Salim Ali Salam ( ar, سليم علي سلام, tr, Selim Ali Selam, also known as Abu Ali Salam; 1868–1938) was a prominent figure 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 ...
at the turn of the 20th century who held numerous public positions, including deputy from Beirut to the
Ottoman Parliament
The General Assembly ( tr, Meclis-i Umumî (French romanization: "Medjliss Oumoumi" ) or ''Genel Parlamento''; french: Assemblée Générale) was the first attempt at representative democracy by the imperial government of the Ottoman Empire. Als ...
, President of the Municipality of Beirut, and President of the Muslim Society of Benevolent Intentions (al-Makassed). He was the leader of the "Beirut Reform Movement," which called for the decentralization and modernization 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) ...
, and was also a member of the Executive Committee of the First Arab Congress which met in Paris in 1913 and formulated Arab national demands. He opposed Ottoman political repression during
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, and the
French Mandate
The Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon (french: Mandat pour la Syrie et le Liban; ar, الانتداب الفرنسي على سوريا ولبنان, al-intidāb al-fransi 'ala suriya wa-lubnān) (1923−1946) was a League of Nations mandate fou ...
of the post-war period. He stood out for his enlightened outlook and for his ability to communicate effectively with his contemporaries. He received the Ottoman nobility title of
Bey
Bey ( ota, بك, beğ, script=Arab, tr, bey, az, bəy, tk, beg, uz, бек, kz, би/бек, tt-Cyrl, бәк, translit=bäk, cjs, пий/пек, sq, beu/bej, sh, beg, fa, بیگ, beyg/, tg, бек, ar, بك, bak, gr, μπέης) is ...
. Today, a main avenue in Beirut is named after him.
Early life
Salam was first sent to a Christian missionary school where he studied French and then to an Ottoman school where he studied Turkish. His father died when he was only seventeen years of age, at which point he took over the family business. Two years later, he married Kulthum Barbir, the granddaughter of Ahmad Al Agharr who had held at one and the same time in Beirut the positions of
mufti
A Mufti (; ar, مفتي) is an Islamic jurist qualified to issue a nonbinding opinion (''fatwa'') on a point of Islamic law (''sharia''). The act of issuing fatwas is called ''iftāʾ''. Muftis and their ''fatwas'' played an important role ...
,
qadi
A qāḍī ( ar, قاضي, Qāḍī; otherwise transliterated as qazi, cadi, kadi, or kazi) is the magistrate or judge of a '' sharīʿa'' court, who also exercises extrajudicial functions such as mediation, guardianship over orphans and mino ...
, and
naqib al-ashraf Naqib al-ashraf () (plural: ''nuqaba'' or ''niqabat'') was a governmental post in various Muslim empires denoting the head or supervisor of the descendants of the Islamic prophet Muhammad.Damurdashi, ed. Muhammad, p. 43. The descendants of Muhammad ...
(head of the order of the descendants of the
Prophet Muhammad
Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the monoth ...
). Together they had twelve children: Ali, Muhieddine, Fatima, Muhammad, Anbara, Misbah, Omar, Saeb, Abdallah, Fouad, Malik, and Rasha. One of his sons, Malik, married the sister of
Rashid Karami
Rashid Abdul Hamid Karami (30 December 1921 – 1 June 1987) ( ar, رشيد كرامي) was a Lebanese statesman. He is considered one of the most important political figures in Lebanon for more than 30 years, including during much of the Lebane ...
who served as the prime minister for ten times.
Salam became a successful merchant, mostly trading in staples from his office located in the seaport area of Beirut. In addition, he undertook several construction and agricultural projects. Owing to the economic position that he came to occupy, he was appointed member of the Chamber of Commerce in 1895, President of the Agricultural Bank in 1900, and Vice President of the Court of Commerce in 1903.
Beiruti notable with a modern outlook
The French Consul General in Beirut, M. Couget, described Salim Salam, in an annex to a dispatch addressed to the French Minister of Foreign Affairs, M. Pichon, dated May 16, 1913, as follows:
Salim Salam, more commonly called Abu Ali, is one of those hardcore Beirutis, with a coarse language but so full of color and flavor. His intelligence is totally remarkable. His speech, while simple, is eloquent and highly persuasive. His entire personality exudes strength, courage and decisiveness. Wherever he finds himself he is always the heart and soul of the meeting, despite his cursory education. His influence over his coreligionists and even upon others is undeniable. Had this man been born and brought up in a free country, he would surely have become somebody. Compulsive speculation is his particular trait. One time he is in calm and flat financial waters and on another he is heading full sails towards the million. At this moment, he seems to be making good headway despite some minor ups and downs. In brief, he is a true male and an incomparable leader.
According to the foremost Lebanese historian,
Kamal Salibi
Kamal Suleiman Salibi ( ar , كمال سليمان الصليبي ) (2 May 19291 September 2011)
, "among the Moslem notables of Beirut at the turn of the century few communicated with their fellow men as easily and readily as Salim Ali Salam." Salibi explains that "hardly anything happened in the city, the
sanjak
Sanjaks (liwāʾ) (plural form: alwiyāʾ)
* Armenian: նահանգ (''nahang''; meaning "province")
* Bulgarian: окръг (''okrǔg''; meaning "county", "province", or "region")
* el, Διοίκησις (''dioikēsis'', meaning "province" ...
, or the
vilayet
A vilayet ( ota, , "province"), also known by various other names, was a first-order administrative division of the later Ottoman Empire. It was introduced in the Vilayet Law of 21 January 1867, part of the Tanzimat reform movement initiated ...
without his knowledge or participation." Salibi describes Salam as "a man of remarkably modern outlook, cautious and shrewd yet open-minded and completely lacking in prejudice, receptive of new ideas, aggressive and capable of making good use of opportunity, a born positivist, a believer in progress, and an expert breaker of Gordian knots."
Salibi goes on to relate the following: "As he rose in society, Abu Ali was careful not to lose the common touch … While his peers vied with one another in building luxurious mansions out of town, Abu Ali remodeled and enlarged his father's house in al-Musaytiba, and later added on to it a third floor, so that it now dominated the neighborhood … His sons and daughters were encouraged to identify themselves with the neighborhood and become intimately acquainted with it … The men of the neighborhood came to him with their problems; during the month of Ramadan, he would invite them to break the day's fast at his table."
Salibi also relates the following: "Abu Ali did not flee the social restrictions of al-Musaytiba, but he was personally uninhibited, full of self-confidence and daring, and, though conventionally religious, completely unfanatical. From his home base in the heart of Moslem Beirut, he developed cordial friendships with the
Greek Orthodox
The term Greek Orthodox Church ( Greek: Ἑλληνορθόδοξη Ἐκκλησία, ''Ellinorthódoxi Ekklisía'', ) has two meanings. The broader meaning designates "the entire body of Orthodox (Chalcedonian) Christianity, sometimes also cal ...
archbishop of the city and the leading Christian notables of al-Ashrafiyya; he would ride over to call on them informally, in company with his growing brood of sons, and received informal visits from them in return. As a boy, his father had made it clear to him that it was not wrong for a Moslem to seek modern instruction in a Christian school, even if it meant attending compulsory church services; now he sent his own sons to the Syrian Protestant College ow_the_American_University_of_Beirut.html" ;"title="American_University_of_Beirut.html" ;"title="ow the American University of Beirut">ow the American University of Beirut">American_University_of_Beirut.html" ;"title="ow the American University of Beirut">ow the American University of Beirut against strong remonstrances from his more conservative Moslem associates. More than that, a Greek Catholic priest came regularly to his house to teach his sons French, and a leading Maronite literary figure of the day, Abdallah al-Bustani, tutored his daughter Anbara in Arabic language and literature. In 1910, Abu Ali took another unprecedented step: he sent his eldest son, Ali, to study agricultural engineering in England."
Similarly to Salibi,
Samir Kassir
Samir Kassir ( ar, سمير قصير, 5 May 1960 – 2 June 2005) was a Lebanese- Palestinian journalist of '' An-Nahar'' and professor of history at Saint-Joseph University, who was an advocate of democracy and prominent opponent of the Sy ...
, a Lebanese journalist and leading historian of Beirut who was assassinated in 2005, wrote that Salim Salam was "the most visible man of Beirut … a prosperous man who was at the crossroads of all public initiatives and was very much aware of all that took place in Beirut and the whole of the province." In terms of social development at the turn of the century, Kassir explains that "the greatest metamorphosis of all was the one brought about by the emergence of Salim Salam as a public figure – and by his way of life." Kassir depicts Salam as "elegant in manner and possessed of a noble bearing, in public always dressed in the European style while wearing the Ottoman tarbush."
He says that "Salim Salam embodied a mixture of traditional virtues and new values. Throughout his life he was to maintain a piety attested by his daily observance of religious ritual and his reading of sacred texts, while at the same time displaying an openness of mind that tempered the conservatism of his social environment."
Kassir also explains that "Salim Salam's choice of friends was proof of his religious tolerance at a time when communal tensions were intensified by the misfortunes of the Ottoman Empire and the destabilization of the Muslim community by Western penetration. Salam made it a point of establishing solid relationships with both the Orthodox archbishop of Beirut,
Monsignor Misarra
Greek Orthodox Metropolitan of Beirut and Exarch of Phoenicia is the head of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Beirut and Exarchate of Phoenicia in the Syrian-based patriarchate of the Eastern Orthodox Church of Antioch. The present Archbishop is ...
, and
Habib Pasha al-Saad
Habib Pacha El-Saad ( ar, حبيب باشا السعد; 1867 – 5 May 1942) was a Lebanese Maronite Christianity in Lebanon, Maronite politician who was born in Ain Traz, Aley District. He served as the List of Speakers of the Parliament of Leba ...
, the Maronite president of the administrative council of the
Mutasarrifate of Mount Lebanon
The Mount Lebanon Mutasarrifate (1861–1918, ar, مُتَصَرِّفِيَّة جَبَل لُبْنَان, translit=Mutasarrifiyyat Jabal Lubnān; ) was one of the Ottoman Empire's subdivisions following the Tanzimat reform. After 1861, there ...
." As evidence of the deep-seated trust that existed between Salim Salam and the leaders of the Christian community, Kassir reports that "the Orthodox bishop of Beirut, preparing to set off on a trip, instructed the dignitaries of his community to defer to the judgment of Salim Salam during his absence."
Kassir also recounts that Salim Salam's eldest daughter, Anbara, "in the 1920s was to be the first Muslim woman in Lebanon to go out in public unveiled" and that "in the meantime she had been sent to study in London, together with her younger sister; a photograph taken during her stay there shows Anbara wearing an elegant cloche hat and a mid-calf skirt in the company of her father, her brother Saeb, and
King Faisal I of Iraq
Faisal I bin Al-Hussein bin Ali Al-Hashemi ( ar, فيصل الأول بن الحسين بن علي الهاشمي, ''Faysal el-Evvel bin al-Ḥusayn bin Alī el-Hâşimî''; 20 May 1885 – 8 September 1933) was King of the Arab Kingdom of Syria ...
– proof that Salam readily accepted the idea of women doing away with the veil, in defiance of prevailing social conventions in Beirut." In her autobiography, Anbara reveals that she had consulted with her father prior to removing the veil for the first time in public, during a lecture she gave on her impressions of her time in England, and that he had said to her to do as she saw fit.
President of the municipality of Beirut
Salim Salam became president of the Municipality of Beirut in 1908 – the highest office in the land that a local from Beirut could attain. He was also a member of the administrative council of the
vilayet
A vilayet ( ota, , "province"), also known by various other names, was a first-order administrative division of the later Ottoman Empire. It was introduced in the Vilayet Law of 21 January 1867, part of the Tanzimat reform movement initiated ...
of Beirut.
In his memoirs, he recounts that upon taking office he recognized that the municipality "was in a state of trouble, as there was no money in its coffers, debts were accruing, roads were in a very poor condition, and the financial and moral base of the municipality had eroded."
His tenure was marked by comprehensive reforms and by a hands-on approach to the everyday needs of the city.
President of the Muslim Society of Benevolent Intentions (al-Makassed)
Salim Salam became president of al-Makassed in 1909 – a leading charitable organization that promotes modern education among the Muslims of Beirut.
According to Salibi, "the new Maqasid board, under the presidency of Abu Ali, proceeded to draft new by-laws for the society, to secure for it full legal recognition, and to have its various properties officially registered in its name. Its schools were then re-organized: a boys' school was established in
Zuqaq al-Blat
Zuqaq al-Blat ( ar, زقاق البلاط) is one of the twelve quarters of Beirut.
Etymology
Zoqaq al-Blat literally means "the cobbled alley", this was a colloquial name given to the street extending from the old city to the Qantari hill and ...
with a Druze, Arif Bey Nakad, as principal; and girls' school was established at Hawuz al-Wilaya with a
Protestant
Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...
, Julia Tu'ma, as principal. It was typical of Abu Ali to act against strong objections and appoint non-Moslems (a Druze and a Christian) to head the new Maqasid schools when he found no Moslems suited for the job."
According to Hassaan Hallak, Salim Salam's biographer, "during his presidency, Salim Salam improved the instruction in the schools of al-Makassed both in terms of the pedagogical methods and in terms of the quality of the teachers and directors by hiring individuals with higher educational degrees and specialized skills … He also developed the practices of the organization and increased its revenues which came to exceed 180 thousand piasters in 1912, after it had been suffering from the burden of deficit and deterioration for years."
Leader of the Beirut Reform Movement
At the inaugural meeting of the (Beirut) Reform Movement, sometimes called the Beirut Reform Society, which took place on 12 January 1913 in the municipality building, Salim Salam was elected as the executive officer of the movement along with
Petro Trad
Petro Trad ( ar, بترو طراد) (born Beirut, Lebanon in 1876, died in Beirut on 5 April 1947) was a Lebanese lawyer, politician, who served as President of the French Mandate of Lebanon for a brief period (22 July 1943 – 21 September 19 ...
;
Ayoub Tabet
Ayoub Tabet ( ar, أيوب تابت) (1884 – 14 February 1947) was a Lebanese Protestant politician.First Arab Congress convened on 18 June 1913 in Paris, at the
Société de Géographie
The Société de Géographie (; ), is the world's oldest geographical society. It was founded in 1821 as the first Geographic Society. Since 1878, its headquarters have been at 184 Boulevard Saint-Germain, Paris. The entrance is marked by two gig ...
. Salim Salam was part of the delegation from Beirut, which included three Muslims and three Christians, and was elected as a member of the Executive Committee of the Congress.
The Congress was formed partly in response to Ottoman oppression, which had intensified with the arrival of the Young Turks to power in 1908. The Congress demanded: making Arabic an official language in the Arab provinces, employing Arab troops in their home provinces except in times of war, and granting greater powers to the local Arab provincial governments. Although historians disagree about when exactly
Arab nationalism
Arab nationalism ( ar, القومية العربية, al-Qawmīya al-ʿArabīya) is a nationalist ideology that asserts the Arabs are a nation and promotes the unity of Arab people, celebrating the glories of Arab civilization, the language a ...
began, the Arab Congress of 1913 marked a turning point in terms of the crystallization and expression of a distinct Arab identity.
Salam was also part of the delegation chosen by the Congress to convey its positions to Stéphen Pichon, the French Minister of Foreign Affairs, and to Sultan Mehmed Reshad, the ruler of the Ottoman Empire. He returned to Beirut on 2 September 1913 to a welcoming crowd.
Deputy to the Ottoman Parliament
On 9 April 1914, Salim Salim was elected deputy from Beirut to the
Ottoman parliament
The General Assembly ( tr, Meclis-i Umumî (French romanization: "Medjliss Oumoumi" ) or ''Genel Parlamento''; french: Assemblée Générale) was the first attempt at representative democracy by the imperial government of the Ottoman Empire. Als ...
, on the same list as Michel Sursock and Kamel al-Asaad, and running against a list headed by Rida Al Solh.
Salim Salam exerted himself to form an Arab Bloc in the Ottoman parliament. In his memoirs, he writes, "I rented a beautiful house on the Bosphorus … with the intention of using the upper floor for living accommodation and the lower floor for the meeting of… the Arab deputies…; but the outbreak of the war orld War Idisrupted everything."
The most important contribution of Salam to the last pre-war session of parliament was a long speech in which he urged that more serious attention be paid to public education in the Arab provinces, including the education of women:
"If we compare what is spent on education in foreign countries, and what we ourselves spend, the causes of their advancement and our backwardness, their success and our decline, will become clear… On behalf of my electorate, I tell you that I have been sent to accept any tax that may be imposed to spend on education… As for the girls' schools, what can I say about them? ... Women are the mainstay of cultivation (al-hayat al-adabiyya) and the pillars of society (al-haya al-ijtimaiyya); while they remain backward, the whole nation will be backward."
Opponent of Ottoman Political Repression
Salim Salam was staunchly opposed to the political repression exercised by
Jamal Pasha
Ahmed Djemal ( ota, احمد جمال پاشا, Ahmet Cemâl Paşa; 6 May 1872 – 21 July 1922), also known as Cemal Pasha, was an Ottoman military leader and one of the Three Pashas that ruled the Ottoman Empire during World War I.
Djemal wa ...
, the commander of the Ottoman fourth army during World War I, who was responsible for a campaign of persecution, including the hanging of many Arab nationalists on 6 May 1916 in Damascus and Beirut. In Beirut, the place of their hanging has since been renamed Martyrs' Square.
In his memoirs, Salim Salam recalls the following: "Jamal Pasha resumed his campaign of vengeance; he began to imprison most Arab personalities, charging them with treason against the State. His real intent was to cut off the thoughtful heads, so that, as he put it, the Arabs would never again emerge as a force, and no one would be left to claim for them their rights … After returning to Beirut rom Istanbul I was summoned … to Damascus to greet Jamal Pasha … I took the train …, and upon reaching
Aley
Aley ( ar, عاليه) is a major city in Lebanon. It is the capital of the Aley District and fourth largest city in Lebanon.
The city is located on Mount Lebanon, 15 km uphill from Beirut on the freeway to Damascus. Aley has the nick ...
we found that the whole train was reserved for the prisoners there to take them to Damascus … When I saw them, I realized that they were taking them to Damascus to put them to death. So … I said to myself: how shall I be able to meet with this butcher on the day on which he will be slaughtering the notables of the country? And how will I be able to converse with him? … Upon arriving in Damascus, I tried hard to see him that same evening, before anything happened, but was not successful. The next morning all was over, and the … notables who had been brought over from Aley were strung up on the gallows."
Increasingly disenchanted with Ottoman rule, Salam supported the
Arab Revolt
The Arab Revolt ( ar, الثورة العربية, ) or the Great Arab Revolt ( ar, الثورة العربية الكبرى, ) was a military uprising of Arab forces against the Ottoman Empire in the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I. On ...
, launched by
Sharif Hussein
Hussein bin Ali al-Hashimi ( ar, الحسين بن علي الهاشمي, al-Ḥusayn bin ‘Alī al-Hāshimī; 1 May 18544 June 1931) was an Arab leader from the Banu Hashim clan who was the Sharif and Emir of Mecca from 1908 and, after proc ...
of Mecca in 1916 and led by his son Emir Faisal, who later became
King Faisal I of Iraq
Faisal I bin Al-Hussein bin Ali Al-Hashemi ( ar, فيصل الأول بن الحسين بن علي الهاشمي, ''Faysal el-Evvel bin al-Ḥusayn bin Alī el-Hâşimî''; 20 May 1885 – 8 September 1933) was King of the Arab Kingdom of Syria ...
.
With the end of World War I approaching, Salam went to see the Ottoman governor of Beirut, Ismail Hakki Bey, accompanied by Ahmad Mukhtar Bayhum and Alfred Sursock. Negotiations lasted all night, but they finally managed to convince the governor to leave the city. He left at six o'clock in the morning on 1 October 1918, escorted to the borders by one of Salam's sons.
Opponent of the French Mandate
With the departure of the Ottoman governor, an Arab government in Beirut was announced.
Samir Kassir
Samir Kassir ( ar, سمير قصير, 5 May 1960 – 2 June 2005) was a Lebanese- Palestinian journalist of '' An-Nahar'' and professor of history at Saint-Joseph University, who was an advocate of democracy and prominent opponent of the Sy ...
observes that, while it was headed by Umar Da'uq, Salam remained the strong man who "presided over the ceremony at which the Arab colors were raised at the Sérail, on 6 October, before proceeding to the Shuwayfat Plain south of the city to welcome Shukri Ayubi, whom Faysal had named governor general of Beirut and Mount Lebanon. Receiving Ayubi the next day at his home in Musaytbeh, Salam requested that his friend Habib Pasha al-Saad, president of the dissolved administrative council of the Mutasarrifate, be allowed to serve as the governor of Mount Lebanon. Saad took an oath of allegiance to Faysal during an investiture ceremony that took place later the same day at the seraglio in
Baabda
Baabda ( ar, بعبدا) is the capital city of Baabda District as well as the capital of Mount Lebanon Governorate, western Lebanon. Baabda was the capital city of the autonomous Ottoman Mount Lebanon. Baabda is known for the Ottoman Castle (t ...
before the hoisting of the Arab colors there." But on 10 October, the French army entered the city of Beirut, assumed control of the government, and took down the Arab flag.
As an outspoken opponent of the French mandate, Salam was arrested twice: once in 1919 when he was imprisoned for 4 months, and a second time in 1922, when he was sent into exile to the village of Douma in northern Lebanon for 5 months.
He organized two popular assemblies, "The Conferences of the Coast and the Four Districts" (Mu'tamarat Al-Sahel), in November 1933 and March 1936, denouncing French rule and calling for independence and Arab unity.Salam, S. (1982). Muzakkarat Salim Salam (Memoirs of Salim Salam). (pp. 81-2) (H. A. Hallak, Ed.) Beirut: Dar Al Jamiiya.