Abdel-Wahab El-Messiri ( ar, عبد الوهاب المسيري, 1938-July 2, 2008) was an Egyptian

scholar A scholar is a person who pursues academic and intellectual activities, particularly academics who apply their intellectualism into expertise in an area of study. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or researche ...

, 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 Damanhur ( ar, دمنهور ', ; Egyptian: ''Dmỉ-n-Ḥr.w''; cop, ⲡϯⲙⲓⲛ̀ϩⲱⲣ '; ; grc, Ἑρμοῦ πόλις μικρά ') is a city in Lower Egypt, and the capital of the Beheira Governorate. It is located northwest of Cair ...

, 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 Alexandria University ( ar, جامعة الإسكندرية) is a public university in Alexandria, Egypt. It was established in 1938 as a satellite of Fouad University (the name of which was later changed to Cairo University), becoming an indepen ...

in 1959. He received a MA in English and

comparative literature Comparative literature is an academic field dealing with the study of literature and cultural expression across linguistic, national, geographic, and disciplinary boundaries. Comparative literature "performs a role similar to that of the study ...

from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

in 1964 and a PhD in the same field from

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's ...

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 King Saud University (KSU, ar, جامعة الملك سعود) is a public university in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Established in 1957 by King Saud bin Abdulaziz to address the country's skilled worker shortage, it is the first university in the K ...

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

(1983–1988) and at

Kuwait University Kuwait University ( ar, جامعة الكويت, abbreviated as Kuniv) is a public university located in Kuwait City, Kuwait. History Kuwait University (KU), (in Arabic: جامعة الكويت), was established in October 1966 under Act N. 29 ...

Kuwait Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...

(1988–1989) and a visiting professor at the

International Islamic University Malaysia The International Islamic University Malaysia ( ms, Universiti Islam Antarabangsa Malaysia; Jawi alphabet, Jawi: اونيۏرسيتي اسلام انتارابڠسا مليسيا; ar, الجامعة الإسلامية العالمية بمال ...

. 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 Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after ''Zion'') is a Nationalism, nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is ...

;

secularism Secularism is the principle of seeking to conduct human affairs based on Secularity, secular, Naturalism (philosophy), naturalistic considerations. Secularism is most commonly defined as the Separation of church and state, separation of relig ...

and prejudice; Western culture and contemporaneity;

modernism Modernism is both a philosophy, philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western world, Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new fo ...

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

. 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 Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...

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 Anthony Calderbank is an English translator of contemporary Arabic literature.Profil ...

* "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 ''The Electronic Intifada'' (''EI'') is an online Chicago-based publication covering the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. It describes itself as Nonprofit organization, not-for-profit, Non-governmental organization, independent, and providing a ...

, 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