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| The city of Nablus in the 1950s |
Those were the years when Bilad Ash-Sham, i.e. Greater Syria5, also known as the Levant, were struggling to gain their independence from the Ottoman Empire, which was itself in the midst of an overall internal change following the decline of its importance on the world scene after 600 years as a major imperial power.
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Eltaher in his youth
Cairo - May 5, 1912 |
It was during these tumultuous times that Mohamed Ali Eltaher began his intellectual contribution to the issues of the day, relying on his pen as a means to conduct his struggle. Despite his relative young age, he was nonetheless far-sighted enough to realize that his writings would not reach the Arab masses and their leaders unless they originated from a major Arab capital. This impelled him to travel to Egypt, which by then was semi-independent and practically not under Ottoman rule. Cairo, a shining city, played an important role on the world scene both within the Arab6 and Islamic7context, and even in the European context.
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In the foreground the Palestinian city of Jaffa
where Eltaher grew up |
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