tion. AtTahlawi was the father of journalism, media andculture. AtTahtawiasaPoetanda ManofLetters AlthoughAtTahtawiwrote poetry, he was further taste fulthanapoet.Heplayedan important role in developing the Arabic poetry freeing it fromtheunityofrhythmand worked on varying poetic meters and Rhythm as the 'Andalusia Rhythm'. The poem he wrote on the occa sion of opening the Suez Canal was the most famous. In novels, many novelists were influenced by Reba's,

such as Yahya Haqqi in "Kandil Um Hashim", Taw fiqalHakeemin"AsfourAl Sharq" and Taha Hussein in "Adeep". AtTahtawi wrote national anthems after he had trans lated the French anthem and wroteseveralanthemsnamed "Alwataniat". They were a new form of the Arabic Poetry.AtTahtawi'sSupportto Woman'sIssues Concerningtheleadingrole that he played to support the woman's issues, all the his torical documents prove that Refa'ahtookprecedenceover Qasem Amin of what was written in the latter's two books "Woman's Emancipa tion" in 1899 and "The New Woman"in1900. AtThatawi took prece dence over other advocates when he said that woman's virtue was due to her upbringing not to her dressing and also he retali ated on the gender equality. In addition, he called for womanempowerment. Rifa'ahencouraged woman's participation in social and economic life.As well, he defended the Arab women right to education and work on equal footing withmen. AlTahtawi and Preserving Egypt'sAntiquities His role in preserving the Egyptian antiquities started when he was in Paris and witnessedthescientificbattle in which Champollion had the upper hand after reveal ing the secrets of Hiero glyphic language in addition to his organization to the Egyptian antiquities division in the "Louver" in 1827. Rifa'ah strongly criticized MohamedAliPashawhenhe

dedicated the obelisk to Franceasasymboloffriend ship. After he had returned from Paris, atTahtawi sub mittedtoMohammed Ali Pasha a plan to preserve Egypt's antiquities. The plan was published in AlWaqa'I alMisria newspaper in 1835 as said that any antiquities found by individuals should behandedovertotheprinci palofAlAlsunSchool.Con sequently, AlAlsun's court yard become the nucleus of the first antiquities museum inEgypt. AtTahtawi'sWorks AtTahtawy provided the Arabic library with several encyclopedicworksthathelp every researcher or reader who wants to understand the history of the Egyptian soci ety during the 19th century. Salient of which are: 1 "Anwar Tawfik AlGalil fiAkhbar Misr wa Tawtheek beni Ismail," is the first part of the History Encyclopedia publishedin1868andtracing the history of ancient Egypt till the dawn of Islam. 2 A thorough summary of the biography of Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) is recording a comprehensive accountofthelifeofprophet Mohammed (peace be upon him) and the political, legal and administrative founda tionsofthefirstIstamicstate. 3 TheMethodologyofEgyp tinMindswithRegardtoMar vels of Modern Literature" ItwasthefirstArabicbook that stated the concept of nationalism. It included the meaning of the homeland Egypt. The book presented the notion of religious toler ance and brotherhood in the homeland. Intheconclusion,atTahtawi

addressed to what the Egyp tiansshoulddotowardstheir homelandinawaythatcom prisedhisIslamicandFrench culture. 4 On raising the young, Refa'ah wrote "The Honest Guide for Education of Girls and Boys" which reflects the mainpreceptsofatTahtawi's educational thoughts as a goodwayforeducatingboys andgirls.Inaddition,Refa'ah wrote abook about Arabic Grammar in a book entitled "The Library Masterpiece towards a Simpler Arabic Grammar". He collected all Arabic grammer rules in a clear way. Refa'ah shoul dered the beacon of civiliza tion and through his works andwritings,hepresentedan accurate vision on how to reform the conditions of the society through progressive ideas that made him one of the most distinguished and outstandingliteraryfiguresat histime. Therefore, atTahawi will always be the pioneer of Arabintellectualandcultural progress movement in the modern era. He was first to mix between the authenticity and modernity through the revivalandtranslationofher itage books and the first to collect and preserve the Egyptianantiquities. His ideas are summarized inensuringtheconceptofthe Egyptian Nationalism, estab lishing the modern state and building the modern Egyp tian society on comprehensi veintegratedcultural, economicandpoliticalbases. On May 27, 1873, at Tahtawipassedawayafterhe had left an invaluable scientific and literary heri tage.