Abd al-Razzaq al-Hasani () (1903–1997) was an Iraqi

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...

and

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

.Orit Bashkin. The other Iraq: pluralism and culture in Hashemite Iraq. Stanford, California, USA: Stanford University Press, 2009. Pp. 129. He was a prominent proponent of

Iraqi nationalism Iraqi nationalism is a form of nationalism that asserts the belief that Iraqis form a nation and promotes the cultural unity of Iraqis of different ethnoreligious groups such as Mesopotamian Arabs, Kurds, Turkmens, Assyrians, Yazidis, Mandeans ...

in particular, and

Arab nationalism Arab nationalism () is a political ideology asserting that Arabs constitute a single nation. As a traditional nationalist ideology, it promotes Arab culture and civilization, celebrates Arab history, the Arabic language and Arabic literatur ...

in general.

Biography

Al-Hasani in a 1924 article titled "Shi'i Majority in Iraq" warned of the dangers of discrimination by the Sunni-dominated government against the Shi'a majority of Iraq's citizens as having the potential to harm attempts to forge national unity in Iraq. He was a strong opponent of the

British Mandate of Mesopotamia The Mandate for Mesopotamia () was a proposed League of Nations mandate to cover Ottoman Iraq (Mesopotamia). It would have been entrusted to the United Kingdom but was superseded by the Anglo-Iraqi Treaty, an agreement between Britain and Ira ...

and British influence in Iraq, claiming the British believed that power in the mandate belonged to them alone and not to Iraqis at all.Orit Bashkin. The other Iraq: pluralism and culture in Hashemite Iraq. Stanford, California, USA: Stanford University Press, 2009. Pp. 130. Al-Hasani is noted for having written a book titled ''The Political History of Iraq'' (in the

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

language), in which he considered the Hamrin Mountain Range as a natural border of

Kurdistan Kurdistan (, ; ), or Greater Kurdistan, is a roughly defined geo- cultural region in West Asia wherein the Kurds form a prominent majority population and the Kurdish culture, languages, and national identity have historically been based. G ...

. His approach towards this sensitive issue concerning the border created controversy about the ethnicity of

Kirkuk Kirkuk (; ; ; ) is a major city in northern Iraq, serving as the capital of the Kirkuk Governorate. The city is home to a diverse population of Kurds, Iraqi Turkmen, Iraqi Turkmens and Arabs. Kirkuk sits on the ruins of the original Kirkuk Cit ...

city. Kirkuk is a multiethnic city in

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

. The ethnic identity of the city has been disputed among

Kurds Kurds (), or the Kurdish people, are an Iranian peoples, Iranic ethnic group from West Asia. They are indigenous to Kurdistan, which is a geographic region spanning southeastern Turkey, northwestern Iran, northern Iraq, and northeastern Syri ...

, Turkmen,

Arabs Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of yea ...

, and

Assyrians Assyrians (, ) are an ethnic group indigenous to Mesopotamia, a geographical region in West Asia. Modern Assyrians share descent directly from the ancient Assyrians, one of the key civilizations of Mesopotamia. While they are distinct from ot ...

. This controversial approach was also supported in the past by many foreign researchers, including Cecil J. Edmonds in his book, "Kurds, Turks and Arabs. Politics, Travel and Research in North-eastern Iraq, 1919-1925", published by London: Oxford Press, 1957. Al-Hassani has other famous books as "Tarikh al-Ahwarat al-Iraqi" ("History of Iraqi Marshes") and "Ancient and Modern Iraq" published by Al-Irfan press, Saida, Lebanon, 1956.

References

External links

1903 births 1997 deaths 20th-century Iraqi historians Iraqi Arab nationalists Iraqi nationalists Iraqi politicians {{Iraq-historian-stub