Muhibb al-Din al-Khatib (; 1886 – 30 December 1969) was a Syrian Islamic scholar of Salafism. He was the maternal uncle of

Ali al-Tantawi Mohammad Ali Al-Tantawi was a Syrian Sunni jurist, writer, editor, broadcaster, teacher and judge considered one of the leading figures in Islamic preaching and Arab literature in the twentieth century. Al-Tantawi was the recipient of the King ...

and was the author of the pamphlet entitled (The broad lines of the foundations upon which the religion of the Imami Twelver Shiites is based). He has been described as "one of the most influential anti-Shiite polemicists of the twentieth century." In 1916, he was made the editor of '' Al Qibla'', the official newspaper of

Sharif Hussein Hussein bin Ali al-Hashimi ( ; 1 May 18544 June 1931) was an Arab leader from the Banu Qatadah branch of the Banu Hashim clan who was the Sharif of Mecca, Sharif and Emir of Mecca from 1908 and, after proclaiming the Great Arab Revolt against ...

Early life and education

Born in Damascus in July 1886 Al Khatib was the son of a Damascene

cleric Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

called Abu Al Fath Al Khatib. Al Khatib received secondary education in his hometown and attended Maktab Anbar, a very well-known educational institute, where he studied modern sciences,

Ottoman Turkish Ottoman Turkish (, ; ) was the standardized register of the Turkish language in the Ottoman Empire (14th to 20th centuries CE). It borrowed extensively, in all aspects, from Arabic and Persian. It was written in the Ottoman Turkish alphabet. ...

, French and some Persian. During his studies in Damascus he became one of the pupils of

Salafi The Salafi movement or Salafism () is a fundamentalist revival movement within Sunni Islam, originating in the late 19th century and influential in the Islamic world to this day. The name "''Salafiyya''" is a self-designation, claiming a retu ...

scholar Tahir Al Jazairi. Al Khatib continued his education at a state school in Beirut. In 1905 he went to Istanbul to study law and literature and also, founded the Society of Arab Awakening with Aref Al Shihabi there.

Career and activities

In 1907 Al Khatib moved to Yemen where he served as a translator for the British consulate and became a member of

Rashid Rida Sayyid Muhammad Rashīd Rida Al-Hussaini (; 1865 – 22 August 1935) was an Ulama, Islamic scholar, Islah, reformer, theologian and Islamic revival, revivalist. An early Salafi movement, Salafist, Rida called for the revival of hadith studies and ...

's Ottoman Council Society based in Cairo. Al Khatib returned to Istanbul in 1909 and established a literary society. He was named the assistant general secretary of the Decentralization Party which was founded in Syria in 1913. Next year while he was going to Najd and Iraq he was arrested by the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

and deported to Basra where he was jailed until July 1916. Following his release he first went to Egypt and then to Mecca where he met Sharif Hussain and cofounded a newspaper entitled '' Al Qibla'' in 1916 which he edited until 1920. In November 1917 Al Khatib launched another weekly newspaper, ''Al Irtiqa''. In 1919 he moved to Damascus where he participated the Arab Youth association and became a member of its central committee. The same year he also served as the

editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The editor-in-chief heads all departments of the organization and is held accoun ...

of the official newspaper ''Al Asima''. Al Khatib settled in Cairo in 1921 as result of his clash with Faisal, King of Syria and Iraq. He was appointed editor-in-chief of ''

Al Ahram ''Al-Ahram'' (; ), founded on 5 August 1876, is the most widely circulating Egyptian daily newspaper, and the second-oldest after '' Al-Waqa'i' al-Misriyya'' (''The Egyptian Events'', founded 1828). It is majority owned by the Egyptian governm ...

'' and served in the post for five years. He and another Syrian

émigré An ''émigré'' () is a person who has emigrated, often with a connotation of political or social exile or self-exile. The word is the past participle of the French verb ''émigrer'' meaning "to emigrate". French Huguenots Many French Hugueno ...

Abdul Fattah Qattan established a publishing company, Salafi Publishing House, and a bookstore with the same name in Cairo. Al Katib launched ''Al Zahra'' and ''Al Fath'' magazines. In 1928 he assumed an editorial role for another magazine, ''Al Minhaj'', which was banned by the government in 1930. Khatib also published a book, ''Al Khuttut al-’Arida li al Shi‘a al Ithna ‘Ashiriyya'' (

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 ...

: ''Broad Outline of the Twelver Shiites'').

Views and death

Al Khatib was an Arab nationalist and was part of Arabist-Salafi circles in Cairo. He died in Cairo in December 1969.

References

External links

al-Qibla

Bibliography