A new weekly series about Egypt 

The author of this series "Egyptian Frescoes" André Dirlik was born in Egypt and spent the first twenty years of his life in Cairo, then moved to Beirut where he studied at the American University. He later completed his studies at Mc Gill University, in Montreal. 

André's long career as professor exclusively at the "Collège Militaire Royal de Saint-Jean" was only interrupted when that institution closed it's doors in 1995. 

Egyptian Frescoes part (2 of 19) issued with the permission of the author. 

Egyptian Frescoes (2): Tall al-Kabir, 1882

  

Napoleon in the battle of the Pyramids

The Muhammad ‘Ali Dynasty originated from the Port City of Kavalla, in Thrace. The Pasha was initially from Albania: he and his kind were known as Arna’ut. The Pasha and his associates in the Albanian Contingent of the Ottoman Army had been transported by British ships to expel the French Expeditionary Force then commanded by Bonaparte’s deputy, General Kléber. They ousted both the French and the Mamlukes, a slave caste of warriors, Circassians from the Caucasus, or Turks and Kurds. The Founder of Modern Egypt then created his own fighting force with officers that were Albanian and Turk and the soldiery that came from the Egyptian peasantry, the Fallahin. Advisors to the new Egyptian Army were French who had served at some point in Napoleon’s army.

Khedive Isma’il

When Isma’il, Muhammad ‘Ali’s grandson, succeeded Sa’id to the throne of Egypt, the new Khedive reformed the army further: starting in 1863, he encouraged native Egyptians to enter the officer corps. One such youth, Ahmed ‘Urabi, rose in rank. Like many sons of notables, ‘Urabi had been schooled at the great al-Azhar Mosque. When he enrolled in the military, he was rapidly promoted to the rank of Pasha, General that is, and given a Junior post in the Cabinet. The Khedive waged war against Ethiopia and tightened his grip on the Sudan where the Nile waters originated. ‘Urabi Pasha served his Khedive in combat. He was in Cairo when the Khedive was deposed by the Sultan in Istambul.

The main reason for this deposition was that the debt Isma’il contracted had reached 100 million pounds as opposed to the initial three he inherited when he occupied the throne. In 1875, auditors were appointed by France and Britain to advise on the course to be followed. The following year, the Khedive had to cede his entire lands to Egyptians and to Foreigners, to sell his shares in the Suez Canal to Britain’s D’Israeli, to accept constitutional limitations to his power, and to appoint Nubar Pasha, a Christian Armenian, as his Prime Minister. An Englishman became Minister of Finance and a Frenchmen held the Public Works portfolio. Egypt was, slowly but surely, being taken over by the Infidels.

It was estimated then that more than 10.000 Christians and Jews, from Southern Europe, Salonika and Izmir, and from North Africa had settled in Egypt in 1840. Their presence became conspicuous. They enjoyed special privileges. They could not be judged in Egyptian courts and what came to be known as Mixed Courts offended the Egyptians deeply. When Khedive Isma’il was finally deposed and sent to exile, riots erupted in Alexandria, the most Europeanized city in the country. 

Orabi Pasha

‘Urabi Pasha who had taken command of the government demanded that the influence of Foreigners be curtailed. Isma’il’s son, Tawfiq, who had succeeded him escaped the rioting to the Mediterranean coast to seek British naval protection. A British contingent had, meanwhile, been landed that would meet the Egyptians under the command of ‘Urabi Pasha. They fought at Tall al-Kabir and ‘Urabi was easily defeated by General Wolseley. British firepower and tactics had won the day. The Egyptian rebel to the crown was sentenced to death but exiled instead to Ceylon. His home in Kandy, in the hills outside Colombo, is today the Orabi Pasha Museum and Cultural Centre. Next to it is the Zahira College which he founded for Singalese Muslims.

‘Abbas II had succeeded his brother Tawfiq as Khedive of Egypt in 1901. ‘Abbas was one who hated the British. ‘Urabi was brought back to Egypt that very year to a hero’s welcome. He had been the first indigenous Egyptian to achieve political and military prominence since the Ptoleme Pharoe took over from Native Egyptian Pharoes in 323BC. His pardon favoured the Khedive in the eyes of the Egyptians at the very time when the British chose to make their presence permanent in Egypt. Lord Cromer, once secretary to the Viceroy of India, was assigned to, in effect, rule Egypt. Britain had not forgotten Napoleon Bonaparte’s Campaign in the Nile Valley whose aim it had been to threaten the Road to British India. 

Suez canal innauguration

The opening of the Suez Canal, 164 kilometres long, which was inaugurated in 1869, made British presence along the waterway the more so pressing. The British had occupied Gibraltar, Malta and Cyprus in the Mediterranean. South of Suez, they would land troops in Aden and the Horn of Africa. The Road to India was thus being secured for King and Country for generations to come.

The brilliant administration of Egypt by Lord Cromer which lasted from 1883 till 1907 paved, meanwhile, the way for a British Protectorate over Egypt in 1912. This protectorate would last till Fu’ad, yet another son of Khedive Isma’il, would sign an Anglo-Egyptian Treaty that made him King in 1922 and guaranteed British presence in the country. During the time all this was taking place, Egyptian Society kept changing. Egypt, today, owes much to Lord Cromer’s administration. Not unlike in India, the British Pro-Consul of Egypt revamped the country’s bureaucracy to suite Britain’s objectives and govern Egypt effectively in order to increase its productive capacities and pay back its debts. 

Lord Cromer

The Cromer reforms built an elaborate civil service to implement what has come to be known as Indirect Rule. Schooling was expanded as never before to staff his government. On this particular matter, Cromer had essentially spotted a brilliant mind in one Shaykh Muhammad ‘Abduh. In Egypt, today, Cromer has been forgotten. Not so Muhammad ‘Abduh.

Muhammad ‘Abduh (1849-1905), not unlike Ahmad ‘Urabi and the thousands that enrolled in the bureaucracy, be it civilian or military, was rooted in Egypt’s soil. He rose in society through education and ended at the al-Azhar Mosque where he graduated as a ‘Alim. ‘Abduh had been appointed to teach at Dar al-‘Ulum, the teacher’s training school in Cairo, in 1878. He also taught at Madrasat al-Alsun, the Khedivial Language School which Muhammad ‘Ali founded and which Shaykh Rifa’a al-Tahtawi (1801-1873) ran.

‘Abduh had been an admirer of al-Tahtawi, the Azhari whom Muhammad ‘Ali entrusted with the task of accompanying two dozen youths to Paris in 1826. 

El Tahtawi

Al-Tahtawi spent six years in that city, learnt French, frequented Salons and Libraries and, upon his return, the Pasha appointed him Head of the Languages School where he also translated texts on military matters, geography and European History. All al-Tahtawi’s books were widely read. In Rihla, his Journey to Paris, he states that the Principles of Islam are compatible with European Modernity. He added that one way to protect one’s country was to accept the changes that come with modern societies. Such ideas were, certainly revolutionary at the time and a few gave credence to them.

Meanwhile, in 1882, ‘Abduh who had supported the ‘Urabi Revolt was exiled for six years. Much will be said about ‘Abduh’s exile. Suffice it to say that later, in 1899, Cromer saw to it that ‘Abduh be offered the position of Mufti of Egypt. The Pro-Consul sought an enlightened Azhari to issue the Fatwas that could pave the way to Cromer’s reforms. After all, had not Muhammad ‘Abduh been quoted as stating that: ‘’I went to the West and saw Islam, but no Muslims; I got back to the East and saw Muslims but no Islam’’. Al-Tahtawi could not have written these words for he belonged to that period of Egyptian history where self assurance was paramount amongst its intellectuals. They could borrow freely from the West and not the least feel threatened by all that they borrowed. ‘Abduh, on the other hand, was the child of the ‘Urabi defeat and the subject of British occupation. He belonged to an age of resistance to all that the West stood for and offered. Apologetics for the shortcomings of Egypt and Islam were growing among its intellectuals. 

Not so with Muhammad ‘Abduh who, along with Jamal ed-Din Afghani (1838-1897) and Mustafa Kamil (1874-1908), was able to distinguish between the Genius of Western Civilization and Brutal Imperialism and between the Fundamentals of Islam and Corrupt Muslims. So let us now move on with our story and speak of the Neo-Mu’tazilah and of Nationalism among the Muslims of Egypt in the nineteenth century.