The twentieth century began, and with it the question of identity reverberated strongly and imposed itself on the political and cultural circles inside Egypt;

With the outbreak of World War I, discussions of nationalism and patriotism were at the height of their global climax, which prompted the elite to call for liberation, and the colonizer’s response came to them with a question, What is Egypt?

That question was described by the Egyptian thinker and writer, Tawfiq al-Hakim, in his book “Egypt Between Two Covenants” as painful and difficult answer to the leaders of Egypt who were surprised by the English side.

This question gave rise to other questions such as “What are the components of the Egyptian state and what is its character? Is it permissible to measure what was in ancient times to the modern era?” The answer became a preoccupation for the production of many thinkers during the first half of the last century, especially after the 1919 revolution and the escalating role of the movement National.

It seems that the identity problem has returned again in a new century, for reasons also related to political changes that have repercussions on all aspects of life in Egypt.

The Ministry of Culture participated in the discussion by publishing a number of books that chronicle an aspect of the controversy that took place a century ago and bear the hallmarks of that era.

About the identity of Egypt

Among the books issued by the Ministry of Culture in the context of talking about identity is the book "On the Identity of Egypt and the Egyptians", which includes studies and articles by 4 of the most prominent Egyptian thinkers during the first half of the 20th century, they are Ahmed Lotfi El-Sayed, Muhammad Hussein Heikal, Taha Hussein, and Abbas El-Akkad.

In the introduction to the book, the Egyptian historian, Ahmed Zakaria Al-Shalaq, explains how the discussion about the identity or character of Egypt usually erupts in periods of transformation or crises in the country’s history, adding that the challenges that direct a new stage of history emerge with them seeking to foresee the future, which calls for Start thinking about the past.

He explained that the issue of Egypt's identity with all its manifestations and its social, cultural, historical, geographical, philosophical and linguistic origins preoccupied many writers in the wake of the new wave of the Egyptian national movement, represented by the January 25, 2011 revolution and its repercussions.

Briefly, Al-Shalaq tried to clarify the meaning of the word "identity", referring to what was stated in the dictionaries that it means the truth of the thing or person who is informed and includes its essential qualities that distinguish it from others.

Nevertheless, the idiomatic meaning of the word “identity” raises a great deal of controversy among scholars to the extent that it is impossible to find a clear meaning for it within modern sociology. Other.

Eastern or Western?

The Egyptian writer, critic and translator, Taha Hussein, has always been preoccupied with a question that he has always described in his writings and discussions as dangerous: “Egypt from the East or from the West?”

In detail, he explained his viewpoint on the identity of Egypt in his famous book "The Future of Culture in Egypt", which sparked widespread controversy at the time of its publication in 1938, and the book "On the Identity of Egypt and the Egyptians" transferred chapters from it.

Hussein returned to the history of the ancient Egyptian mind from its earliest times and its long journey until the modern era to answer his serious question, indicating that the history of Egyptian life did not witness any continuous and regular links with the far east that would affect its thinking, policies or economic systems.

He continued, "I don't think that the connection between the ancient Egyptians and the eastern countries went beyond the near East, which we call Palestine, the Levant, and Iraq, meaning the East that lies in the Mediterranean basin," considering the affiliation with the East a terrible mistake and a strange illusion.

On the other hand, the Egyptian writer sheds light on the strong relations between his country and Western civilizations, such as the Greek, indicating that the Egyptian mind has been in contact with the Greek mind since its early ages, a communication of cooperation, consensus and continuous exchange of benefits.

He added that the Egyptian mind until the days of the rule of Alexander the Great was influential in the Greek mind and influenced by it, sharing with it many of its qualities if not all of its qualities. After the control of the Romans, Egypt remained a refuge for Greek culture.

As for the unity of religion and language, Hussein felt that they are not suitable as a basis for political unity or a basis for the formation of states, indicating that Egypt was one of the first Islamic countries to recover its ancient character that it had never forgotten, according to him.

He added that Egypt was part of Europe in everything related to mental and cultural life in all its branches and colors, and continued, "It is absurd, after which there is no absurdity to consider Egypt as part of the East, and to consider the Egyptian mentality an eastern mentality, such as Tibet in India and China."

Upon reaching the modern era, he did not find a difference in the Egyptian mind, which was affected and influenced in Europe, saying, "Our material life is purely European in the higher classes, and in the other classes it differs in proximity and distance from European life according to the ability of individuals and groups and their fortunes of wealth. Its manifestations are what the Europeans take with knowledge and intention or without knowledge and intention, and our moral life, with its different manifestations and colors, is purely European.”

He gave an example of the systems of governance, administration, legislation and education in countries that are essentially European, stressing that the Egyptian mind did not find any effort or hardship in accepting it because it is not contrary in its essence and nature to the European mind.

The Egyptian politician Abdel Rahman Azzam - the first secretary of the League of Arab States - criticized Taha Hussein, stressing that the majority of the lineages of the Egyptian regions belong to the Arab race, and added, "In general, we belong to that living nation that inherits the land in which it is spread."

About the Egyptian nature

There are many falsehoods about the history of the Egyptian nation that led to a short-lived view of the nature of the Egyptians, according to a study prepared by the writer, journalist and critic Abbas Mahmoud al-Akkad, in 1936, entitled "The characteristics of the Egyptian soul."

In that study, Al-Akkad elaborated in denying what he called falsehoods about the nation's history, considering the head of lies to be that it is a nation that does not govern itself by itself and does not care about a foreigner's raid on it.

He went on to refute that lie, "If we reviewed the histories of all nations, we would not be able to find a single people devoid of the authority of the foreigner. Perhaps the advantage of the Egyptian nation over many nations was that the foreign ruler was impersonating its religion, adopting its customs and ceremonies, keeping his money in its land and not moving it to a distant capital from it. If he goes against this year in its policy, his days will be prolonged, and if he goes against it, he will not be safe from its uprising and revolution.”

Al-Akkad believes that the Egyptian nation has an ancient history connected to the world in its east and west, ancient and modern. News about it is connected and the memory of peoples is occupied with it.

And he added, "Because the world received our nation's history from the category of enemies and prejudiced people, and we did not care about correcting what is said, because correcting national dates is a modern heresy, the extent of the need for it was not known until in the last era."

He gave an example of the Greeks and Jews who undertook malicious propaganda against the Egyptians during ancient times, as the first was an occupier and the second hated his forced slavery in Egypt.

Al-Akkad moved from falsehoods to the Egyptians to define their identity, considering them to be a nation with a long history of ancient civilization in an agricultural land, not from Bedouin leaping to war because it is the door to livelihood and the way to safety from the aggressor neighbor, but it is a nation of stable civilization and regular living that resorts to battles because it is an inescapable necessity.

national literature

Poet, novelist and politician, Muhammad Hussein Heikal, adopted the so-called national literature at the beginning of the last century, making creative contributions that extended from the Pharaonic era to the modern.

Heikal's vision was based on the fact that Egyptian literature, which is distinctive for the character of the country, has its origins from ancient Egypt to modern Egypt, and that this literature is a feature of the nation's formation and its own identity.

In his writings that dealt with the issue of Egyptian identity, the Minister of Education and the former head of the Academy of the Arabic Language, Ahmed Lotfi Al-Sayed, seemed sharp in his speech, which he addressed to those who like to belong to a people other than Egypt or to a country other than Egypt.

The book "On the Identity of Egypt and the Egyptians" presented a set of articles published by Lotfi El-Sayed in the newspaper "Al-Jarida" between 1909 and 1914. The titles he addressed were under the titles "The Egyptian University", "Our Masiriya", "Al Masrya" and "To the Boys: Nationalism".

And he directed his speech to the younger generations, saying, "Oh, my son, your Egypt will benefit you only by its glory, and it will only harm its weakness, and if you turn its recent history into an old one, you would not find it indebted to any of the people calling on the dhimmis to pay the debt on their behalf. Just as you are among your peers you have a personality that you must take care of. Homeland is also personal, its care is obligatory for its people, and your annihilation in the will of others and your concern to be in voluntary slavery is worse than forced slavery.

The opinions of these thinkers were subjected to continuous controversy and discussion, and writers, intellectuals and writers such as Ibrahim Al-Mazini, who singled out Taha Hussein's ideas for criticism and accused him of insulting Arabs, participated in it, which called for a response from the Dean of Arabic literature.

The thinker and former Minister of National Guidance, Fathi Radwan, recorded his participation in the discussion and wrote an article in Al-Balagh newspaper in which Al-Mazni wrote down his responses, in which he criticized the two pro-Pharaonic and Arab groups alike, describing them as “not looking for scientific proof, but differentiating between the glory of the two nations and they combine religion in This comparison.

He added, "Pharaonicism and Arabism is a subject that should be abandoned, because in its entirety and detail it is an insult and a disgrace. It is a shame that the Egyptians differ in this way in knowing their origins and ancestry. It is a shame that the voice of a great writer rises to decide that Egypt is Pharaonic, and on the other hand, a great writer rises to decide that Egypt is Arab."