Salim Ali Salam

Salim Ali Salam ( ar, سليم علي سلام, tr, Selim Ali Selam, also known as Abu Ali Salam; 1868–1938) was a prominent figure in Beirut at the turn of the 20th century who held numerous public positions, including deputy from Beirut to the Ottoman Parliament, President of the Municipality of Beirut, and President of the Muslim Society of Benevolent Intentions (al-Makassed). He was the leader of the "Beirut Reform Movement," which called for the decentralization and modernization of the Ottoman Empire, and was also a member of the Executive Committee of the First Arab Congress which met in Paris in 1913 and formulated Arab national demands. He opposed Ottoman political repression during World War I, and the French Mandate of the post-war period. He stood out for his enlightened outlook and for his ability to communicate effectively with his contemporaries. He received the Ottoman nobility title of Bey. Today, a main avenue in Beirut is named after him.

Early life

Salam was first sent to a Christian missionary school where he studied French and then to an Ottoman school where he studied Turkish. His father died when he was only seventeen years of age, at which point he took over the family business. Two years later, he married Kulthum Barbir, the granddaughter of Ahmad Al Agharr who had held at one and the same time in Beirut the positions of mufti, qadi, and naqib al-ashraf (head of the order of the descendants of the Prophet Muhammad). Together they had twelve children: Ali, Muhieddine, Fatima, Muhammad, Anbara, Misbah, Omar, Saeb, Abdallah, Fouad, Malik, and Rasha. One of his sons, Malik, married the sister of Rashid Karami who served as the prime minister for ten times.

Salam became a successful merchant, mostly trading in staples from his office located in the seaport area of Beirut. In addition, he undertook several construction and agricultural projects. Owing to the economic position that he came to occupy, he was appointed member of the Chamber of Commerce in 1895, President of the Agricultural Bank in 1900, and Vice President of the Court of Commerce in 1903.

Beiruti notable with a modern outlook

The French Consul General in Beirut, M. Couget, described Salim Salam, in an annex to a dispatch addressed to the French Minister of Foreign Affairs, M. Pichon, dated May 16, 1913, as follows:

Salim Salam, more commonly called Abu Ali, is one of those hardcore Beirutis, with a coarse language but so full of color and flavor. His intelligence is totally remarkable. His speech, while simple, is eloquent and highly persuasive. His entire personality exudes strength, courage and decisiveness. Wherever he finds himself he is always the heart and soul of the meeting, despite his cursory education. His influence over his coreligionists and even upon others is undeniable. Had this man been born and brought up in a free country, he would surely have become somebody. Compulsive speculation is his particular trait. One time he is in calm and flat financial waters and on another he is heading full sails towards the million. At this moment, he seems to be making good headway despite some minor ups and downs. In brief, he is a true male and an incomparable leader.

According to the foremost Lebanese historian, Kamal Salibi, "among the Moslem notables of Beirut at the turn of the century few communicated with their fellow men as easily and readily as Salim Ali Salam." Salibi explains that "hardly anything happened in the city, the sanjak, or the vilayet without his knowledge or participation." Salibi describes Salam as "a man of remarkably modern outlook, cautious and shrewd yet open-minded and completely lacking in prejudice, receptive of new ideas, aggressive and capable of making good use of opportunity, a born positivist, a believer in progress, and an expert breaker of Gordian knots."

Salibi goes on to relate the following: "As he rose in society, Abu Ali was careful not to lose the common touch … While his peers vied with one another in building luxurious mansions out of town, Abu Ali remodeled and enlarged his father's house in al-Musaytiba, and later added on to it a third floor, so that it now dominated the neighborhood … His sons and daughters were encouraged to identify themselves with the neighborhood and become intimately acquainted with it … The men of the neighborhood came to him with their problems; during the month of Ramadan, he would invite them to break the day's fast at his table."

Salibi also relates the following: "Abu Ali did not flee the social restrictions of al-Musaytiba, but he was personally uninhibited, full of self-confidence and daring, and, though conventionally religious, completely unfanatical. From his home base in the heart of Moslem Beirut, he developed cordial friendships with the Greek Orthodox archbishop of the city and the leading Christian notables of al-Ashrafiyya; he would ride over to call on them informally, in company with his growing brood of sons, and received informal visits from them in return. As a boy, his father had made it clear to him that it was not wrong for a Moslem to seek modern instruction in a Christian school, even if it meant attending compulsory church services; now he sent his own sons to the Syrian Protestant College ow_the_American_University_of_Beirut.html" ;"title="American_University_of_Beirut.html" ;"title="ow the American University of Beirut">ow the American University of Beirut">American_University_of_Beirut.html" ;"title="ow the American University of Beirut">ow the American University of Beirut against strong remonstrances from his more conservative Moslem associates. More than that, a Greek Catholic priest came regularly to his house to teach his sons French, and a leading Maronite literary figure of the day, Abdallah al-Bustani, tutored his daughter Anbara in Arabic language and literature. In 1910, Abu Ali took another unprecedented step: he sent his eldest son, Ali, to study agricultural engineering in England."

Similarly to Salibi, Samir Kassir, a Lebanese journalist and leading historian of Beirut who was assassinated in 2005, wrote that Salim Salam was "the most visible man of Beirut … a prosperous man who was at the crossroads of all public initiatives and was very much aware of all that took place in Beirut and the whole of the province." In terms of social development at the turn of the century, Kassir explains that "the greatest metamorphosis of all was the one brought about by the emergence of Salim Salam as a public figure – and by his way of life." Kassir depicts Salam as "elegant in manner and possessed of a noble bearing, in public always dressed in the European style while wearing the Ottoman tarbush."

He says that "Salim Salam embodied a mixture of traditional virtues and new values. Throughout his life he was to maintain a piety attested by his daily observance of religious ritual and his reading of sacred texts, while at the same time displaying an openness of mind that tempered the conservatism of his social environment."

Kassir also explains that "Salim Salam's choice of friends was proof of his religious tolerance at a time when communal tensions were intensified by the misfortunes of the Ottoman Empire and the destabilization of the Muslim community by Western penetration. Salam made it a point of establishing solid relationships with both the Orthodox archbishop of Beirut, Monsignor Misarra, and Habib Pasha al-Saad, the Maronite president of the administrative council of the Mutasarrifate of Mount Lebanon." As evidence of the deep-seated trust that existed between Salim Salam and the leaders of the Christian community, Kassir reports that "the Orthodox bishop of Beirut, preparing to set off on a trip, instructed the dignitaries of his community to defer to the judgment of Salim Salam during his absence."

Kassir also recounts that Salim Salam's eldest daughter, Anbara, "in the 1920s was to be the first Muslim woman in Lebanon to go out in public unveiled" and that "in the meantime she had been sent to study in London, together with her younger sister; a photograph taken during her stay there shows Anbara wearing an elegant cloche hat and a mid-calf skirt in the company of her father, her brother Saeb, and King Faisal I of Iraq – proof that Salam readily accepted the idea of women doing away with the veil, in defiance of prevailing social conventions in Beirut." In her autobiography, Anbara reveals that she had consulted with her father prior to removing the veil for the first time in public, during a lecture she gave on her impressions of her time in England, and that he had said to her to do as she saw fit.

President of the municipality of Beirut

Salim Salam became president of the Municipality of Beirut in 1908 – the highest office in the land that a local from Beirut could attain. He was also a member of the administrative council of the vilayet of Beirut.

In his memoirs, he recounts that upon taking office he recognized that the municipality "was in a state of trouble, as there was no money in its coffers, debts were accruing, roads were in a very poor condition, and the financial and moral base of the municipality had eroded."

His tenure was marked by comprehensive reforms and by a hands-on approach to the everyday needs of the city.

President of the Muslim Society of Benevolent Intentions (al-Makassed)

Salim Salam became president of al-Makassed in 1909 – a leading charitable organization that promotes modern education among the Muslims of Beirut.

According to Salibi, "the new Maqasid board, under the presidency of Abu Ali, proceeded to draft new by-laws for the society, to secure for it full legal recognition, and to have its various properties officially registered in its name. Its schools were then re-organized: a boys' school was established in Zuqaq al-Blat with a Druze, Arif Bey Nakad, as principal; and girls' school was established at Hawuz al-Wilaya with a Protestant, Julia Tu'ma, as principal. It was typical of Abu Ali to act against strong objections and appoint non-Moslems (a Druze and a Christian) to head the new Maqasid schools when he found no Moslems suited for the job."

According to Hassaan Hallak, Salim Salam's biographer, "during his presidency, Salim Salam improved the instruction in the schools of al-Makassed both in terms of the pedagogical methods and in terms of the quality of the teachers and directors by hiring individuals with higher educational degrees and specialized skills … He also developed the practices of the organization and increased its revenues which came to exceed 180 thousand piasters in 1912, after it had been suffering from the burden of deficit and deterioration for years."

Leader of the Beirut Reform Movement

At the inaugural meeting of the (Beirut) Reform Movement, sometimes called the Beirut Reform Society, which took place on 12 January 1913 in the municipality building, Salim Salam was elected as the executive officer of the movement along with Petro Trad; Ayoub Tabet

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