Spiritual Easternism in Fin-de-siècle Egypt
Mariam Elashmawy
Abstract
This article shows how an Egyptian shaykh (religious scholar) from the peasantry class, with a traditional religious education, and a young man belonging to the class of modern-educated Egyptians (efendiya) are entangled in the narrative of esotericism in fin-de-siècle Egypt. The efendi, ‘Abd al-‘Azīz al-Islambūlī (1905–1964), was the editor of the Easternist periodical Al-Ma‘rifa. The shaykh, Ṭanṭāwī Jawharī (1862–1940), seen as the father of Egyptian Spiritualism, played a role as al-Islambūlī’s mentor. Shedding light on the interaction between the two re-examines the preconceived notions surrounding the ideological positions taken by both — the class of religious scholars and the modern-educated efendiya — who in the narrative of the Egyptian renaissance (nahḍa) of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries have been painted on opposing sides. The relationship between Jawharī and al-Islambūlī illustrates the complexity of positions in Egyptian society, the interaction between classes through the medium of print, and how they came to understand the re-enchantment of the world through the different lenses their class upbringing situated them in. Through the reconstruction of both individuals’ biographies and intellectual production in printed periodicals and texts, I show how they carved a space to highlight the political affinity and connection between lands in the East, and continuities with Islamicate medieval traditions.
Keywords
Esotericism; Arabic Periodical Studies; Pan-Easternism; Intellectual History