Sadiq Jalal Al-Azm ( ar, صادق جلال العظم ''Ṣādiq Jalāl al-‘Aẓm''; 1934 – December 11, 2016) was a
Professor Emeritus
''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...
of Modern European Philosophy at the
University of Damascus
The University of Damascus ( ar, جَامِعَةُ دِمَشْقَ, ''Jāmi‘atu Dimashq'') is the largest and oldest university in Syria, located in the capital Damascus and has campuses in other Syrian cities. It was founded in 1923 through ...
in Syria and was, until 2007, a visiting professor in the Department of Near Eastern Studies at
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...
. His main area of specialization was the work of German philosopher
Immanuel Kant
Immanuel Kant (, , ; 22 April 1724 – 12 February 1804) was a German philosopher and one of the central Enlightenment thinkers. Born in Königsberg, Kant's comprehensive and systematic works in epistemology, metaphysics, ethics, and ...
, but he later placed a greater emphasis upon the
Islam
Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
ic world and its relationship to the West, evidenced by his contribution to the discourse of
Orientalism
In art history, literature and cultural studies, Orientalism is the imitation or depiction of aspects in the Eastern world. These depictions are usually done by writers, designers, and artists from the Western world. In particular, Orientalist p ...
. Al-Azm was also known as a
human rights
Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...
advocate and a champion of intellectual freedom and free speech.
Early life and education
Al-Azm was born in 1934 in
Damascus
)), is an adjective which means "spacious".
, motto =
, image_flag = Flag of Damascus.svg
, image_seal = Emblem of Damascus.svg
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, ...
,
Syrian Republic, into the influential
Al-Azm family
Al-Azm family ( ar, آل العظم, tr, Azm Ailesi) is a prominent Damascene family. Their political influence in Ottoman Syria began in the 18th century when members of the family administered Maarrat al-Nu'man and Hama. A scion of the family ...
, who were of
Turkish or
Arab
The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...
origins.
The Al-Azm family rose to prominence in the eighteenth century under the rule of the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
in
Greater Syria. Al-Azm's father, Jalal al-Azm, was one of the Syrian secularists who was known to admire
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, or Mustafa Kemal Pasha until 1921, and Ghazi Mustafa Kemal from 1921 Surname Law (Turkey), until 1934 ( 1881 – 10 November 1938) was a Turkish Mareşal (Turkey), field marshal, Turkish National Movement, re ...
's
secularist reforms in the
Republic of Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
.
Al-Azm was schooled in
Beirut
Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...
,
Lebanon
Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...
, earning a B.A. in Philosophy from the
American University of Beirut
The American University of Beirut (AUB) ( ar, الجامعة الأميركية في بيروت) is a private, non-sectarian, and independent university chartered in New York with its campus in Beirut, Lebanon. AUB is governed by a private, aut ...
in 1957. Al-Azm earned an M.A. in 1959 and a Ph.D. in 1961 from
Yale University
Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...
, majoring in Modern European Philosophy.
Career
In 1963, after finishing his Ph.D., he began teaching at the
American University of Beirut
The American University of Beirut (AUB) ( ar, الجامعة الأميركية في بيروت) is a private, non-sectarian, and independent university chartered in New York with its campus in Beirut, Lebanon. AUB is governed by a private, aut ...
. His 1968 book ''Al-Nakd al-Dhati Ba’da al-Hazima'' (''Self-Criticism After the Defeat'') (Dar al-Taliah, Beirut) analyzes the impact of the
Six-Day War
The Six-Day War (, ; ar, النكسة, , or ) or June War, also known as the 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states (primarily United Arab Republic, Egypt, S ...
on Arabs. Many of his books are banned in Arab nations (with the exception of Lebanon).
He was a professor of Modern European Philosophy in the Department of Philosophy and Sociology at the
University of Damascus
The University of Damascus ( ar, جَامِعَةُ دِمَشْقَ, ''Jāmi‘atu Dimashq'') is the largest and oldest university in Syria, located in the capital Damascus and has campuses in other Syrian cities. It was founded in 1923 through ...
from 1977 to 1999. He continued to be active in lecturing at European and American universities as a visiting professor. In 2004, he won the
Erasmus Prize
The Erasmus Prize is an annual prize awarded by the board of the Praemium Erasmianum Foundation to individuals or institutions that have made exceptional contributions to culture, society, or social science in Europe and the rest of the world. I ...
with
Fatema Mernissi
Fatema Mernissi ( ar, فاطمة مرنيسي, Fāṭima Marnīsī; 27 September 1940 – 30 November 2015) was a Moroccan feminist writer and sociologist.
Biography
Fatema Mernissi was born on 27 September 1940 in Fez, Morocco. She grew up in t ...
and
Abdulkarim Soroush. In 2004 he received the
Dr. Leopold Lucas Prize
Doctor is an academic title that originates from the Latin word of the same spelling and meaning. The word is originally an agentive noun of the Latin verb 'to teach'. It has been used as an academic title in Europe since the 13th century, w ...
awarded on behalf of the Protestant Faculty of the
University of Tübingen
The University of Tübingen, officially the Eberhard Karl University of Tübingen (german: Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen; la, Universitas Eberhardina Carolina), is a public research university located in the city of Tübingen, Baden-Wü ...
by Professor
Eilert Herms with an address entitled "Islam and Secular Humanism" In 2005, he became a Dr. Honoris Causa at
Hamburg University. In 2015 he was awarded the
Goethe Medal
The Goethe Medal, also known as the Goethe-Medaille, is a yearly prize given by the Goethe-Institut honoring non-Germans "who have performed outstanding service for the German language and for international cultural relations". It is an offici ...
by the president of the Goethe Institute.
Controversy and arrest
Al-Azm was at the center of a political controversy in December 1969 when he was arrested ''in absentia'' with his publisher by the Lebanese government; he had fled to Syria only to later return to Beirut to turn himself in, where he was jailed in early January 1970. He was charged for writing a book that aimed at provoking feuds among the religious sects of Lebanon. This was after publication in book form of various essays that previously appeared in journals, magazines and periodicals. Together, they comprised the 1969 book, ''Naqd al-Fikr al-Dini'' (''Critique of Religious Thought'') (Dar al-Taliah, Beirut). In it, Al-Azm's rebuke of political and religious leaders and the media who supported them for exploiting their populations' religious sentiments was relentless and made him enemies. He applied a Marxist-materialist critique to religion, not to discredit people's religious commitments, but to expose how "Arab regimes found in religion a crutch they could use to calm down the Arab public and cover-up for their incompetence and failure laid bare by the defeat, by adopting religious and spiritual explanations for the Israeli victory...."
Al-Azm was released from prison in mid-January 1970 after the "Court decided in consensus to drop the charges filed against the Defendant Sadiq Al-Azm and Bashir Al-Daouk due to the lack of criminal elements they were charged with."
[ Subsequent editions of ''Naqd al-Fikr al-Dini'' include the Documents from the Tribunal and continue to be published in Arabic to this day, though with restricted access in the Middle East.
Al-Azm long believed his arrest was motivated by other factors, perhaps as a way to "settle scores with their critics and foes." Regardless, the arguments Al-Azm raised in ''Critique of Religious Thought'' continue to be debated, and there have been numerous books published in Arabic furthering the positions of both sides of the debate. The most thorough chronicling of the "affair", to use the author's own words, outside the Middle East was in the German journal, ''Der Islam,'' by Stefan Wild in an essay translated "God and Man in Lebanon: The Sadiq Al-Azm Affair" in 1971.
]
Prominent views
Historian Albert Hourani
Albert Habib Hourani ( ar, ألبرت حبيب حوراني ''Albart Ḥabīb Ḥūrānī''; 31 March 1915 – 17 January 1993) was a Lebanese British historian, specialising in the history of the Middle East and Middle Eastern studies.
Back ...
characterizes Al-'Azm's writing as "a total rejection of religious thought." Al-Azm was a critic of Edward Said
Edward Wadie Said (; , ; 1 November 1935 – 24 September 2003) was a Palestinian-American professor of literature at Columbia University, a public intellectual, and a founder of the academic field of postcolonial studies.Robert Young, ''White ...
's ''Orientalism
In art history, literature and cultural studies, Orientalism is the imitation or depiction of aspects in the Eastern world. These depictions are usually done by writers, designers, and artists from the Western world. In particular, Orientalist p ...
'', claiming that it essentialises 'the West' in the same manner that Said criticises imperial powers and their scholars of essentialising 'the East'. In a 1981 essay, Al-Azm wrote of Said: "the stylist and polemicist in Edward Said very often runs away with the systematic thinker ... we find Said ... tracing the origins of Orientalism all the way back to Homer, Aeschylus, Euripides and Dante. In other words, Orientalism is not really a thoroughly modern phenomenon, as we thought earlier, but is the natural product of an ancient and almost irresistible European bent of mind to misrepresent the realities of other cultures, peoples and their languages. ... Here the author seems to be saying that the 'European mind', from Homer to Karl Marx and A.H.R.Gibb, is inherently bent on distorting all human realities other than its own."
Within a decade, Al-Azm became an active participant in the dialogue surrounding free speech and the 1988 publication of ''The Satanic Verses
''The Satanic Verses'' is the fourth novel of British-Indian writer Salman Rushdie. First published in September 1988, the book was inspired by the life of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. As with his previous books, Rushdie used magical realism ...
'' by Salman Rushdie
Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie (; born 19 June 1947) is an Indian-born British-American novelist. His work often combines magic realism with historical fiction and primarily deals with connections, disruptions, and migrations between Eastern and Wes ...
.
Bibliography (English)
Al-Azm wrote numerous books and articles in Arabic, and some have been translated into European languages including Italian, German, Danish, French. Neither ''Al-Nakd al-Dhati Ba’da al-Hazima'' nor ''Naqd al-Fikr al-Dini'' has been translated in its entirety into English, though selections of ''Naqd al-Fikr al-Dini'' have appeared in English translation in John J. Donohue and John L. Esposito'
in Transition: Muslim Perspectives''
(982
Year 982 ( CMLXXXII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place Europe
* Summer – Emperor Otto II (the Red) assembles an imperial expeditionary force at Tar ...
007, 2nd Ed.) Additionally, chapter two of ''Nakd al-Fikr al-Dini'' was translated into English in a 2011 Festschrift in honor of al-Azm's career published under the titl
''Orientalism and Conspiracy: Politics and Conspiracy Theory in the Islamic World, Essays in Honour of Sadiq J. Al-Azm.''
Books
* 1967 ''Kant's Theory of Time'' New York, Philosophical Library.
* 1972 ''The Origins of Kant's Arguments in the Antinomies'' Oxford, Clarendon/Oxford University Press.
* 1980 ''Four Philosophical Essays'' Damascus, Damascus University Publications.
* 1992 ''The Mental Taboo: Salman Rushdie and the Truth Within Literature.'' London, Riad El-Rayess Books.
* 2004 ' (Islam and Secular Humanism), Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2005
* 201
''Self-Criticism After the Defeat.''
Saqi Books. London.
* 2013 Secularism, Fundamentalism, and the Struggle for the Meaning of Islam. (Collected essays in 3 volumes) – Vol. 1: On Fundamentalisms; Vol. 2: Islam – Submission and Disobedience; Vol. 3: Is Islam Secularizable? Challenging Political and Religious Taboos. Gerlach Press, Berlin 2013–2014,
* 2014 '' Critique of Religious Thought''. , in Arabic published in 1969 ( ar, نقد الفكر الديني).
* 201
Islam - submission and disobedience
Articles
* 1967 "Whitehead's Notions of Order and Freedom." ''The Personalist: International Review of Philosophy, Theology and Literature.'' University of Southern California. 48:4, 579-591.
* 1968 "Absolute Space and Kant's First Antinomy of Pure Reason." ''Kant-Studien'' University of Koln, 2:151-164.
* 1968 "Kant's Conception of the Noumenon." '' Dialogue: Canadian Philosophical Review'' Queen's University, 6:4, 516-520.
* 1973 "The Palestinian Resistance Movement Reconsidered." ''The Arabs Today: Alternatives for Tomorrow'' Columbus, Ohio: Forum Associates Inc., 121-135.
* 1981
Orientalism and Orientalism in Reverse.
''Khamsin
Khamsin, chamsin or hamsin ( ar, خمسين , meaning "fifty"), more commonly known in Egypt as khamaseen ( arz, خماسين , ), is a dry, hot, sandy local wind affecting Egypt and the Levant; similar winds, blowing in other parts of North ...
'' No.8: 5-26. Reprinted in Alexander Lyon Macfie, Ed. ''Orientalism: A Reader'' New York: New York University Press, 2000. 217-238." See Reference 1 for full article link.
* 1988 "Palestinian Zionism.
''Die Welt Des Islams''
Leiden, 28: 90-98.
* 1991 "The Importance of Being Earnest About Salman Rushdie." ''Die Welt Des Islams'' 31:1, 1-49. Reprinted in D.M.Fletcher, Ed
''Reading Rushdie: Perspectives on the Fiction of Salman Rushdie''
Amsterdam/Atlanta: Rodopi, 1994.
* 1993/1994 "Islamic Fundamentalism Reconsidered: A Critical Outline of Problems, Ideas and Approaches." ''South Asia Bulletin, Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East
''Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East'' is a triannual peer-reviewed academic journal covering Comparative Studies on Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia. It provides a "critical and comparative analyses of the hist ...
'
Part 1
13:93-12
Part 2
14:73-98
* 1994 "Is the ''Fatwa'' a ''Fatwa''?" In ''For Rushdie: Essays by Arab and Muslim Writers in Defense of Free Speech'' Anouar Abdallah, et al. New York: George Brazille
* 1996 "Is Islam Secularizable?" ''Jahrbuch fur Philosophie des Forschungsinstituts fur Philosophie."
* 2000
The Satanic Verses Post Festum:The Global, The Local, The Literary.
''Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East'' 20:1&2.
* 2000
The View from Damascus
''New York Review of Books'' June 15.
* 2000
The View from Damascus, cont'd.
''New York Review of Books'' August 10.
* 2002
Western Historical Thinking from an Arabian Perspective.
in ''Western Historical Thinking: An Intercultural Debate'' Edited Jorn Rusen. New York: Berghahn Books. riginal German 1999* 2004
Viewpoint: Islam, Terrorism and the West Today.
''Die Welt Des Islams'' 44:1, 114-128.
* 2004
Time Out of Joint.
''Boston Review'' October/November
* 2008
Science and Religion, an Uneasy Relationship in the Judeo-Christian-Muslim Heritage.
''Islam and Europe: Challenges and Opportunities.'' Marie-Claire Foblets
Marie-Claire, Baroness Foblets is a Belgian lawyer and anthropologist, who is currently Director of the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology and Professor at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven. Her research interests are interculturalism, ...
, Ed.
* 2010
Farewell, Master of Critical Thought.
On the passing of Egyptian intellectual Nasr Abu Zayd
Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd ( ar, نصر حامد أبو زيد, ; also Abu Zaid or Abu Zeid; July 10, 1943 – July 5, 2010) was an Egyptian Quranic thinker, author, academic and one of the leading liberal theologians in Islam. He is famous for his proj ...
* 2011 "Orientalism and Conspiracy." In ''Orientalism and Conspiracy.'' See above, pgs. 3-28.
* 2011
The Arab Spring: 'Why Exactly at this Time?
" originally published in Arabic in ''Al Tariq Quarterly'' (Beirut) Summer 2011, English translation by Steve Miller in ''Reason Papers: A Journal of Interdisciplinary Normative Studies'' vol. 33 Fall 2011.
Interviews
* 1997 "An Interview with Sadik Al-Azm." ''Arab Studies Quarterly,'' summe
Also appeared in ''The June 1967 War After Three Decades.'' Edited by William W. Haddad, Et al. Washington, D.C., Association of Arab-American University Graduates. 1999.
* 1998 "Trends in Arab Thought: An Interview with Sadek Jalal al-Azm." ''Journal of Palestine Studies,'' 27:2, 68-8
* 2000 "Analysis: The Rise and Rise of Bashar." BBC news report. June 2
* 2005 "An Arab Exit Strategy." An Internet interview with Sadik al-Azm, Vali Nasr, Vahal Abdulrahman and Ammar Adbulhamid on Open Source Radio. November 10
* 2009 Portrait Sadiq Al-Azm: An Argumentative Arab Enlightene
* 201
Interview with Sadiq Jalal al-Azm: A New Spirit of Revolution
* 201
Interview with Dr. Sadiq Jalal Al-Azm: The Syrian Revolution and the Role of the Intellectual
''Al-Jumhuriyya'' Group.
References
External links
Essay: Sadiq Al-Azm: The Fight over the Meaning of Islam
*200
"Democracy and the Middle East: A View from Damascus."
Lecture at the Kennedy Center for International Studies. 04/09/2008
* 2010 Sadik's comments on the Ground Zero Mosque at the ''TwoSeas Forum for Dialogue'',
"Should the West welcome new mosques? Should the East welcome other places of worship?"
* A Collection of Sadik's essays and interviews can be found at the forum "What is said about Arabs and Terrorism"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Azm, Sadik al-
1934 births
2016 deaths
Syrian philosophers
People from Damascus
Sadiq Jalal
National Coalition of Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces members
Syrian secularists
Syrian people of Turkish descent
Syrian writers