Constantin Zureiq

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Constantin Zureiq (قسطنطين زريق) (born Damascus 1909-2000), a prominent Arab intellectual and academic, was one of the pioneering theorists of modern Arab nationalism. He developed some ideas, such as the "Arab mission" and "national philosophy", which were to become key concepts for Arab nationalist thinkers, and in more recent years was a strong proponent of an intellectual reformation of Arab society, emphasising the need for rationalism and an ethical revolution.

1 Life and academic career
2 Contribution to the theoretical development of Arab nationalism
3 Engagement in current intellectual debate
4 Sources

[edit] Life and academic career

Constantin Zureiq was born in Damascus in 1909 into a Greek Orthodox family, and received his primary and secondary education in the Orthodox school system. He subsequently studied at the American University of Beirut before completing his studies at Princeton University in the United States, where he received a doctorate in history in 1930.

After receiving his doctorate Zureiq worked as a university lecturer and as a diplomat, before being appointed president of University of Damascus in 1949. In 1952 he was appointed vice-president of the American University of Beirut, and from 1954 to 1958 was its acting president.

[edit] Contribution to the theoretical development of Arab nationalism

Zureiq's first notable publication, based on a lecture he gave in 1938, was entitled The Arab consciousness (al-wa`i al-`arabi). In this book, published in 1939, he introduced the concept of the "Arab mission": the aim of each nation, he stated, was "the message it brings to human culture and general civilisation", and a nation without a mission was not worthy of the name. The consciousness of having a "national mission" would bring the Arab struggle for independence new strength and meaning and would regain for the Arabs their world role. As for the Arab mission itself, in the current age it would be

to absorb the knowledge of the West and to join it with the views that have arisen in reaction to it, and to combine them in a new unity that will be a sign of the coming life, and that the Arabs will spread to the world as they spread their brilliant civilisation in the past ages.

It was also in this work that Zureiq called for a "national philosophy", which he expressed as the thought absorbed by the youth of the nation combined with their feelings to form a "nationalist creed". Such a philosophy, he declared, was necessary for national renewal.

Both these concepts were to become prominent in the nationalist ideology developed by other Arab writers, and indeed the idea of an Arab mission would be taken up, in a different form, by Michel Aflaq and become the slogan of the Ba'th Party in later years. Zureiq was also a major intellectual influence on the Arab Nationalist Movement.

[edit] Engagement in current intellectual debate

Zureiq's most recent work, Ma al-`amal? hadith ila al-ajyal al-`arabiyya al-tali`a (What is to be done? An address to the rising Arab generations), analyses the current challenges faced by the Arab world, ascribing them essentially to "societal ills, on the cultural level, relating to the prevailing system of values." He points to the absence of rationalism as a primary factor. He notes that internal and external factors have weakened the progressive forces of the various nationalist and left-wing movements, robbing them of their ability to effect the necessary changes in society and thus facilitating the rise of religious fundamentalism. In response to this situation, he calls for rationalism and an ethical approach, emphasising that "the important thing is individual struggle, not the seizing of power by any party". For Zureiq, the role of intellectuals remains crucial in efforts to "raise the level of the masses" and bring Arab society out of its present weakened condition.