Izzat Darwaza
Encyclopedia
Muhammad 'Izzat Darwaza was a Palestinian
politician, historian, and educator from Nablus
. Early in his career, he worked as an Ottoman
bureaucrat in Palestine
and Lebanon
. Darwaza had long been a sympathizer of Arab nationalism
and became an activist of that cause following the Arab revolt
against the Ottoman Empire in 1916, joining the nationalist al-Fatat
society. As such, he campaigned for the union of Greater Syria
(modern-day Levant
) and vehemently opposed Zionism
and foreign mandates in Arab lands. From 1922 to 1927, he served as an educator and as the principal at the an-Najah National School
where he implemented a pro-Arab nationalist educational system, promoting the ideas of Arab independence and unity. Darwaza's particular brand of Arab nationalism was influenced by Islam
and his beliefs in Arab unity and the oneness of Arabic culture
.
Later, Darwaza founded the nationalist Istiqlal
party in Palestine and was a primary organizer of anti-British
demonstrations. In 1937, he was exiled to Damascus
as a result of his activities and from there he helped support the Arab revolt in the British Mandate of Palestine. He was incarcerated in Damascus by French authorities
for his involvement in the revolt, and while in prison he began to study the Qur'an
and its interpretations. In 1945, after he was released, Darwaza eventually compiled his own interpretation
entitled al-Tafsir al-Hadith.
In 1946, he joined the Arab Higher Committee
led by Mohammad Amin al-Husayni
, but resigned the next year after being disenfranchised by al-Husayni's methods. He left for Syria afterward and briefly aided in the unity talks between Syria and Egypt
in the mid-1950s. By the time of his death in 1984, Darwaza had written over thirty books and published numerous articles on the Palestinian question
, Arab history, and Islam.
mercantile family in Nablus
. The Darwaza family had long been involved in textiles and had extensive trade relationships with merchants in Beirut
and Damascus
. In his memoirs, Izzat writes "The import of [textile] goods from the outside was, for the most part, through Beirut and Damascus." Izzat's father, 'Abd al-Hadi Darwaza and his paternal grandfather Darwish Darwaza, owned a store in the Khan al-Tujjar
of Nablus. Izzat recalled, "From what I remember from my father and through my grandfather, the title merchant or merchants in Nablus mostly referred to owners of commercial textile and cloth shops. In Nablus, these shops were confined, or mostly confined, to a caravansary called Khan al-Tujjar, in the middle of Nablus."
Izzat received elementary and preparatory education in Ottoman government-run schools in the city. In addition to Arabic
, he learned Turkish
and English
, as well as a basic knowledge of French
which he strengthened in by the end of his formal education. Darwaza left school without going to Istanbul
or Beirut to finish his education as was the custom of his generation. Instead, he educated himself, and according to Rashid Khalidi
, became "a self-taught intellectual."
based on his feelings of identification with Islam
and of belonging to the larger Ottoman Muslim ummah
("nation"). In 1906, he served in the local Ottoman administration as a clerk in the Department of Telegraphic and Postal Services (DTPS) in Nablus. His first assignment in that department was for the District of Beisan and northern Palestine (the Galilee
and northern Samaria
). He was also an Arabist
and was enthusiastic about the Young Turk Revolution
in 1908, expecting that the new Ottoman regime would grant the Arabs their legitimate demands (i.e. reforms and autonomy within the framework of the empire, rather than total independence).
His loyalty to the Ottomans eroded, however, due to the impact of the new regime's Turkification
policies which he viewed as repressive against his ideals. Because of his dissatisfaction with the Young Turks, Darwaza was driven to support Arab independence from the empire. In 1908, he joined the Committee of Union and Progress
(CUP), but withdrew soon after because of its pro-Turkish views and ideals. He played an active role in establishing a branch for the Party of Harmony and Freedom in Nablus
in 1911. The party was originally founded in Istanbul and joined by Arab members to counter the policies of the CUP. In 1913, he joined a Nablus-based anti-Zionist
; the group sought to prevent the sale of Arab-owned land to Jews by submitting petitions to the Ottoman sultan or by purchasing land for sale so that it could not be bought by Jews. In June 1913, he helped to prepare and became secretary of the First Palestinian Congress (also known as the Arab Congress of 1913
) in Paris
. In congress, he was also the delegate for the Jamma'in
subdistrict of the District of Nablus
. Meanwhile, Darwaza was still working in the DTPS.
In 1914, he established the Arab Scientific Society whose purpose was to spread Arabic culture in the region through the establishment of Arabic schools. The society did not succeed, however, due to the outbreak of World War I
. Within the DTPS, Darwaza was appointed commissioner and deputy for the Nablus Post Office. He was promoted again—this time as director of postal stamp sales in Beirut
.
During World War I, Darwaza served as Postal Directorate-General of Beirut and retained this post until 1918. In 1916, while serving with the Ottoman army in the Sinai Peninsula
, he joined the underground al-Fatat
organization through Ahmad Qadri, a high-ranking member from Damascus. The aim of al-Fatat was to liberate and unite the Arab lands under Ottoman rule. In the wake of the Arab Revolt
of 1916, Darwaza left the Ottoman civil service to serve in King Faisal's provisional government in Damascus. Ideologically, Darwaza became an Arab nationalist endorsing the concept of a single Greater Syrian Arab State
.
Following the World War I Armistice
, Darwaza held several important political posts including Secretary-General of al-Fatat from May 1919 to March 1920, Secretary of the Nablus Muslim-Christian Association, and Secretary of the First Palestinian Arab Congress in Jerusalem in 1919. During the spring and summer of 1919, a vigorous political campaign was waged by the Arab politicians in Palestine who were divided into "Younger Politicians" and "Older Politicians". The campaign was centered on the political future of Palestine and Darwaza, a Younger Politician, played a central role. The Younger Politicians consisted of Arab nationalists who sought to unite Palestine with King Faisal's Syria while the Older Politicians consisted of Palestinian nationalist
s who preferred that Palestine be an independent entity.
Darwaza and Hafiz Kanaan—another leading al-Fatat member from Nablus—lobbied Arab groups in Jerusalem to advocate Syro-Palestinian unity before the arrival of the King-Crane Commission
on June 10, 1919. They first met with Mohammad Amin al-Husayni
and Kamil al-Husayni
of al-Nadi al-Arabi party and they immediately expressed their support. They also suggested that Darwaza meet Raghib al-Nashashibi
, Hussam ad-Din Jarallah
, and Aref al-Dajani
, supporters of independence. Darwaza convinced Nashashibi to gather some of the Older Politicians of Jerusalem to a meeting at his house. When it was made clear that Musa al-Husayni
, a leader of the Older Politicians, was now in favor of unity, all of the other Older Politicians followed suit. When the commission arrived in Jaffa
, it concluded on June 27 that it was in favor of Syro-Palestinian unity under a British Mandate.
In the first week of July 1919, the Syrian National Congress
held its first meeting in Damascus and Darwaza was its secretary. The GSC called for the immediate independence of Syria as a sovereign state under a constitutional monarchy and underlined its opposition to the establishment of Zionism in southern Syria (Palestine). Along with Mohammad Amin al-Husayni and Aref al-Aref
, Darwaza founded and became an officer of the Palestinian Society in Damascus. The organization urged all societies and clubs in Palestine to cooperate and condemn the San Remo Conference
's decision to grant Great Britain
a mandate over Palestine and Transjordan
.
Darwaza's and the Younger Politicians' hopes for unity with Syria were curtailed when it became known that King Faisal was aligning himself with the leaders of the Zionist movement because "they [the Zionists] were helping us [the Arabs] in the [Paris Peace] conference
." Darwaza now believed King Faisal was someone who did not give Palestine the attention he thought it deserved. Faisal was deposed by the French in July 1920. An event that further deteriorated Darwaza's ambitions of Arab unity was the confirmation of the British Mandate over Palestine at the San Remo Conference on April 24, 1920. His experience in Damascus revealed to him that the universalism of Arab nationalism was not as concrete as its advocates had thought, and the military might of the colonial powers—France
and Great Britain—were an overwhelming force to contend with.
) where he initiated and nurtured an Arab nationalist political educational process. Darwaza wrote textbooks and was an educator himself. One of his students who later became a nationalist politician, Akram Zu'aiter, wrote that Darwaza "used to give us a weekly lesson on the principles of Nationalism and [modern] society, in a way which sharpened our thought and broadened our horizons." Zuaiter also recalls that Darwaza wrote up nationalist and historical plays that his students would perform in.
In 1927, Rashid al-Haj Ibrahim
, the leader of the Young Men's Muslim Association of Haifa
, a prominent merchant, and future associate of Darwaza, invited him to his home to speak a large group of students and notables about nationalist (qawmiyya) and patriotic (wataniyya) education. This was recognition that Darwaza's contribution to the spread of Arab nationalist sentiments gained influence not only in an-Najah school, but throughout Palestine.
Darwaza became a member of the Arab Executive Committee and in 1930 was appointed by rival nationalist Mohammad Amin al-Husayni (now the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem
) as the General Administrator of the Waqf
(Islamic religious trust) under the Supreme Muslim Council
. In 1931, he convinced his city's MCA to change its name to the Patriotic Arab Association. Unlike other Arab politicians at the time, Darwaza supported a combination of pan-Arabism, Islamism
, and dedication to the Palestinian nationalist ideal.
He began to edit in the al-Ja'miyya al-Arabiyya newspaper in the early 1930s and in December 1931-January 1932, he wrote articles encouraging Arabs to fight British policies in the Middle East
, to unite in the face of growing dangers, and to renew their drive towards freedom and independence. In August 1932, he along with Awni Abd al-Hadi
and others founded the Istiqlal
(Independence) party in Palestine, an offshoot of al-Fatat. Originally, the Istiqlal operated in Syria, then Transjordan, but reassembled in Palestine after facing disappointing circumstances in both those territories. The party coaxed Palestinians towards defying British rule by staging demonstrations and political and social boycotts. Darwaza refused to allow the Istiqlal to participate in meetings between local Palestinian political parties and the British high-commissioner. Darwaza wrote an article on June 21, 1933, vehemently attacking Palestinian "vested interests". He argued that the wealthy Arab notables of Palestine were subservient to the British and the Zionists and would willingly leave Palestine for other countries, while the poor and middle-class Arabs had to remain to fight and die in their battle against British oppression. Darwaza helped instigate and organize the 1933 demonstrations in Jaffa which protested British
policy in Palestine and continued Jewish immigration
.
Darwaza was one of the principal organizers of the 1936-1939 Arab uprising in Palestine which first erupted in his hometown Nablus. The Mufti sent a delegation consisting of Darwaza, Mu'in al-Madi
, and Abd al-Hadi to Baghdad
, then to Riyadh
to discuss the situation and upon their return on January 6, 1937, they revealed that the advice given to them was to cease hostilities. During the revolt, in 1937, Darwaza was exiled from Palestine by British authorities to Damascus. Later in that year, Darwaza held several meetings with Nuri al-Sa'id of Iraq
to explore various solutions to help the Arabs avoid appearing intransigent.
Despite attempts to calm the situation, in Damascus, Darwaza established and headed the Central Committee for National Jihad in Palestine which echoed Izz al-Din al-Qassam's call for a holy war against the British and Zionism. Darwaza had many encounters with al-Qassam, describing him as "a man lacking in arrogance or self-love. He was open and available to all of the people and the people loved him. And he lived the life of a mujahid
." Darwaza worked closely with the Mufti, who was now under house arrest in Beirut, to garner support and supplies for the revolt and supervise the Arab rebels in Palestine.
In late 1939, he was accused by French military authorities of helping Palestinian rebels in the revolt, tried by a military court, and sentenced to five years imprisonment in the Citadel of Damascus. While his exile by the British abruptly curtailed his political life, his imprisonment marked the beginning of a new life wherein the Qur'an
becomes a major concern for the next several years. He was released in November 1944. After his release, Darwaza was unable to return to Nablus because British authorities had issued an order preventing him from entering Palestine. As a result, he left for Turkey
, mostly staying in Bursa until the end of 1945.
The Mufti re-established the Arab Higher Committee
(AHC) in late 1946 and Darwaza joined the ten-member council upon a request from the Mufti. Darwaza, along with Emil Ghuri
and Mu'in al-Madi, served as the AHC's delegates to the September 1947 convention of the Arab League
's Political Committee in Lebanon. With support from the Transjordanian representative, Salih Jaber
, the Prime Minister of Iraq
, openly criticized the delegates and questioned the AHC's right to even send delegates to the convention. Later that year, Darwaza resigned from the AHC due to the Mufti's unbending attitude towards wider representation.
where he left politics to concentrate on literature. Although he did much of his writing in the 1930s and 1940s, he did not have any of his works published until the 1960s. As a pan-Arab intellectual, Darwaza aided in establishing the union between Syria and Egypt
forming the short-lived United Arab Republic
. After Egypt adopted its 1956 constitution
declaring that it was an Arab country and its people a part of the Arab nation, Darwaza concluded that Egypt and Syria were in a position to unite. When unity negotiations underwent, he suggested several forms of federation, such as the American
, Soviet
, and India
n models, but did not recommend any specific model for an Arab state. Darwaza did, however, suggest that the institution of a federation between Egypt and Syria would be the first step towards the realization of a comprehensive union.
In 1983, Darwaza granted Palestinian historian Muhammad Y. Muslih an eight-day interview and allowed him to photo-copy his memoirs in entirety, although according to Muslih, Darwaza was failing in health. He died in Damascus in 1984 at the age of 96. Darwaza had three daughters, Najah, Salma, and Rudaina and a son, Zuhair.
in contrast to a history of an individual Arab country was composed by Darwaza in the late 1920s under the title Lessons of Arab History: From Antiquity to Present Times. In the book, Darwaza begins by describing the origins of the Semitic peoples, the rise of Islam
, the end of Arab rule in the Middle East by Turkic
groups, and the foreign rule over the Arabs by Western powers. The book was intended to be used as a textbook in primary and secondary schools throughout the British Mandates of Palestine and later Iraq, hence its simplified and direct language, however, it had a pioneering role in the development of pan-Arabism.
In 1934, Darwaza published a widely read story, The Angel and the Land Broker, reflecting popular Arab sentiments against the growing "Zionist threat" and attacking brokers who tempted Palestinian land owners to sell their land to Jews. The story describes methods used by Zionists to entice Arab landowners to sell their land and the main characters in the story are an illiterate farmer and a Jewish girl from Tel Aviv
who encourages the former to spend himself deep into debt, forcing him to sell his land at a price far below its value.
Later in his lifetime after leaving politics, Darwaza published memoirs that discussed in detail the city of Nablus in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. According to Youssef Choueiri, "he gives a graphic and almost exhaustive description of his hometown... its mosques, residential quarters, orchards, industries, and inhabitants. Moreover, he dwells at length of the social composition of the town endeavoring to reveal the open conflict between 'feudal families' and the new generation of middle traders, functionaries, civil servants, and teachers."
. He states "I considered [this opportunity] an act of divine [favor] and started reading whatever books of exegesis
and qur'anic studies were accessible to me." During his incarceration, he compiled three books dealing with the Qur'an and conceived the idea of writing a modern tafsir
("interpretation").
His time in Turkey exposed him to the libraries of Bursa and it was there where he wrote the rough draft oh his tafsir entitled al-Tafsir al-Hadith. Darwaza states in this exegesis he would "uncover the wisdom of revelation, the fundamental concepts of the Qur'an and the whole range of its subject matter and present it in a new style and new sequential order." Al-Tafsir al-Hadith was generally aimed at the Muslim youth who had been alienated by the traditional interpretations of the Qur'an. Darwaza placed much emphasis on the close relationship between the text of the Qur'an and the environment in which it was revealed. He rejected the hadith
which states the Qur'an was originally preserved on a tablet in the seventh heaven, sent down to lowest heaven and from there gradually to Muhammad
.
After the completion of the rough draft he wrote a volume of four chapters, Qur'an al-Majid, which served as an introduction for the tafsir. Darwaza stresses a close connection between the Qur'an and the biography of the Muhammad (sira) and states that the Qur'an fully reflects various stages between the Qur'an and the career of Muhammad. He also emphasizes that both the angel
s and the jinn
are spoken in the Qur'an not for their own sake, but to reinforce Muhammad's missions an goals.
He contends that the presentation of the Qur'an and its sura
s was dictated by Muhammad and that the task of Abu Bakr
was to collect the Qur'an between its two covers and transcribe it into one copy, while Uthman
's task was to fix the transcription and unify it to prevent variant readings. He also expresses doubts that Ali
, as it is alleged, had made a chronologically arranged collection. Darwaza was very critical of other modern interpreters who used certain verses of the Qur'an to deduce and support scientific theories. He argues that those people have done harm to Islam by trivializing the sacred character of the Qur'an.
Darwaza was convinced that interpretations of the Qur'an were the only possible basis for any renewal and development of Islamic religious, political and social thought, and that the Qur'an was the only resource for Muslim reinterpretation of traditional norms in Islam and Islamic thinking. Since it was quite uncommon to follow a chronological order for a whole tafsir—which Darwaza did—he had to justify his position by seeking a fatwa
from the mufti
s of Aleppo
and Damascus.
in the world.
His ideas helped the spread the word of secular pan-Arabism against religious nationalist
s and those who believed in separate Syrian
, Lebanese
, and Palestinian destinies
. In the mid-1950s, Darwaza asserted that the first stage of Arab union should be based on a merger between Egypt and Syria. In his opinion, a union between the northern Arabs (Syria) and the southern Arabs (Egypt) would facilitate the adherence of other Arab states. He believed that Egypt's capabilities and human resources compelled it to fill the role of an Arab "Prussia
". Darwaza remarked on Gamal Abdel Nasser
, Egyptian president and founder of the short-lived union, saying "Since the Arab revolt against the Turks, no Arab leader has been up to the level of events except for Jamal 'Abd al-Nasir. He emerged and vanished like a shooting star."
Rashid Khalidi states about Darwaza, "Moved as he was by the civilization of Arabs, he evoked a distant Arab past. For obvious reasons Islam was central to that past. But in the case of Darwaza, Islam was important not as the binding substance of the nation, but as a culture and civilization. In other words, culture, language, and history not religious solidarity
were posited as the glue that was to hold the Arab nation together." According to Khalidi, Darwaza contributed to Arab nationalism in the practical and intellectual domains greatly.
Palestinian people
The Palestinian people, also referred to as Palestinians or Palestinian Arabs , are an Arabic-speaking people with origins in Palestine. Despite various wars and exoduses, roughly one third of the world's Palestinian population continues to reside in the area encompassing the West Bank, the Gaza...
politician, historian, and educator from Nablus
Nablus
Nablus is a Palestinian city in the northern West Bank, approximately north of Jerusalem, with a population of 126,132. Located in a strategic position between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim, it is the capital of the Nablus Governorate and a Palestinian commercial and cultural center.Founded by the...
. Early in his career, he worked as an Ottoman
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
bureaucrat in Palestine
Palestine
Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
and Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
. Darwaza had long been a sympathizer of Arab nationalism
Arab nationalism
Arab nationalism is a nationalist ideology celebrating the glories of Arab civilization, the language and literature of the Arabs, calling for rejuvenation and political union in the Arab world...
and became an activist of that cause following the Arab revolt
Arab Revolt
The Arab Revolt was initiated by the Sherif Hussein bin Ali with the aim of securing independence from the ruling Ottoman Turks and creating a single unified Arab state spanning from Aleppo in Syria to Aden in Yemen.- Background :...
against the Ottoman Empire in 1916, joining the nationalist al-Fatat
Al-fatat
Al-Fatat or the Young Arab Society was founded in 1911 by Arab nationalist, Izzat Darwaza .It was a secret Arab nationalist organization under the Ottoman Empire. Its aims were to gain independence and unity for various Arab nations then under the Ottoman rule. It found adherents in areas such as...
society. As such, he campaigned for the union of Greater Syria
Greater Syria
Greater Syria , also known simply as Syria, is a term that denotes a region in the Near East bordering the Eastern Mediterranean Sea or the Levant....
(modern-day Levant
Levant
The Levant or ) is the geographic region and culture zone of the "eastern Mediterranean littoral between Anatolia and Egypt" . The Levant includes most of modern Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel, the Palestinian territories, and sometimes parts of Turkey and Iraq, and corresponds roughly to the...
) and vehemently opposed Zionism
Zionism
Zionism is a Jewish political movement that, in its broadest sense, has supported the self-determination of the Jewish people in a sovereign Jewish national homeland. Since the establishment of the State of Israel, the Zionist movement continues primarily to advocate on behalf of the Jewish state...
and foreign mandates in Arab lands. From 1922 to 1927, he served as an educator and as the principal at the an-Najah National School
An-Najah National University
An-Najah National University is a Palestinian non-governmental public university governed by a board of Trustees. It is located in Nablus, in the northern West Bank. The university has over 16,500 students and 300 professors in 19 faculties...
where he implemented a pro-Arab nationalist educational system, promoting the ideas of Arab independence and unity. Darwaza's particular brand of Arab nationalism was influenced by Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
and his beliefs in Arab unity and the oneness of Arabic culture
Arabic culture
Arab culture refers to the culture in Arab countries of West Asia and North Africa, from Morocco to the Persian Gulf. Language, literature, gastronomy, art, architecture, music, spirituality, philosophy, mysticism are all part of the cultural heritage of the pan-Arab world.-Language:The Arabic...
.
Later, Darwaza founded the nationalist Istiqlal
Independence Party (Palestine)
The Independence Party was an Arab nationalist party established on 13 August, 1932, in Palestine during the British mandate. Its origins lay in the Istiqlal movement associated with the short-lived Sharifian government in Damascus....
party in Palestine and was a primary organizer of anti-British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
demonstrations. In 1937, he was exiled to Damascus
Damascus
Damascus , commonly known in Syria as Al Sham , and as the City of Jasmine , is the capital and the second largest city of Syria after Aleppo, both are part of the country's 14 governorates. In addition to being one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Damascus is a major...
as a result of his activities and from there he helped support the Arab revolt in the British Mandate of Palestine. He was incarcerated in Damascus by French authorities
French Mandate of Syria
Officially the French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon was a League of Nations mandate founded after the First World War and the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire...
for his involvement in the revolt, and while in prison he began to study the Qur'an
Qur'an
The Quran , also transliterated Qur'an, Koran, Alcoran, Qur’ān, Coran, Kuran, and al-Qur’ān, is the central religious text of Islam, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God . It is regarded widely as the finest piece of literature in the Arabic language...
and its interpretations. In 1945, after he was released, Darwaza eventually compiled his own interpretation
Tafsir
Tafseer is the Arabic word for exegesis or commentary, usually of the Qur'an. Ta'wīl is a subset of tafsir and refers to esoteric or mystical interpretation. An author of tafsir is a mufassir .- Etymology :...
entitled al-Tafsir al-Hadith.
In 1946, he joined the Arab Higher Committee
Arab Higher Committee
The Arab Higher Committee was the central political organ of the Arab community of Mandate Palestine. It was established on 25 April 1936, on the initiative of Hajj Amin al-Husayni, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, and comprised the leaders of Palestinian Arab clans under the mufti's...
led by Mohammad Amin al-Husayni
Mohammad Amin al-Husayni
Haj Mohammed Effendi Amin el-Husseini was a Palestinian Arab nationalist and Muslim leader in the British Mandate of Palestine. From as early as 1920, in order to secure the independence of Palestine as an Arab state he actively opposed Zionism, and was implicated as a leader of a violent riot...
, but resigned the next year after being disenfranchised by al-Husayni's methods. He left for Syria afterward and briefly aided in the unity talks between Syria and Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
in the mid-1950s. By the time of his death in 1984, Darwaza had written over thirty books and published numerous articles on the Palestinian question
Definitions of Palestine and Palestinian
The term Palestine has several overlapping definitions.-Palestine as a historical region:In historical contexts predating the British mandate of Palestine, Palestine was mostly a geographical term, particularly used in the Roman Latin and Greek, and also other languages taking their geographical...
, Arab history, and Islam.
Early life and background
Darwaza was born to a middle-class Sunni MuslimSunni Islam
Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam. Sunni Muslims are referred to in Arabic as ʾAhl ūs-Sunnah wa āl-Ǧamāʿah or ʾAhl ūs-Sunnah for short; in English, they are known as Sunni Muslims, Sunnis or Sunnites....
mercantile family in Nablus
Nablus
Nablus is a Palestinian city in the northern West Bank, approximately north of Jerusalem, with a population of 126,132. Located in a strategic position between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim, it is the capital of the Nablus Governorate and a Palestinian commercial and cultural center.Founded by the...
. The Darwaza family had long been involved in textiles and had extensive trade relationships with merchants in Beirut
Beirut
Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon, with a population ranging from 1 million to more than 2 million . Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coastline, it serves as the country's largest and main seaport, and also forms the Beirut Metropolitan...
and Damascus
Damascus
Damascus , commonly known in Syria as Al Sham , and as the City of Jasmine , is the capital and the second largest city of Syria after Aleppo, both are part of the country's 14 governorates. In addition to being one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Damascus is a major...
. In his memoirs, Izzat writes "The import of [textile] goods from the outside was, for the most part, through Beirut and Damascus." Izzat's father, 'Abd al-Hadi Darwaza and his paternal grandfather Darwish Darwaza, owned a store in the Khan al-Tujjar
Khan al-Tujjar (Nablus)
Khan al-Tujjar is a 15th century khan in the Palestinian city of Nablus. Situated the Old City, it has been noted as the finest khan in the region.-History:...
of Nablus. Izzat recalled, "From what I remember from my father and through my grandfather, the title merchant or merchants in Nablus mostly referred to owners of commercial textile and cloth shops. In Nablus, these shops were confined, or mostly confined, to a caravansary called Khan al-Tujjar, in the middle of Nablus."
Izzat received elementary and preparatory education in Ottoman government-run schools in the city. In addition to Arabic
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
, he learned Turkish
Turkish language
Turkish is a language spoken as a native language by over 83 million people worldwide, making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. Its speakers are located predominantly in Turkey and Northern Cyprus with smaller groups in Iraq, Greece, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo,...
and English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, as well as a basic knowledge of French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
which he strengthened in by the end of his formal education. Darwaza left school without going to Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
or Beirut to finish his education as was the custom of his generation. Instead, he educated himself, and according to Rashid Khalidi
Rashid Khalidi
Rashid Ismail Khalidi , born 1948, a Palestinian-American historian of the Middle East, is the Edward Said Professor of Modern Arab Studies at Columbia University, and director of the Middle East Institute of Columbia's School of International and Public Affairs.-Family, education and...
, became "a self-taught intellectual."
Loyalty to disloyalty toward the Ottoman Empire
Originally, Darwaza supported the Ottoman EmpireOttoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
based on his feelings of identification with Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
and of belonging to the larger Ottoman Muslim ummah
Ummah
Ummah is an Arabic word meaning "community" or "nation." It is commonly used to mean either the collective nation of states, or the whole Arab world...
("nation"). In 1906, he served in the local Ottoman administration as a clerk in the Department of Telegraphic and Postal Services (DTPS) in Nablus. His first assignment in that department was for the District of Beisan and northern Palestine (the Galilee
Galilee
Galilee , is a large region in northern Israel which overlaps with much of the administrative North District of the country. Traditionally divided into Upper Galilee , Lower Galilee , and Western Galilee , extending from Dan to the north, at the base of Mount Hermon, along Mount Lebanon to the...
and northern Samaria
Samaria
Samaria, or the Shomron is a term used for a mountainous region roughly corresponding to the northern part of the West Bank.- Etymology :...
). He was also an Arabist
Pan-Arabism
Pan-Arabism is an ideology espousing the unification--or, sometimes, close cooperation and solidarity against perceived enemies of the Arabs--of the countries of the Arab world, from the Atlantic Ocean to the Arabian Sea. It is closely connected to Arab nationalism, which asserts that the Arabs...
and was enthusiastic about the Young Turk Revolution
Young Turk Revolution
The Young Turk Revolution of 1908 reversed the suspension of the Ottoman parliament by Sultan Abdul Hamid II, marking the onset of the Second Constitutional Era...
in 1908, expecting that the new Ottoman regime would grant the Arabs their legitimate demands (i.e. reforms and autonomy within the framework of the empire, rather than total independence).
His loyalty to the Ottomans eroded, however, due to the impact of the new regime's Turkification
Turkification
Turkification is a term used to describe a process of cultural or political change in which something or someone who is not a Turk becomes one, voluntarily or involuntarily...
policies which he viewed as repressive against his ideals. Because of his dissatisfaction with the Young Turks, Darwaza was driven to support Arab independence from the empire. In 1908, he joined the Committee of Union and Progress
Committee of Union and Progress
The Committee of Union and Progress began as a secret society established as the "Committee of Ottoman Union" in 1889 by the medical students İbrahim Temo, Abdullah Cevdet, İshak Sükuti and Ali Hüseyinzade...
(CUP), but withdrew soon after because of its pro-Turkish views and ideals. He played an active role in establishing a branch for the Party of Harmony and Freedom in Nablus
Nablus
Nablus is a Palestinian city in the northern West Bank, approximately north of Jerusalem, with a population of 126,132. Located in a strategic position between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim, it is the capital of the Nablus Governorate and a Palestinian commercial and cultural center.Founded by the...
in 1911. The party was originally founded in Istanbul and joined by Arab members to counter the policies of the CUP. In 1913, he joined a Nablus-based anti-Zionist
Anti-Zionism
Anti-Zionism is opposition to Zionistic views or opposition to the state of Israel. The term is used to describe various religious, moral and political points of view in opposition to these, but their diversity of motivation and expression is sufficiently different that "anti-Zionism" cannot be...
; the group sought to prevent the sale of Arab-owned land to Jews by submitting petitions to the Ottoman sultan or by purchasing land for sale so that it could not be bought by Jews. In June 1913, he helped to prepare and became secretary of the First Palestinian Congress (also known as the Arab Congress of 1913
Arab Congress of 1913
The Arab Congress of 1913 met in a hall of the French Geographical Society at 184 Boulevard Saint-Germain from June 18–23 in Paris to discuss reforms to grant Arabs more autonomy under the Ottoman Empire...
) in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. In congress, he was also the delegate for the Jamma'in
Jamma'in
Jamma'in is a Palestinian town in the northern West Bank located southwest of Nablus, northwest of Salfit and north of Ramallah. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the town had a population of 6,227 in 2007.-History:...
subdistrict of the District of Nablus
District of Nablus
The District of Nablus also known as Sanjak Nablus is a historical administrative area that existed throughout Ottoman rule of Palestine and to a lesser extent during British rule. It exists today as the Nablus Governorate of the Palestinian National Authority...
. Meanwhile, Darwaza was still working in the DTPS.
In 1914, he established the Arab Scientific Society whose purpose was to spread Arabic culture in the region through the establishment of Arabic schools. The society did not succeed, however, due to the outbreak of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. Within the DTPS, Darwaza was appointed commissioner and deputy for the Nablus Post Office. He was promoted again—this time as director of postal stamp sales in Beirut
Beirut
Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon, with a population ranging from 1 million to more than 2 million . Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coastline, it serves as the country's largest and main seaport, and also forms the Beirut Metropolitan...
.
Promoting unity with Syria
Sinai Peninsula
The Sinai Peninsula or Sinai is a triangular peninsula in Egypt about in area. It is situated between the Mediterranean Sea to the north, and the Red Sea to the south, and is the only part of Egyptian territory located in Asia as opposed to Africa, effectively serving as a land bridge between two...
, he joined the underground al-Fatat
Al-fatat
Al-Fatat or the Young Arab Society was founded in 1911 by Arab nationalist, Izzat Darwaza .It was a secret Arab nationalist organization under the Ottoman Empire. Its aims were to gain independence and unity for various Arab nations then under the Ottoman rule. It found adherents in areas such as...
organization through Ahmad Qadri, a high-ranking member from Damascus. The aim of al-Fatat was to liberate and unite the Arab lands under Ottoman rule. In the wake of the Arab Revolt
Arab Revolt
The Arab Revolt was initiated by the Sherif Hussein bin Ali with the aim of securing independence from the ruling Ottoman Turks and creating a single unified Arab state spanning from Aleppo in Syria to Aden in Yemen.- Background :...
of 1916, Darwaza left the Ottoman civil service to serve in King Faisal's provisional government in Damascus. Ideologically, Darwaza became an Arab nationalist endorsing the concept of a single Greater Syrian Arab State
Greater Syria
Greater Syria , also known simply as Syria, is a term that denotes a region in the Near East bordering the Eastern Mediterranean Sea or the Levant....
.
Following the World War I Armistice
Armistice with Germany (Compiègne)
The armistice between the Allies and Germany was an agreement that ended the fighting in the First World War. It was signed in a railway carriage in Compiègne Forest on 11 November 1918 and marked a victory for the Allies and a complete defeat for Germany, although not technically a surrender...
, Darwaza held several important political posts including Secretary-General of al-Fatat from May 1919 to March 1920, Secretary of the Nablus Muslim-Christian Association, and Secretary of the First Palestinian Arab Congress in Jerusalem in 1919. During the spring and summer of 1919, a vigorous political campaign was waged by the Arab politicians in Palestine who were divided into "Younger Politicians" and "Older Politicians". The campaign was centered on the political future of Palestine and Darwaza, a Younger Politician, played a central role. The Younger Politicians consisted of Arab nationalists who sought to unite Palestine with King Faisal's Syria while the Older Politicians consisted of Palestinian nationalist
Palestinian nationalism
Palestinian nationalism is the national movement of the Palestinian people. It has roots in Pan-Arabism and other movements rejecting colonialism and calling for national independence. More recently, Palestinian Nationalism is expressed through the Israeli–Palestinian conflict...
s who preferred that Palestine be an independent entity.
Darwaza and Hafiz Kanaan—another leading al-Fatat member from Nablus—lobbied Arab groups in Jerusalem to advocate Syro-Palestinian unity before the arrival of the King-Crane Commission
King-Crane Commission
The King-Crane Commission was an official investigation by the United States government during the summer of 1919 concerning the disposition of non-Turkish areas within the former Ottoman Empire...
on June 10, 1919. They first met with Mohammad Amin al-Husayni
Mohammad Amin al-Husayni
Haj Mohammed Effendi Amin el-Husseini was a Palestinian Arab nationalist and Muslim leader in the British Mandate of Palestine. From as early as 1920, in order to secure the independence of Palestine as an Arab state he actively opposed Zionism, and was implicated as a leader of a violent riot...
and Kamil al-Husayni
Kamil al-Husayni
Kamil al-Husayni was a Sunni Muslim religious leader of the Palestinian people and was the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem from 1908 until his death....
of al-Nadi al-Arabi party and they immediately expressed their support. They also suggested that Darwaza meet Raghib al-Nashashibi
Raghib al-Nashashibi
Raghib al-Nashashibi was a wealthy landowner and public figure during the Ottoman Empire, the British Mandate and the Jordanian administration. He was mayor of Jerusalem in 1920–1934.-Background:...
, Hussam ad-Din Jarallah
Hussam ad-Din Jarallah
Hussam al-Din Jarallah was a Sunni Muslim leader of the Palestinian people during the British Mandate of Palestine and was the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem from 1948 until his death....
, and Aref al-Dajani
Aref al-Dajani
Aref Basha al-Dajani was an Arab Palestinian politician who served as mayor of Jerusalem during World War I.Aref al-Dajani was born in Jerusalem in 1856. During World War I, he served as mayor of Jerusalem...
, supporters of independence. Darwaza convinced Nashashibi to gather some of the Older Politicians of Jerusalem to a meeting at his house. When it was made clear that Musa al-Husayni
Musa al-Husayni
Musa Kazim al-Husayni was nominated to several senior posts in the Ottoman administration. He belongs to the prominent al-Husayni family of northeastern Jerusalem...
, a leader of the Older Politicians, was now in favor of unity, all of the other Older Politicians followed suit. When the commission arrived in Jaffa
Jaffa
Jaffa is an ancient port city believed to be one of the oldest in the world. Jaffa was incorporated with Tel Aviv creating the city of Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel. Jaffa is famous for its association with the biblical story of the prophet Jonah.-Etymology:...
, it concluded on June 27 that it was in favor of Syro-Palestinian unity under a British Mandate.
In the first week of July 1919, the Syrian National Congress
Syrian National Congress
The Syrian National Congress was convened in July 1919 in Damascus, Syria to prepare for the King-Crane Commission of inquiry on the future of Greater Syria after the fall of the Ottoman Empire. The congress was attended by representative from all parts of Syria. The participants showed...
held its first meeting in Damascus and Darwaza was its secretary. The GSC called for the immediate independence of Syria as a sovereign state under a constitutional monarchy and underlined its opposition to the establishment of Zionism in southern Syria (Palestine). Along with Mohammad Amin al-Husayni and Aref al-Aref
Aref al-Aref
Aref al-Aref was a Palestinian journalist, historian and politician who served as mayor of East Jerusalem in the 1950s.-Biography:...
, Darwaza founded and became an officer of the Palestinian Society in Damascus. The organization urged all societies and clubs in Palestine to cooperate and condemn the San Remo Conference
San Remo conference
The San Remo Conference was an international meeting of the post-World War I Allied Supreme Council, held in Sanremo, Italy, from 19 to 26 April 1920. It was attended by the four Principal Allied Powers of World War I who were represented by the prime ministers of Britain , France and Italy and...
's decision to grant Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
a mandate over Palestine and Transjordan
Transjordan
The Emirate of Transjordan was a former Ottoman territory in the Southern Levant that was part of the British Mandate of Palestine...
.
Darwaza's and the Younger Politicians' hopes for unity with Syria were curtailed when it became known that King Faisal was aligning himself with the leaders of the Zionist movement because "they [the Zionists] were helping us [the Arabs] in the [Paris Peace] conference
Paris Peace Conference, 1919
The Paris Peace Conference was the meeting of the Allied victors following the end of World War I to set the peace terms for the defeated Central Powers following the armistices of 1918. It took place in Paris in 1919 and involved diplomats from more than 32 countries and nationalities...
." Darwaza now believed King Faisal was someone who did not give Palestine the attention he thought it deserved. Faisal was deposed by the French in July 1920. An event that further deteriorated Darwaza's ambitions of Arab unity was the confirmation of the British Mandate over Palestine at the San Remo Conference on April 24, 1920. His experience in Damascus revealed to him that the universalism of Arab nationalism was not as concrete as its advocates had thought, and the military might of the colonial powers—France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and Great Britain—were an overwhelming force to contend with.
Educator in Nablus
Darwaza continued his political activity, representing Nablus in the Fourth Palestinian Congress in May 1921 and the Seventh Palestinian Congress in June 1928. From 1922 to 1927, he served as the principal of the an-Najah National School (later to become an-Najah National UniversityAn-Najah National University
An-Najah National University is a Palestinian non-governmental public university governed by a board of Trustees. It is located in Nablus, in the northern West Bank. The university has over 16,500 students and 300 professors in 19 faculties...
) where he initiated and nurtured an Arab nationalist political educational process. Darwaza wrote textbooks and was an educator himself. One of his students who later became a nationalist politician, Akram Zu'aiter, wrote that Darwaza "used to give us a weekly lesson on the principles of Nationalism and [modern] society, in a way which sharpened our thought and broadened our horizons." Zuaiter also recalls that Darwaza wrote up nationalist and historical plays that his students would perform in.
In 1927, Rashid al-Haj Ibrahim
Rashid al-Haj Ibrahim
Rashid al-Haj Ibrahim was a Palestinian Arab banker and a leader of the Independence Party of Palestine . He was one of the most influential Arab leaders of Haifa in the first half of the 20th-century and played a leading role in both the 1936 Arab revolt and the 1948 Battle of Haifa.-Early life...
, the leader of the Young Men's Muslim Association of Haifa
Haifa
Haifa is the largest city in northern Israel, and the third-largest city in the country, with a population of over 268,000. Another 300,000 people live in towns directly adjacent to the city including the cities of the Krayot, as well as, Tirat Carmel, Daliyat al-Karmel and Nesher...
, a prominent merchant, and future associate of Darwaza, invited him to his home to speak a large group of students and notables about nationalist (qawmiyya) and patriotic (wataniyya) education. This was recognition that Darwaza's contribution to the spread of Arab nationalist sentiments gained influence not only in an-Najah school, but throughout Palestine.
Fight against the British Mandate
Grand Mufti of Jerusalem
The Grand Mufti of Jerusalem is the Sunni Muslim cleric in charge of Jerusalem's Islamic holy places, including the Al-Aqsa Mosque.-Ottoman era:...
) as the General Administrator of the Waqf
Waqf
A waqf also spelled wakf formally known as wakf-alal-aulad is an inalienable religious endowment in Islamic law, typically denoting a building or plot of land for Muslim religious or charitable purposes. The donated assets are held by a charitable trust...
(Islamic religious trust) under the Supreme Muslim Council
Supreme Muslim Council
The Supreme Muslim Council was the highest body in charge of Muslim community affairs in Mandate Palestine under British control. It was established to create an advisory body composed of Muslims and Christians with whom the High Commissioner could consult...
. In 1931, he convinced his city's MCA to change its name to the Patriotic Arab Association. Unlike other Arab politicians at the time, Darwaza supported a combination of pan-Arabism, Islamism
Islamism
Islamism also , lit., "Political Islam" is set of ideologies holding that Islam is not only a religion but also a political system. Islamism is a controversial term, and definitions of it sometimes vary...
, and dedication to the Palestinian nationalist ideal.
He began to edit in the al-Ja'miyya al-Arabiyya newspaper in the early 1930s and in December 1931-January 1932, he wrote articles encouraging Arabs to fight British policies in the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
, to unite in the face of growing dangers, and to renew their drive towards freedom and independence. In August 1932, he along with Awni Abd al-Hadi
Awni Abd al-Hadi
Awni Abd al-Hadi, , was a Palestinian political figure. He was educated in Beirut, Istanbul, and at the Sorbonne University in Paris. His wife was Tarab Abd al-Hadi, a Palestinian activist and feminist....
and others founded the Istiqlal
Independence Party (Palestine)
The Independence Party was an Arab nationalist party established on 13 August, 1932, in Palestine during the British mandate. Its origins lay in the Istiqlal movement associated with the short-lived Sharifian government in Damascus....
(Independence) party in Palestine, an offshoot of al-Fatat. Originally, the Istiqlal operated in Syria, then Transjordan, but reassembled in Palestine after facing disappointing circumstances in both those territories. The party coaxed Palestinians towards defying British rule by staging demonstrations and political and social boycotts. Darwaza refused to allow the Istiqlal to participate in meetings between local Palestinian political parties and the British high-commissioner. Darwaza wrote an article on June 21, 1933, vehemently attacking Palestinian "vested interests". He argued that the wealthy Arab notables of Palestine were subservient to the British and the Zionists and would willingly leave Palestine for other countries, while the poor and middle-class Arabs had to remain to fight and die in their battle against British oppression. Darwaza helped instigate and organize the 1933 demonstrations in Jaffa which protested British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
policy in Palestine and continued Jewish immigration
Aliyah
Aliyah is the immigration of Jews to the Land of Israel . It is a basic tenet of Zionist ideology. The opposite action, emigration from Israel, is referred to as yerida . The return to the Holy Land has been a Jewish aspiration since the Babylonian exile...
.
Darwaza was one of the principal organizers of the 1936-1939 Arab uprising in Palestine which first erupted in his hometown Nablus. The Mufti sent a delegation consisting of Darwaza, Mu'in al-Madi
Mu'in al-Madi
Mu'in al-Madi was a Palestinian Arab politician and member of the Arab Higher Committee. He was one of the founders of the al-Istiqlal party, which espoused Arab nationalism...
, and Abd al-Hadi to Baghdad
Baghdad
Baghdad is the capital of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Governorate. The population of Baghdad in 2011 is approximately 7,216,040...
, then to Riyadh
Riyadh
Riyadh is the capital and largest city of Saudi Arabia. It is also the capital of Riyadh Province, and belongs to the historical regions of Najd and Al-Yamama. It is situated in the center of the Arabian Peninsula on a large plateau, and is home to 5,254,560 people, and the urban center of a...
to discuss the situation and upon their return on January 6, 1937, they revealed that the advice given to them was to cease hostilities. During the revolt, in 1937, Darwaza was exiled from Palestine by British authorities to Damascus. Later in that year, Darwaza held several meetings with Nuri al-Sa'id of Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
to explore various solutions to help the Arabs avoid appearing intransigent.
Despite attempts to calm the situation, in Damascus, Darwaza established and headed the Central Committee for National Jihad in Palestine which echoed Izz al-Din al-Qassam's call for a holy war against the British and Zionism. Darwaza had many encounters with al-Qassam, describing him as "a man lacking in arrogance or self-love. He was open and available to all of the people and the people loved him. And he lived the life of a mujahid
Mujahideen
Mujahideen are Muslims who struggle in the path of God. The word is from the same Arabic triliteral as jihad .Mujahideen is also transliterated from Arabic as mujahedin, mujahedeen, mudžahedin, mudžahidin, mujahidīn, mujaheddīn and more.-Origin of the concept:The beginnings of Jihad are traced...
." Darwaza worked closely with the Mufti, who was now under house arrest in Beirut, to garner support and supplies for the revolt and supervise the Arab rebels in Palestine.
In late 1939, he was accused by French military authorities of helping Palestinian rebels in the revolt, tried by a military court, and sentenced to five years imprisonment in the Citadel of Damascus. While his exile by the British abruptly curtailed his political life, his imprisonment marked the beginning of a new life wherein the Qur'an
Qur'an
The Quran , also transliterated Qur'an, Koran, Alcoran, Qur’ān, Coran, Kuran, and al-Qur’ān, is the central religious text of Islam, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God . It is regarded widely as the finest piece of literature in the Arabic language...
becomes a major concern for the next several years. He was released in November 1944. After his release, Darwaza was unable to return to Nablus because British authorities had issued an order preventing him from entering Palestine. As a result, he left for Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
, mostly staying in Bursa until the end of 1945.
The Mufti re-established the Arab Higher Committee
Arab Higher Committee
The Arab Higher Committee was the central political organ of the Arab community of Mandate Palestine. It was established on 25 April 1936, on the initiative of Hajj Amin al-Husayni, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, and comprised the leaders of Palestinian Arab clans under the mufti's...
(AHC) in late 1946 and Darwaza joined the ten-member council upon a request from the Mufti. Darwaza, along with Emil Ghuri
Emil Ghuri
Emil Ghuri , a Palestinian Christian, was Secretary of the Arab Higher Committee , the official leadership of the Arabs in the British Mandate of Palestine...
and Mu'in al-Madi, served as the AHC's delegates to the September 1947 convention of the Arab League
Arab League
The Arab League , officially called the League of Arab States , is a regional organisation of Arab states in North and Northeast Africa, and Southwest Asia . It was formed in Cairo on 22 March 1945 with six members: Egypt, Iraq, Transjordan , Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and Syria. Yemen joined as a...
's Political Committee in Lebanon. With support from the Transjordanian representative, Salih Jaber
Salih Jaber
Saleh Jaber is an Iraqi football player who currently plays for Partizanul Merei in Romania. He played once for the Iraq national team.-Career :...
, the Prime Minister of Iraq
Prime Minister of Iraq
The Prime Minister of Iraq is Iraq's head of government. Prime Minister was originally an appointed office, subsidiary to the head of state, and the nominal leader of the Iraqi parliament. Under the newly adopted constitution the Prime Minister is to be the country's active executive authority...
, openly criticized the delegates and questioned the AHC's right to even send delegates to the convention. Later that year, Darwaza resigned from the AHC due to the Mufti's unbending attitude towards wider representation.
Later life
After resigning from the AHC, Darwaza spent the rest of his life in the modern state of SyriaSyria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
where he left politics to concentrate on literature. Although he did much of his writing in the 1930s and 1940s, he did not have any of his works published until the 1960s. As a pan-Arab intellectual, Darwaza aided in establishing the union between Syria and Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
forming the short-lived United Arab Republic
United Arab Republic
The United Arab Republic , often abbreviated as the U.A.R., was a sovereign union between Egypt and Syria. The union began in 1958 and existed until 1961, when Syria seceded from the union. Egypt continued to be known officially as the "United Arab Republic" until 1971. The President was Gamal...
. After Egypt adopted its 1956 constitution
Constitution of Egypt
The Constitution of the Arab Republic of Egypt was the fundamental law of Egypt. It was adopted on September 11, 1971 through a public referendum. It was later amended in 1980, 2005 and 2007. It was proclaimed to update the democratic representative system in assertion of the rule of law,...
declaring that it was an Arab country and its people a part of the Arab nation, Darwaza concluded that Egypt and Syria were in a position to unite. When unity negotiations underwent, he suggested several forms of federation, such as the American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, and India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n models, but did not recommend any specific model for an Arab state. Darwaza did, however, suggest that the institution of a federation between Egypt and Syria would be the first step towards the realization of a comprehensive union.
In 1983, Darwaza granted Palestinian historian Muhammad Y. Muslih an eight-day interview and allowed him to photo-copy his memoirs in entirety, although according to Muslih, Darwaza was failing in health. He died in Damascus in 1984 at the age of 96. Darwaza had three daughters, Najah, Salma, and Rudaina and a son, Zuhair.
Literary works
One of the first modern histories of the Arab nationArab world
The Arab world refers to Arabic-speaking states, territories and populations in North Africa, Western Asia and elsewhere.The standard definition of the Arab world comprises the 22 states and territories of the Arab League stretching from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Arabian Sea in the...
in contrast to a history of an individual Arab country was composed by Darwaza in the late 1920s under the title Lessons of Arab History: From Antiquity to Present Times. In the book, Darwaza begins by describing the origins of the Semitic peoples, the rise of Islam
Muslim conquests
Muslim conquests also referred to as the Islamic conquests or Arab conquests, began with the Islamic prophet Muhammad. He established a new unified polity in the Arabian Peninsula which under the subsequent Rashidun and Umayyad Caliphates saw a century of rapid expansion of Muslim power.They...
, the end of Arab rule in the Middle East by Turkic
Turkic peoples
The Turkic peoples are peoples residing in northern, central and western Asia, southern Siberia and northwestern China and parts of eastern Europe. They speak languages belonging to the Turkic language family. They share, to varying degrees, certain cultural traits and historical backgrounds...
groups, and the foreign rule over the Arabs by Western powers. The book was intended to be used as a textbook in primary and secondary schools throughout the British Mandates of Palestine and later Iraq, hence its simplified and direct language, however, it had a pioneering role in the development of pan-Arabism.
In 1934, Darwaza published a widely read story, The Angel and the Land Broker, reflecting popular Arab sentiments against the growing "Zionist threat" and attacking brokers who tempted Palestinian land owners to sell their land to Jews. The story describes methods used by Zionists to entice Arab landowners to sell their land and the main characters in the story are an illiterate farmer and a Jewish girl from Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
who encourages the former to spend himself deep into debt, forcing him to sell his land at a price far below its value.
Later in his lifetime after leaving politics, Darwaza published memoirs that discussed in detail the city of Nablus in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. According to Youssef Choueiri, "he gives a graphic and almost exhaustive description of his hometown... its mosques, residential quarters, orchards, industries, and inhabitants. Moreover, he dwells at length of the social composition of the town endeavoring to reveal the open conflict between 'feudal families' and the new generation of middle traders, functionaries, civil servants, and teachers."
Qur'anic studies and interpretations
While he was imprisoned in Damascus, Darwaza was provided with an opportunity to read and reflect upon the Qur'anQur'an
The Quran , also transliterated Qur'an, Koran, Alcoran, Qur’ān, Coran, Kuran, and al-Qur’ān, is the central religious text of Islam, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God . It is regarded widely as the finest piece of literature in the Arabic language...
. He states "I considered [this opportunity] an act of divine [favor] and started reading whatever books of exegesis
Exegesis
Exegesis is a critical explanation or interpretation of a text, especially a religious text. Traditionally the term was used primarily for exegesis of the Bible; however, in contemporary usage it has broadened to mean a critical explanation of any text, and the term "Biblical exegesis" is used...
and qur'anic studies were accessible to me." During his incarceration, he compiled three books dealing with the Qur'an and conceived the idea of writing a modern tafsir
Tafsir
Tafseer is the Arabic word for exegesis or commentary, usually of the Qur'an. Ta'wīl is a subset of tafsir and refers to esoteric or mystical interpretation. An author of tafsir is a mufassir .- Etymology :...
("interpretation").
His time in Turkey exposed him to the libraries of Bursa and it was there where he wrote the rough draft oh his tafsir entitled al-Tafsir al-Hadith. Darwaza states in this exegesis he would "uncover the wisdom of revelation, the fundamental concepts of the Qur'an and the whole range of its subject matter and present it in a new style and new sequential order." Al-Tafsir al-Hadith was generally aimed at the Muslim youth who had been alienated by the traditional interpretations of the Qur'an. Darwaza placed much emphasis on the close relationship between the text of the Qur'an and the environment in which it was revealed. He rejected the hadith
Hadith
The term Hadīth is used to denote a saying or an act or tacit approval or criticism ascribed either validly or invalidly to the Islamic prophet Muhammad....
which states the Qur'an was originally preserved on a tablet in the seventh heaven, sent down to lowest heaven and from there gradually to Muhammad
Muhammad
Muhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...
.
After the completion of the rough draft he wrote a volume of four chapters, Qur'an al-Majid, which served as an introduction for the tafsir. Darwaza stresses a close connection between the Qur'an and the biography of the Muhammad (sira) and states that the Qur'an fully reflects various stages between the Qur'an and the career of Muhammad. He also emphasizes that both the angel
Angel
Angels are mythical beings often depicted as messengers of God in the Hebrew and Christian Bibles along with the Quran. The English word angel is derived from the Greek ἄγγελος, a translation of in the Hebrew Bible ; a similar term, ملائكة , is used in the Qur'an...
s and the jinn
Genie
Jinn or genies are supernatural creatures in Arab folklore and Islamic teachings that occupy a parallel world to that of mankind. Together, jinn, humans and angels make up the three sentient creations of Allah. Religious sources say barely anything about them; however, the Qur'an mentions that...
are spoken in the Qur'an not for their own sake, but to reinforce Muhammad's missions an goals.
He contends that the presentation of the Qur'an and its sura
Sura
A sura is a division of the Qur'an, often referred to as a chapter. The term chapter is sometimes avoided, as the suras are of unequal length; the shortest sura has only three ayat while the longest contains 286 ayat...
s was dictated by Muhammad and that the task of Abu Bakr
Abu Bakr
Abu Bakr was a senior companion and the father-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. He ruled over the Rashidun Caliphate from 632-634 CE when he became the first Muslim Caliph following Muhammad's death...
was to collect the Qur'an between its two covers and transcribe it into one copy, while Uthman
Uthman
Uthman ibn Affan was one of the companions of Islamic prophet, Muhammad. He played a major role in early Islamic history as the third Sunni Rashidun or Rightly Guided Caliph....
's task was to fix the transcription and unify it to prevent variant readings. He also expresses doubts that Ali
Ali
' |Ramaḍān]], 40 AH; approximately October 23, 598 or 600 or March 17, 599 – January 27, 661).His father's name was Abu Talib. Ali was also the cousin and son-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and ruled over the Islamic Caliphate from 656 to 661, and was the first male convert to Islam...
, as it is alleged, had made a chronologically arranged collection. Darwaza was very critical of other modern interpreters who used certain verses of the Qur'an to deduce and support scientific theories. He argues that those people have done harm to Islam by trivializing the sacred character of the Qur'an.
Darwaza was convinced that interpretations of the Qur'an were the only possible basis for any renewal and development of Islamic religious, political and social thought, and that the Qur'an was the only resource for Muslim reinterpretation of traditional norms in Islam and Islamic thinking. Since it was quite uncommon to follow a chronological order for a whole tafsir—which Darwaza did—he had to justify his position by seeking a fatwa
Fatwa
A fatwā in the Islamic faith is a juristic ruling concerning Islamic law issued by an Islamic scholar. In Sunni Islam any fatwā is non-binding, whereas in Shia Islam it could be considered by an individual as binding, depending on his or her relation to the scholar. The person who issues a fatwā...
from the mufti
Mufti
A mufti is a Sunni Islamic scholar who is an interpreter or expounder of Islamic law . In religious administrative terms, a mufti is roughly equivalent to a deacon to a Sunni population...
s of Aleppo
Aleppo
Aleppo is the largest city in Syria and the capital of Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Syrian governorate. With an official population of 2,301,570 , expanding to over 2.5 million in the metropolitan area, it is also one of the largest cities in the Levant...
and Damascus.
Legacy
Throughout his life, Darwaza was an Arab nationalist and supported the unity of Syria and Palestine. His particular brand of Arab nationalism was influenced by Islam, his belief in Arab unity, and the oneness of Arabic culture. According to his perspective, the ideology's main points were the Arabic language, the Arab homeland, a shared Arab history and common Arab interests. Although Darwaza believed that Arab nationalism pre-dated Islam, he also maintained that Islam expanded Arab territory and "stamped them with the eternal mark of Arab nationalism." According to Muhammad Y. Muslih, this meant that Islam had provided Arabs with "spiritual, cultural, and legal unity and within the framework of that unity the Arab individual formed his moral and social beliefs, irrespective of where he lived and through it the Arabs were able to preserve national identity and maintain their culture in the face of foreign invaders, including the Ottomans". Darwaza contends that Arab nationalism is not a new concept borrowed from the West and asserts the constituents of Arab nationalism are stronger than those which make up the modern forms of nationalismNationalism
Nationalism is a political ideology that involves a strong identification of a group of individuals with a political entity defined in national terms, i.e. a nation. In the 'modernist' image of the nation, it is nationalism that creates national identity. There are various definitions for what...
in the world.
His ideas helped the spread the word of secular pan-Arabism against religious nationalist
Islamism
Islamism also , lit., "Political Islam" is set of ideologies holding that Islam is not only a religion but also a political system. Islamism is a controversial term, and definitions of it sometimes vary...
s and those who believed in separate Syrian
Syrian nationalism
Syrian nationalism refers to the nationalism of Syria, or the Fertile Crescent as a cultural or political entity. It should not be confused with the Arab nationalism that is the official state doctrine of the Syrian Arab Republic's ruling Baath Party, nor should it be assumed that Syrian...
, Lebanese
Lebanese nationalism
Lebanese nationalism is a nationalistic ideology that considers the Lebanese people, particularly Maronites, distinguished nation independent from the Arab nation. It considers Lebanese sometimes a Phoenician and sometimes a Syriac people....
, and Palestinian destinies
Palestinian nationalism
Palestinian nationalism is the national movement of the Palestinian people. It has roots in Pan-Arabism and other movements rejecting colonialism and calling for national independence. More recently, Palestinian Nationalism is expressed through the Israeli–Palestinian conflict...
. In the mid-1950s, Darwaza asserted that the first stage of Arab union should be based on a merger between Egypt and Syria. In his opinion, a union between the northern Arabs (Syria) and the southern Arabs (Egypt) would facilitate the adherence of other Arab states. He believed that Egypt's capabilities and human resources compelled it to fill the role of an Arab "Prussia
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
". Darwaza remarked on Gamal Abdel Nasser
Gamal Abdel Nasser
Gamal Abdel Nasser Hussein was the second President of Egypt from 1956 until his death. A colonel in the Egyptian army, Nasser led the Egyptian Revolution of 1952 along with Muhammad Naguib, the first president, which overthrew the monarchy of Egypt and Sudan, and heralded a new period of...
, Egyptian president and founder of the short-lived union, saying "Since the Arab revolt against the Turks, no Arab leader has been up to the level of events except for Jamal 'Abd al-Nasir. He emerged and vanished like a shooting star."
Rashid Khalidi states about Darwaza, "Moved as he was by the civilization of Arabs, he evoked a distant Arab past. For obvious reasons Islam was central to that past. But in the case of Darwaza, Islam was important not as the binding substance of the nation, but as a culture and civilization. In other words, culture, language, and history not religious solidarity
Ummah
Ummah is an Arabic word meaning "community" or "nation." It is commonly used to mean either the collective nation of states, or the whole Arab world...
were posited as the glue that was to hold the Arab nation together." According to Khalidi, Darwaza contributed to Arab nationalism in the practical and intellectual domains greatly.
History
- Turkīya al-ḥadīta. (1946).
- Ta'rīḫ Banī Isrā'īl min asfārihim. (1958).
- Al-äḍīya al-filasṭīnīya muḫtalaf marāḥilihā. (1959).
- Al-'Arab wal-'urūba min al-qarn at-tālit ḥatta l-qarn ar-rābi' 'ašar al-hiǧrī. (1959).
- Urūbat Misr fi l-qadīm wal-hadīt au qåbl al-islām wa-ba'dahu. (1963).
- Asr an-nabī 'alaih as-salām wa-bai'atuhu qabl al-ba'ta. (1964).
- Našʼat al-ḥaraka al-ʻarabīja al-ḥadīta. (1971).
- Fī sabīl qaḍīyat Filasṭīn wal-waḥda al-'arabīya wa-min waḥy an-nakba wa li-aǧl mu'āla-ǧatihā. (1972).
- al-Jihād fī sabīl Allāh fi l-Qur'an̄ wal-ḥadīt. (1975).
- Az-ziʻāmāt wa-'l-usar al-lubnānīja al-iqṭāʻīja ʻalā iḫtilāf aṭ-ṭawā'if. (1978).
- Al-imārāt al-ʻarabīya as-šāmila fī Lubnān. (1978).
- Al-imārāt al-ʻarabīya as-šāmila fi Jazīrat al-Furāt wa-šamāl Sūrīya. (1978).
- al- Yahūd fi 'l-qurān al-karīm: sīratuhum wa-ah̲lāquhum wa-aḥwāluhum qabla 'l-baʻt̲a. Wa-ǧinsīyat al-Yahūd fi 'l-Ḥiǧāz fī zaman an-nabī. Wa-aḥwāluhum wa-ah̲lāquhum wa-mawāqifuhum min ad-daʻwa al-islāmīya wa-ma. (1980).
- Al-imārāt al-ʻarabīya as-šāmila fī šarq al-Urdunn wa-Filasṭīn. (1981).
- Al-imārāt al-ʻarabīya as-šāmila fī Wādi 'n-Nīl. (1981).
- Al-imārāt al-ʻarabīya as-šāmila fi 'l-Maġrib al-aqṣā wa-'l-Jazā'ir wa-Tūnis wa-Lībīya. (1981).
- Al-imārāt al-ʻarabīya as-šāmila fī Sūrīya al-wusṭā. (1981).
- Al-imārāt al-ʻarabīya as-šāmila fi 'l-ʻIrāq. (1981).
- Al-imārāt al-ʻarabīya as-šāmila fi Jazīrat al-ʻarab. (1983).
- Mudakkirāt: siǧill ḥāfil bi-masīrat al-ḥaraka al-ʻarabīya wa-'l-qaḍīya al-filasṭīnīya hilal qarn min az-zaman: 1305-1404 hijra, 1887-1984. (1993).
Islamic
- Ad-Dustūr al-qur 'ānī fī šu'ūn al-ḥayāt. (1956).
- At-Tafsīr al-ḥadīt̲ as-Suwar. (1962).
- Sīrat ar-Rasūl. (1965).
- Ad-Dustūr al-qur'ānī was-sunna an-nabawīya fī šu'ūn al-ḥayāt. (1966).
- Al-Mar'a fi l-Qur'ān was-sunna. (1967).