Taha Husayn: Hayatuhu wa Adabuhu fi Mizan al-Islam
- Author died
- -
- Editions
- Islamic University of Madinah (Year 10, Issue 1)
Taha Husayn: Hayatuhu wa Adabuhu fi Mizan al-Islam (Taha Husayn: His Life and Literature in the Balance of Islam) is a critical study by the Egyptian scholar Sheikh Ibrahim Muhammad Sarsiq, examining and evaluating the life, thought, and literary career of Taha Husayn from an Islamic viewpoint, centered around a critical review of Anwar al-Jundi's biographical critique .
Background and Context
The work was written by Sarsiq while serving as an instructor at the College of the Holy Quran and Islamic Studies at the Islamic University of Madinah and was published in the university's academic journal . The primary impetus for the study was the publication of Anwar al-Jundi's book Taha Husayn fi Mizan al-Islam by Dar al-I'tisam in Cairo in 1396 AH / 1976 CE . Sarsiq frames the study as an essential contribution to subjecting celebrated literary and intellectual figures to Islamic standards rather than secular and popular appraisals .
Summary of al-Jundi's Work
Sarsiq outlines the structure of al-Jundi's book, noting that it comprises approximately 270 medium-sized pages organized into an introduction, three main parts, and a conclusion :
- Part One (Formation and Preparation): Divided into five chapters covering Taha Husayn's early life, his journey to Europe and its impact, his ties to Orientalism, intellectual dependency on the West, and loyalty to Western politics .
- Part Two (Maturity and Prominence): Consists of five chapters addressing his career at the university, in the Ministry of Education, in journalism and partisan politics, in the Arabic Language Academy and the Arab League, and his public lectures and conferences .
- Part Three (His Views and Clashes with Contemporaries): Divided into six chapters examining his intellectual positions, his research methodology, contradictions and shifts in his thought, literary style and artistic performance, his judicial interrogation, and his conflicts with figures of his generation .
- Conclusion: A short seven-page closing section summarizing key points and promising a more comprehensive study on the subject .
Critique of Taha Husayn's Thought and Literature
Sarsiq elaborates on the central charges leveled against Taha Husayn, drawing on his texts and historical reception:
- Hostility to Islamic Thought: Sarsiq argues that Husayn sought to sever Arabic literary studies from their Islamic framework under the guise of liberating literature, viewing this as an uncritical imitation of Orientalist agendas .
- Pharaonic Nationalism and Western Orientation: He critiques Husayn's promotion of Pharaonic identity for Egypt, his advocacy of a Pharaonic emblem for the Egyptian University, and his assertion that Egypt belongs culturally and intellectually to ancient Greece and the Mediterranean West rather than to the Islamic world .
- Sociological View of Religion: Sarsiq censures Husayn's adoption of the sociological theory of Emile Durkheim, which treated religion as an earth-bound social phenomenon rather than divine revelation, leading Husayn to argue that religion should be taught only as part of national history and to question constitutional clauses declaring Islam the state religion .
- Views on the Quran: The work details Husayn's controversial claims, such as questioning the historical existence of the prophets Ibrahim and Isma'il despite their mention in the Quran, alleging that the canonical seven variant readings were human adaptations rather than divinely revealed, and suggesting that Meccan and Medinan chapters reflect human rhetoric and circumstances .
- Literary Method and Cartesian Doubt: Sarsiq critiques Husayn's reliance on subjective personal taste (al-naqd al-dhawqi) rather than rigorous academic rules, quoting criticisms by Abbas Mahmud al-Aqqad and Ismail Mazhar . He also condemns Husayn's misapplication of Cartesian doubt to religious certitudes, pre-Islamic poetry, and classical lineages .
Methodological Assessment of al-Jundi's Book
While praising the motivation and substance of al-Jundi's defense of Islamic values, Sarsiq presents several methodological critiques of the book:
- Lack of Exact Documentation: Al-Jundi frequently quotes extensive passages from figures like al-Aqqad, Muhibb al-Din al-Khatib, and Ahmad Amin without referencing specific books, articles, or dates of publication .
- Anonymous Citations: The work occasionally attributes statements to unnamed scholars or expresses uncertainty regarding who made a statement, which weakens academic reliability .
- In-Text Citations: References and source descriptions are placed within the main body rather than in footnotes .
- Thematic Repetition: Several arguments, quotes, and historical episodes are repeated across different chapters without direct cross-referencing .
- Uncorrected Errors in Quotations: Grammatical and linguistic errors present in quoted texts were left without scholarly correction or notation .
Sarsiq concludes by emphasizing that despite these methodological flaws, al-Jundi's book remains an important and recommended reading to understand the challenges posed by Westernized intellectual currents in the Arab and Muslim world .
Answer updated