Shaker Al Nabulsi (December 5, 1940 – January 6, 2014) was an American author and columnist of

Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

ian descent.

Biography

al-Nabulsi was a signatory of the St. Petersburg Declaration at the Secular Islam Summit and authored numerous books and widely cited articles on politics, religion, literature and the

Arab world The Arab world ( '), formally the Arab homeland ( '), also known as the Arab nation ( '), the Arabsphere, or the Arab states, comprises a large group of countries, mainly located in West Asia and North Africa. While the majority of people in ...

. He stated that

Sharia Sharia, Sharī'ah, Shari'a, or Shariah () is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition based on Islamic holy books, scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran, Qur'an and hadith. In Islamic terminology ''sharīʿah'' ...

laws could only be understood in the context of the period when they were written, and contested the idea that they are eternal. He also called for holding radical clerics to account for Islamic terrorism. According to al-Nabulsi, "There are individuals in the Muslim world who pose as clerics and issue death sentences against those they disagree with. These individuals give

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

a bad name and foster hatred among civilizations." In 2006, Al-Nabulsi warned that

Hezbollah Hezbollah ( ; , , ) is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and paramilitary group. Hezbollah's paramilitary wing is the Jihad Council, and its political wing is the Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc party in the Lebanese Parliament. I ...

was planning to establish an Islamic republic in Lebanon modeled on

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

. Al-Nabulsi coined the term "neo-liberals" for late-twentieth century liberals in the Arab world, and served as their spokesperson.

Published works (Arabic)

*''The Poetic Entanglement: An introspection into Fadwa Tuqan's Poetry'' (1961) *''Open-Ended: The works of Antoine Zhukov'' (1963) *''Doctrine of Love, Doctrine of Violence: A literary study of Naguib Mahfouz'' (1985) *''Between the Blade and its Victim: the Short Stories of the Saudi Kingdom'' (1985) *''The Ubiquitous Fire: A Chronicle of Arabian life'' (1985) *''What tomorrow May Bring: A look at the Future of Saudi Arabia'' (1985) *''Light and the Doll: The Poetry of Nizar Qabbani'' (1986) *''The Bitter Era: Essays on Arab Politics and

Culture Culture ( ) is a concept that encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and Social norm, norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, Social norm, customs, capabilities, Attitude (psychology), attitudes ...

'' (1986) *''Settlement Train: Initiatives in Palestinian Equality'' (1986) *''Abandoning the Color White: Essays on Arab Politics'' (1986) *''Loaf of Fire: A study of Modern Arabic Poetry'' (1986) *''Heritage Lunatic: A study of Mahmoud Darwish's Poetry'' (1987) *''Pillow of Ice: America's Middle Eastern Policy'' (1987) *''Flightless Bird: The deteriorating Educational System in Arabia'' (1988) *''The Third Culture: Exploring the Japanese Civilization'' (1988) *''Working with Sand: The Cultural Development of the Arabian Gulf'' (1988) *''Stoning with words: A study of Arab Intellectuals'' (1989) *''Unlocking the Memories of a lady: A study of Ghada Samman's works'' (1990) *''A Revolution in Heritage: A study of Khalid M Khalid's Thought'' (1991) *''Desert Tropic: A.R . Munif's Literature'' (1991) *''Harvest of Silence: A study on Modern Saudi Poetry'' (1992) *''Freedom & Joy in the Arabic Novel: Examining Arabia's most significant Novelists'' (1992) *''River East: An Analysis of Contemporary

Jordanian Culture The culture of Jordan is based on Arabic and Islamic elements. Jordan stands at the intersection of the three continents of the ancient world, lending it geographic and population diversity. Notable aspects of the culture include the traditio ...

'' (1993) *''The Esthetics of Setting: Reviewing the literature of Ghalib Halasa'' (1994) *''The Jordanian Novel and its place in

Arabic Literature Arabic literature ( / ALA-LC: ''al-Adab al-‘Arabī'') is the writing, both as prose and poetry, produced by writers in the Arabic language. The Arabic word used for literature is ''Adab (Islam), Adab'', which comes from a meaning of etiquett ...

'' (1994) *''Ballads Within Dwellings: A Biography of Shiek Imam Isa'' (1998) *''The Age of Decadence & Foster: The cultural landscape under the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

'' (1999) *''Devoured by the Wolf: A Biography of Political Cartoonist Naji Elali'' (1999) *''The Sultan: A Guide to Maintaining Political Power'' (2000) *''Arab thought of the 20th Century'' (3 Volumes) (2001) *''Wealth and The Crescent: Economic Factors leading to the Advent of Islam'' (2002) *''The Arabs had Islam Never Emerged: The Counterfactual history of Arabia in the absence of *Islam'' (2002) *''The Arabian Hamlet: In Memory of Munis Arazaz'' (2003) *''Arab Street: The Middle East's Political Public Opinion'' (2003) *''Rise of the Militant Society'' (2003) *''Critical Views in Politics and Cultures'' (2004) *''The Rupture: Essays on Iraq'' (2004) *''Foolish Questions:

Islam and Politics Political aspects of the religion of Islam are derived from its religious scripture (the Quran holy book, ''ḥadīth'' literature of accounts of the sayings and living habits attributed to the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and ''sunnah''), as we ...

'' (2005) *''Devil's Advocate: A study of Alaffif Alakadir's Thought'' (2005) *'' Neo-Liberals'' (2005) *''"Why?" Questions in the third Millennium'' (2006) *''Prisons Without Bars: The Arab World's Current Situation'' (2007) *''Bin Laden and the Arab Mind'' (2007) *''Honest Attempts to Grasp the Incomprehensible'' (2008) *''The Great Wall of Arabia'' (2009) *''The Inconsistencies of

Fundamentalism Fundamentalism is a tendency among certain groups and individuals that are characterized by the application of a strict literal interpretation to scriptures, dogmas, or ideologies, along with a strong belief in the importance of distinguis ...

'' (2009)

References

External links

Recent Attacks by Islamists on Arab Liberals – A Sign of Distress and Imminent Defeat

The Arabs are Still Slaves to a Medieval Mentality
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nabulsi, Shaker Al- Muslim reformers 1940 births 2014 deaths