Abdel-Wahab El-Messiri ( ar, عبد الوهاب المسيري, 1938-July 2, 2008) was an Egyptian scholar, author and general coordinator of the opposition organization

Kefaya Kefaya ( arz, كفاية ''kefāya'', , "enough") is the unofficial moniker of the Egyptian Movement for Change ( ar, الحركة المصرية من أجل التغيير ''el-Haraka el-Masreyya men agl el-Taghyeer''), a grassroots coalition ...

Life

El-Messiri was born in Damanhur, Egypt, graduated with a BA in

English literature English literature is literature written in the English language from United Kingdom, its crown dependencies, the Republic of Ireland, the United States, and the countries of the former British Empire. ''The Encyclopaedia Britannica'' defines E ...

from Alexandria University in 1959. He received a MA in English and comparative literature from Columbia University in 1964 and a PhD in the same field from Rutgers University in 1969. He was professor emeritus of English and comparative literature at

Ain Shams University Ain Shams University ( ar, جامعة عين شمس) is a public university located in Cairo, Egypt. Founded in 1950, the university provides education at the undergraduate, graduate and post-graduate levels. History Ain Shams University was fou ...

, Egypt since 1988. He was also a University Professor at King Saud University, Saudi Arabia (1983–1988) and at Kuwait University, Kuwait (1988–1989) and a visiting professor at the International Islamic University Malaysia. He is considered as one of Egypt's most famous thinkers and very well known among Arab scholars. El-Messiri's major areas of research included: Jews, Judaism and Zionism; secularism and prejudice; Western culture and contemporaneity; modernism and

postmodernism Postmodernism is an intellectual stance or Rhetorical modes, mode of discourseNuyen, A.T., 1992. The Role of Rhetorical Devices in Postmodernist Discourse. Philosophy & Rhetoric, pp.183–194. characterized by philosophical skepticism, skepticis ...

;

literary theory Literary theory is the systematic study of the nature of literature and of the methods for literary analysis. Culler 1997, p.1 Since the 19th century, literary scholarship includes literary theory and considerations of intellectual history, mo ...

and comparative literature. Over the course of his life his outlook moved from western secularism to a modern Islamic vision. El-Messiri wrote several articles about his ideas, including "Chosen Community, an Exceptional Burden", "A People Like Any other". He has also written for children. His eight-volume ''Encyclopedia of Jews, Judaism and Zionism'' (" موسوعة اليهود واليهودية والصهيونية: نموذج تفسيري جديد"), written in Arabic with an analytical/methodological form rather than an encyclopedic collection of information, is intended to provide analysis of the Middle East crisis, the history of Jews and the history of Zionism, as well as an in-depth analysis of Zionism, its ideology and beliefs, and ultimately the goals of such movement. On July 2, 2008 he died after a very long battle against cancer at the Palestine Hospital, Cairo.

Statements by Abdel Wahab El-Messiri

* "The functional nature of Israel means that it was created by the colonialism for a specific purpose. It is thus a colonial project that has nothing to do with Judaism".

English language publications

* "Israel, Base of Western Imperialism" (Committee of Supporting Middle East Liberation, New York, 1969) * ''A Lover from Palestine and Other Poems'' (Palestine Information Office, Washington D.C., 1972) * ''Israel and South Africa: The Progression of a Relationship'' (North American, New Brunswick, N.J., 1976; second edition 1977; third edition, 1980; Arabic translation, 1980) * ''The Land of Promise: A Critique of Political Zionism ''(North American, New Brunswick, N.J., 1977) * ''Three Studies in English Literature'' (North American, New Brunswick, N.J., 1979) * ''The Palestinian Wedding: A Bilingual Anthology of Contemporary Palestinian Resistance Poetry'' ditor(Three Continents Press, Washington D.C., 1983) * ''A Land of Stone and Thyme: Palestinian Short Stories'' o-editor(Quartet, London, 1996). Translated by Anthony Calderbank * "Epistemological Bias in the Social and Physical Sciences" (International Institute of Islamic Thought, London - Washington, 2006)

References

Bibliography

* Haggag Ali (2013) ''Mapping the Secular Mind: Modernity's Quest for a Godless Utopia''. London: International Institute of Islamic Thought.

External links

*
Official homepage
including a
online version of the Jews, judaism and Zionism encyclopedia

''

Al-Ahram ''Al-Ahram'' ( ar, الأهرام; ''The Pyramids''), founded on 5 August 1875, is the most widely circulating Egyptian daily newspaper, and the second oldest after '' al-Waqa'i`al-Masriya'' (''The Egyptian Events'', founded 1828). It is majori ...

''
Abdelwahab M. Elmessiri 1938-2008
in

TheFreeLibrary.com ''The Free Dictionary'' is an American online dictionary and encyclopedia that aggregates information from various sources. Content The site cross-references the contents of ''The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language'', the ...

.
Dr. Abdul-Wahab El-Messiri: leading intellectual light of Islam and politics in Egypt
Obituary in the

Yemen Times The ''Yemen Times'' was an independent English-language newspaper in Yemen. The paper was published twice weekly. History and profile ''Yemen Times'' was founded in 1991 by Abdulaziz Al-Saqqaf, a leading economist and human rights activist, who ...

, 15 July 2008
"On life, literature and Palestine, a tribute to Abdelwahab Elmessiri"
Obituary on The Electronic Intifada, 4 August 2008
Abdel-Wahab M. El-Messiri: A global specialist in the Zionist movement’s history
* Samir Abuzaid

at arabphilosophers.com * Ahl Ben Taleb, M.A
“Abdelwahab Elmessiri’s theoretical abrogation and appropriationof Western and Zionist Terminology”
{{DEFAULTSORT:Messiri, Abdel Wahab 1938 births 2008 deaths Alexandria University alumni Columbia University alumni Rutgers University alumni Ain Shams University faculty King Saud University faculty International Islamic University Malaysia faculty Egyptian writers Egyptian philosophers Deaths from cancer in Egypt Kuwait University faculty People from Damanhur Egyptian children's writers 20th-century philosophers