ISLAM IN MODERN TUNISIAN LITERATURE

by Robin Ostle

19831No. 10 Africa [RO-1-'831

Tunisia has long benefitted from at all times, along with the principle of the cultural crosscurrents that de- maslaha; this would then lead to rive from its situation at the meet- change and innovation which would ing point of the Eastern and West- benefit the whole community and ern basins of the Mediterranean complement rather than contradict the ~hari'a.~ and its proximity to Europe. Islam- Khayr al-Din Tunisi's vision was ic tradition has been a rich source a glowing and optimistic version of for Tunisian writers, but fanati- what might be achieved in an Islamic cism, whether secular or religi- society that gives full scope to its own ous, is bad news for creative lit- dynamic potential, but the vision was erature. overtaken by history. In 1881 the French Protectorate was established in Tunisia, and this introduced a colo- nial period for this country in the The Ottoman statesman Khayr course of which theTunisian national- al-Din al-Tunisi, who was Prime Minis- ists chose increasingly to fight the ter of Tunisia from 1873 to 1877, had colonizers through educational sys- written with urgency and enthusiasm tems and political methods and phil- in the 1860s about the modernization osophies that had less and less to do of the state and society strictly within with the indigenous Islamic tradition an Islamic context.' The shari'a was as time went on. the cradle of justice and security for all There is a clear parallel here with ages, and a perfectly adequate fabric the case of Egypt, particularly in that for a modern and progressive society, period between the two World Wars. provided that it was not interpreted in In Tunisia official Islam was both rep- a narrow, xenophobic fashion. Ac- resented and symbolized by the cording to Khayr al-Din, all manner of Zaitouna Mosque and its ulama, but eclectic adaptation from Europe could these circles became increasingly dis- and should take place, provided that credited as they seemed quite incapa- the basic principles of the shari'a were ble of offering any alternative or effec- not contravened. Tyrannical despo- tive opposition to the French Protec- tism was the harbinger of the destruc- torate. Rightly or wrongly they were tion of society, and this had to be also stigmatized as those who had curbed by the development of institu- presided over the invasion of their tions of government and public ser- country. vice that would outlive individual rul- Initially the reactions to the inef- ers. In this respect Khayr al-Din also fectiveness of the Zaitouna were slow saw an important role for a free press to appear, but they were significant: in which would allow the expression of 1896 the Khalduniya Institute was opinion and provide a vital channel of founded in order to supplement the communication between the ruler and increasingly irrelevant education of his subjects. In any event the wise ruler the Zaitouna Mosque, and this hap- would always take care to consult his pened in the teeth of the opposition of subjects through some modern ver- many of the ulama. In 1905 the found- sion of the traditional shura. Above all, ing of the Sadiqiya Association says Khayr al-Din, the genuine bases brought together former students of of the shari'a, Justice, and Knowledge Sadiqi College under the leadership of or Enlightenment, must be re-asserted Ali Bach Hamba, and this Association was to have a tremendous impact on of lslam as it was proclaimed by his of heresy and unbelief, and lo, the the formation of the future political alma mater. Both of them had been air is full of sin. elite of the ~ountry.~ dismayed and revolted by the nature of Awake! For the night of sleep is far As the nationalist movement in the instruction presented to them and advanced, and signs of the rays of Tunisia gathered impetus in the early their contemporaries. Muhammad morning have appeared.' decades of the twentieth century, offi- Ferid Ghazi describes how this was a It would not be accurate to think cial Zaitounan lslam seemed to be- "soulless education, a pale reflexion of this poem as anti-Islamic. Certainly come more and more compromised by of what lslamic education had been at it castigates the so-called "Defenders its coexistence policies with the the height of its creative activity."' Al- of the Faith," those who should be in French Protectorate authorities. Here Shabbi and his generation were trau- the vanguard of the defense of the real it may be instructive to consider the matized by the sheer irrelevance of interests of lslam and its tradition, but issue over which the Neo-Destour their Zaitounan formations to the eco- who are in fact presiding over its deg- Party split away from the original Des- nomic, social, and political problems radation: tour Party in 1934: the immediate in which the majority of their compa- Practices which bring forth disasters cause of the quarrel was over the right triots lived. It was this that made them in the country cut down the pillars of Muslims who had accepted French a generation of militants, in literature of Religion, while Religion looks citizenship to be buried in a Muslim and in life. on! cemetery." Habib Bourguiba and his In 1927, in the Khalduniya Insti- But the poem is not negative. It followers argued strongly against this tute, al-Shabbi delivered an extreme seeks to bring about a rebirth and a right. They had sought and obtained a and bitter attack on traditional Arab- new beginning; it is not seeking to turn fatwa from the Mufti of Bizerta to sup- lslamic culture in the form of a long away from religion but to revitalize it port their point of view. However, the lecture entitled "Poetic Imagination and rejuvenate it. Essentially al- leaders of the old Destour Party de- and the Arabs": Shabbi's is the same voice as that of fended the right to Muslim burial even Arabic literature no longer suits Khayr al-Din al-Tunisi or Tahir al- of those who had accepted French our present spirit, temperament, incli- Haddad. It rails against that peculiarly citizenship, and they persuaded the nations or aspirations in life. . . . It was lslamic form of ignorance that sees the Rector of the Zaitouna to issue a fatwa not created for us, children of these shari'a and the tradition as a means for contrary to that of the Mufti of Bizerta. times, but for hearts that are now si- restriction and regressive coercion, ThustheZaitounawasseen to be iden- lenced by death.. . . We must never rather than the basis for genuine tifying itself with the French point of look upon Arabic litterature as an ideal creativity and progress. view on the most sensitive of issues, which we have to follow or whose "Defenders of the Faith" is by no and this was to lead to the formation of spirit, style, and ideas we have to im- means a particularly unfortunate a much more vigorous, uncompromis- itate, but we must consider it simply as example of modern Arabic verse, but it ing nationalist movement which dis- one of those ancient literatures which must besaid that it is far removed from tanced itself from the ulama. we admire and respect, and no the best that al-Shabbi wrote. He re- One of the problems one faces more. . . . We have now come to desire volted against the sterility of the when discussing Islam, or even a life. But we must first realize that we Zaitounan worldview by embracing specific lslamic institution such as the are hungry and naked and that that the soaring aspirations and the limit- Azhar in Egypt or the Zaitouna in huge and abundant wealth be- less horizons of Arab romanticism, Tunisia, is that it is quite impossible to queathed to us by the Arabs cannot and while much of his poetry is im- characterize them in sweeping mono- satisfy or fulfill our need and hunger..' bued with the language and lmagery lithic terms and retain any vestige of Al-Shabbi's lecture is extreme in of spiritual adoration and spiritual an- accuracy. For all its time-serving col- itsviewsand for much ofthetime quite guish, this is not a type of poetic devo- laboration the Zaitouna produced its unscholarly. To extract any value at all tion which is practiced within the fair share of radicals: the group of re- from it, we must see it as an emotional limits of any specific religious system. formers who were at the center of the reaction of extreme frustration, a loud Al-Shabbi chants his own deeply per- Sadiqiya Association during the first rhetorical protest against the traves- sonal and moving liturgies, not of Is- decade of this century became known ties of lslamic ideals and values as they lam, but of the pantheistic religiosity of as the "Young Tunisians" (after the existed in the sorry state of his own the true romantic: Young Turks), and one of their most society. Posterity can be grateful for In the vastness of my heart is a temple important members was Shaikh Abd the fact that his poetry is relatively free to Beauty al-Aziz Taalbi, a graduate not of the of such polemical material, but at least Built by life of visions and dreams. Sadiqi College but of the Zaitouna.' one poem is a revealing summary of And I recited prayers in its humble None of the Zaitounan radicals the impatience felt by al-Shabbi and shadows, was more impressive or more contro- his friends in the face of the ossifica- I burned incense and lighted can- versial than the young mujtahid Tahir tion of vital parts of the lslamic tradi- dles.1° al-Haddad (1899-1935),who produced tion in their life and times: In the original Arabic, lines such an analysis of Tunisian society which The learned clerics have been in a as these are part of the best of his in socio-economic terms is recogniz- deep and powerful sleep, and poetic achievement, and it is by no ably Marxist and who espoused the closed their ears to what the world means unreasonable to suggest that a unpopular cause of female emancipa- repeated. . . . powerful factor which made him the tion in a particularly far-reaching You kept silent, Defenders of the Faith, romantic that he was was the lifeless manner.' Al-Haddad's friend and fel- silent and speechless; you slept constriction of Zaitounan Islam. He low Zaitounan graduate, the poet with eyelids tightly closed as the and his circle of revoltes felt frustrated Abu'l-Qasim al-Shabbi (1909-1934), floods gathered. and betrayed by the lack of positive was equally disaffected by the version Behind your silence clamour the ranks leadership to come from the Religious Establishment in the extreme circum- taking account of the religious beliefs promising, Promethean fashion, chal- stances in which their country found and practices of the inhabitants of the lenging the age-old established order itself during the period between the valley whose lives he is going to of the tribe and its cults of desiccation. World Wars. Yet both they and the change. Maymuna is quite different: Maymuna strives to instill in him some Neo-Destour Party recognized that she has made a certain effort to learn sense of humility, some idea of com- Islam was the fundamental cultural re- all about the strange cults of the inhab- promise and acceptance of natural ality of their population, and they itants of the valley, and has an aware- limitations and the facts of their situa- sought to present it in a more dynamic ness of being but a part of some much tion. Her task is to prevail upon him to and progressive light. greater whole. She dwells with a cer- accept the existence of other realities A variety of aspects of the Is- tain reverence on the power, beauty, outside his own imagination. lamic tradition form a central part of and mystery of nature in the shape of In fact, al-Sudd is nothing less the writings of Mahmud al-Mas'adi the mountain and the valley, while than a literary treatment of some of the (b.1911), a major writer whose work Ghaylan sees them merely as the raw fundamental problems that attend the moves clearly away from the romantic material for his own designs. With his evolution of lslamic society, both in style which was such a feature of fanatical "belief in action" Ghaylan individual and communal terms. What Arabic literature during the inter-war throws down the gauntlet in uncom- is the scope for individual responsibil- period. Although most of his prose------writing was not actually published Explanations of Technical Terms in order as they appear in the Text. until after Tunisia became indepen- dent in 1956, it was written much ear- shari'a The lslamic canon law. lier: his best-known work, a/-Sudd ("The Dam")" dates from 1939-40 and shura A word meaning "consultation." Traditionally rulers others such as Mawlid a/-Nisyan would seek advice from their subjects throughshura. ("Genesis of Oblivion")12 and Had- maslaha Public interest or benefit. If some measure could be datha Abu Hurayra, Qal . . . ("Abu shown to be in the public interest, then it could be Hurayra related, saying . . .;')I3 were adopted as community practice, provided that it was composed in the early 1940s. not disapproved of in the Qur'an or in Sacred Tradi- Al-Sudd is usually thought of as tion. a play in formal terms, but careful analysis of its structure reveals that it ulama Religious dignitaries or legal authorities. has elements drawn from old narrative fatwa A formal legal opinion delivered by a Mufti. forms and language patterns found in the classical Arabic tradition.14 The es- Mufti An official expounder of lslamic law. sential conflict in the work is expres- mujtahid One who exercises ijtihad, which is the process of sed through the two main characters, legal interpretation by qualified individuals. Ghaylan and his female companion Maymuna: they arrive in a valley dom- Qadariya Term applied to very early groups of Muslim theolo- inated at one end by a mountain and gians who maintained that God did not necessarily inhabited by a tribe who worship the determine all human acts. Goddess Sahabba'. The central Murji'a The name applied to a non-Shi'ite school of thought themesof their cults and rituals are fire amongst pious opposition groups in the first two and drought. Ghaylan decides to centuries of Islam. transform the life of the community by constructing a dam to exploit a long- Mu 'tazilis Muslim theologians who lay great stress on human neglected spring, thus providing water free responsibility and divine justice. and destroying the power and the cult Hanbalis The followers of the school of lslamic law founded by of Sahabba'. But just as the structure Ahmad b. Hanbal (750-855). is completed, it collapses as a result of natural and supernatural forces. Hadith In general the word means "conversation," "report," Al-Sudd isa highly philosophical or "account," It has the more specific meaning of the work of literature and its drama arises sacred tradition of the deeds and utterances of the from conflicts of intellectual attitude Prophet and his Companions. as the two main characters seek to im- mashreq The eastern regions of the Arab World pose on each other very different solu- tions to their problems. Ghaylan is a Sufism The name usually given to lslamic Mysticism. positive, existential individual with an lkhwan a/-Safa' "Brethren of Purity." Originally they were groups of overriding belief in the power of action scholars and philosophers based at Basra and to transform reality, and one of his Baghdad in the tenth century, dedicated to enlighten- most frquent phrases isal-iman bi'l-fi'l ing and spiritually purifying themselves, and to -"belief in action." He is the progres- propagating their ideas throughout the lslamic sive visionary for whom the traditional World. forms of religion and superstition are obstacles to his desired transforma- mahjar Emigration. The name given to a group of Syro-Leb- tions of life and society. He is so fired anese poets active in parts of North and South Amer- by the power of his own imagination ica in the early twentieth century. that he is quite blind to the necessity of ity, action, and initiative, in situations form of short stories or novels which one plunging into the sea, bathed in where the sources of power, both by the 1940s were very well estab- the rays of the sun. The two embrace spiritual and temporal, are essentially lished in modern Arabic literature. The and then disappear, dancing away authoritarian? This dilemma has been choice cannot be explained by the across the dunes. Abu Hurayra finds expressed in Islamic theology through relative backwardness of the literary his friend weeping bittertears, and the the antithesis of theoadariva and Mur- scene in Tunisia compared with, for friend explains that this is because of ji'a solutions, or through the conflicts example, Egypt in the East. The mod- his sadness that he must remain a between the Mu'tazilis and the Han- ern Arabic literature of the mashreq prisoner of earthly life (al-dunya) and balis. At what point does tradition was certainly known and to some ex- can only be a fascinated spectator of cease to be a source of strength and tent read in Tunisia, and since the late such spiritual ecstasy without becom- the basis of creativity, and become 1920s Tunisian writers had developed ing a part of it. something as barren and destructive their own version of the modern short In Mawlidal -Nisyan ("Genesis of as the cults of Sahabba' and her fol- story. It did not exist in such profusion, Oblivion") it is a constant desire of lowers? How does one achieve the nor was it so technically advanced as Madyan, the hero, to transcend the necessary balance between beneficial its Egyptian counterpart; nevertheless death and decay which for him are innovation and the consensus of the it was there. It is not that al-Mas'adi represented by life on earth, whereas religious authorities and the people as used these traditional prose forms be- his female companion Layla has set- a whole? It is no accident that some of cause the other modern nonindig- tled for a life on earth, a life of sub- Ghaylan's diction seems to echo the enous forms were unknown and inac- stance and matter. In al-Mas1adi'swrit- terminology of treatises on Islamic cessible to him; rather, he seems to ing, it is usually the female characters theology: the words most frequently have taken a definite decision to build who display a capacity for making on his lips are khalq (creation) and fi'l on the Arabic literary tradition in this compromises and accommodations (action),15 the typical vocabulary of way. with reality, and who show great qual- one of the oldest theological con- In addition to the three prose ities of tact and common sense. Sind- troversies in Islam, that of Free Will works mentioned above, two shorter bad in Sindbad wa'l-Tahara ("Sindbad and Predestination. Al-Mas'adi has a compositions form part of the same and Purity") is prey to feelings of profound knowledge of wide areas of volume as "Genesis of Oblivion": existential disgust with the life of sub- the classical Arabic literary and reli- these are entitled Sindbad wa'l-Tahara stance and matter, and is nauseated gious tradition, and further investiga- ("Sindbad and Purity"), andal-Musafir by the moral and physical filth of the tion reveals that his character Ghaylan ("The Voyager"). In the majority of taverns in the ports: "he turned round is based upon Ghaylan b. Muslim, one these works one can discern a com- and dragging his kit-bag he forced his of the very earliest supporters of the mon thread in the various character way through the tavern and went out Qadari views. He was the son of afreed portrayals, namely the idea of rising into the night saying wildly, 'To what slave of the third Caliph Uthman b. Af- above the decayed state of ordinary lies beyond life, to Purity.' He got on to fan, who ruled from 644 to 656, and existence to a higher realm of spiritual the first ship that he encountered and worked as a government official for purity. sent it violently forward, plunging into the Umayyad regime in Damascus. The first story in Haddatha Abu the tempest and the sea. That was the During the Caliphate of Hisham b. Abd Hurayra Qal, which hasas itstitle "Tale last of his voyages, the purity of the al-Malik (724-743) he was put to death of the First Resurrection," is illustra- depths engulfed him."18 after he had been interrogated about tive.'' One day a friend comes to Abu These themes and characters his Qadari beliefs.16 The character Hurayra offering to distract him and to which seek after a state of ultimate Maymuna is probably named after one turn him away from the cares and pre- purity are derived directly from of the wives of the Prophet. occupations of daily life. They ride out Sufism, and perhaps also from the An examination of al-Mas'adi's from Mecca into the desert and his doctrines of emanation as developed other prose works reveals equally friend leads him to a place in the sand by the lkhwan a/-Safa'. The major aim strong links with the Arab-Islamic tra- dunes where they see a youth and a is to seek happiness not in this world dition in both formal and thematic maiden, like Adam and Eve, stretched but in the next (al-Akhira), and as the terms. The form of Mawlid a/-Nisyan out side by side on the top of a dune. soul comes closer and closer to a state ("Genesis of Oblivion") seems to be a As the sun rises the two figures stir to of purity it gradually begins to disen- deliberate imitation of the structure of life. The maiden begins to dance and gage itself from the burdens of its an old tale, or hikaya, where the dia- sing, and the movement of her body earthly form and its earthly milieu as it logue of the two protagonists, Madyan begins to fuse with the sand and the loses interest in the body and its appe- and Layla, proceeds by the alternation breeze which surrounds her. Abu tites (shahawat). Through this pursuit of qal ("he said") qalat ("she said") Hurayra is captivated by the scene, of purity eventually the soul gains re- and the passages of prose and de- and feels transported by her dancing lease from the body and is able to scription which form the bridging sec- and singing, as though he is no longer merge with the universal soul. Some of tions between the dialogue are rel- in his normal earthly form. The youth these ideas had been introduced into atively brief and insubstantial. In the accompanies her dance and song on a modern Arabic literature by theemigre case of Haddatha Abu Hurayra Qal musical instrument, and she begins to Arab poets from Syria and Lebanon ("Abu Hurayra related, saying . . .") undulate with the tones of the music, who worked in North and South Amer- Mas'adi has quite patently adapted the now quickly, now slowly, so that as the ica during the early decades of this old hadith form of narrative. tones rise into the air, she seems to century, the so-called mahjar poets. In Al-Mas'adi chose to retain and to melt into the air or to be in the folds of the wr~tingsof Jibran Khalil Jibran, embellish basic structures of old one of the breezes. The climax comes Mikha'il Nu'ayma, llya Abu Madi, and Arabic prose forms for his creative when the youth raises the maid into Nasib Arida, there are well-known purposes, instead of writing in the the air and she adopts the attitude of examples of poems which explore in particular the theme of the dualism of as another example of the extent to Jabir, his cousin, and thus the wealth Body and Soul, but none of the mahjar which Arab writers have been explor- and property of the family will not go writers embraces Sufi ideas and imag- ing the potential of their own cultural outside the family circle. Even the ery in such depth and detail as heritage in recent years; they are fas- most passive characters in the book Mahmud al-Mas'adi. It is by no means cinated by the wealth and subtlety of exert subtle but powerful pressures on impossible that al-Mas'adi in Tunisia the language and imagery of Sufism, Hasan: the neighbors of the family are was acquainted with mahjar literature, and rightly so. It isafresh literary world constantly on the watch to see that he as this was relatively well-known in the for them to explore, and one from their does the proper and logical thing in Arab world from the 1920s onwards, own tradition. In addition, the charac- this context; while Saliha his sister but all the evidence suggests that the ters derived from these Sufi sources hardly ever speaks, her mute presence inspiration for most of his work was are of necessity figures who do not fit is a powerful factor bearing down on derived directly from classical Arabic easily within the orthodox legalistic him as her fate depends entirely on his sources. perimeters of the Islamic religious decision. The duty he owes to his One is struck by the extent to system. They are usually controversial mother (and the social context of his which Sufi-derived themes have be- dreamers and visionaries - Ghaylan, birthplace) ebbs and flows against his come widespread in modern Arabic Madyan, Sindbad - who have quite a natural desire to fulfill his talents and literature, and especially in poetry, in lot in common with the poet al-Shabbi aspirations. The web of the traditional the 1960s and the 1970s, and in this or the mujtahid Tahir al-Haddad in real behavior patterns that surround him is respect al-Mas'adi, who wrote these life. Characters such as these are es- strengthened by numerous details and works in the late 1930s and the 1940s, sential to the longevity and continuing insights into the local folklore and would appear to be something of a creativity of the Islamic tradition, but superstition, and an additional pres- precursor. Some of the greatest they will always be marginal to the sure on Hasan is the fact that if he names in Arabic literature since World mainstreams of Muslim orthodoxy. marries Habiba he will heal an old fam- War II have found Sufism a fertile This makes them extremely attractive ily quarrel. source of inspiration - the Iraqi poet subjects to creative writers, who have The plot reflects the violent Badr Shakir al-Sayyab, or Salah Abd a natural tendency to explore the more movements of the young man's di- al-Sabur of Egypt, who in 1965 pub- marginal areas of their social and cul- lemma: temporarily the traditional lished a famous verse drama based on tural situations in the constant quest mores win the day and he agrees to the arrest, trial, and martyrdom of the for fresh vision and innovation. Furth- become betrothed to Habiba, but then, Sufi al-Hallaj (d.922).Is None has paid ermore, in many Arab countries it is desperate to pursue higher studies, he more attention to Sufism than the Sy- not difficult for writers to feel an affin- flees from Tunis, where he had taken a rian Adonis (Ali Ahmad Sarid),'O who is ity with the unorthodox outsider, as post as a teacher, to Paris. In the end, generally recognized as the foremost that is the very position occupied by a Hasan is quite unable to reconcile the Arab poet living today, and such has lot of them who struggle against con- varying demands of his home milieu, been the extent of Adonis' influence stant attempts made by the state to the senseless chaotic bureaucracy of amongst younger poets that Sufism coerce them into becoming exten- the Tunisian Ministry of Education, certainly has become something of a sions of the national bureaucratic ma- and his own ambitions. His mother cult-theme in the 1970s. chines. dies, he abandons both his family and One reason often put forward for Since 1956 in post-independ- his country, and he becomes al-Mun- the popularity of mysticism in con- ence Tunisia, the conflict between the batt - a man without roots, cut off temporary Arabic poetry is that writers progressive, aspiring character-type from his origins. are seeking a form of escape from the and the weight of local religious tradi- There is a direct continuation of multitude of political ills which beset tions have continued to have a power- the work of Mahmud al-Mas'adi in the the region and are a constant cause of ful impact on literary expression. The writings of Izz al-Din al-Madani. In his tragedy and needless sacrifice. Those novella by Abd al-Majid Atiya (b. 1925) book Khurafat ("Fables") published in who hold this view look back at the entitled a/-Munbatt ("Man Without 1968," he adapts a variety of tradi- enthusiasm with which Arabic poetry Roots") and published in 1967 will tional prose forms from classical espoused political themes in the late serve to illustrate the theme.'" The Arabic, including the hadith. It is true 1950s, and claim that as the political story is set in the Sahel region of that on occasion al-Mas'adi did this for hopes turned to despair and aseries of Tunisia and the hero, Hasan, is deter- satirical reasons, but on the whole depressing failures ranging from the mined to avoid becoming one of the al-Mas'adi's satire is gentle and sym- catastrophic military defeat of 1967 to "condemned" (mahkumin 'alayhim), pathetic. This is not so with al-Madani: the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982, those who are trapped in a web of re- he transforms this traditional material so writers were driven to turn their stricted possibilities reinforced by cul- in order to expose it to ridicule, dem- backs on socio-political material, tural and religious pressures. The core onstrating at the same time a great gift seeking refuge in mysticism. of the book is the traditional Muslim for linguistic and thematic parody, This negative point of view, usu- family background of his home in the again reminiscent of al-Mas'adi's style ally upheld by those seeking to score Sahel, and the demands his devoted inal-Sudd. This book is iconoclastic in polemical points at the expense of widowed mother and the local social tone, the protest of an angry young modern Arab culture, ignores the traditions make upon him. On becom- radical impatient with the weight of much more positive reasons why ing a qualified teacher, Hasan wishes tradition, and published at a time when Sufism has such attraction for to pursue higher education at the uni- Ahmed Ben Salah, the Minister of Mahmud al-Mas'adi and other writers versity but there are strong and insidi- Planning, was at the height of his con- who have succeeded him elsewhere in ous pressures on him: provided that siderable powers, having introduced the Arab world. It is much more con- he marries his cousin Habiba, his own the country to a period of economic vincing to consider this phenomenon sister Saliha will then be betrothed to and social upheaval provoked by his ambitious programs for reform.23Ben fundamentalist movement is usually liberal traditions in its culture and its Salah was disgraced and imprisoned referred to as a/-lttijah a/-lslami which society, if not in its politics, and where in 1970, and the reforming zeal of the has strong support in both town and Muslim activism has been particularly late 1960s became considerably countryside, and certainly benefitted strong during the last decade. The muted throughout Tunisian society. from the impact of the Iranian Revolu- purpose of this brief study has been to Had al-Madani written a/-Khurafat tion. This society has always been one demonstrate that the Islamic tradition some ten years later, it is most unlikely of the most open in the Arab World, can continue to be a rich source of that it would haveseen the light of day. deriving benefit from many cultural inspiration for the Arab writer both in crosscurrents because of its proximity positive and negative terms, as au- to Europe and itssituation at the meet- thors either identify with some facets ing point of the Eastern and Western of it, or react against others. But fa- In common with most other basins of the Mediterranean. It would naticism, whether it is secular or re- societies throughout the Near and seem to be an unlikely candidate for ligious, is bad news for creative litera- Middle East, Tunisia has experienced the revival of Muslim fundamentalism, ture. its own version of Islamic political re- but one could also say the same of surgence in the 1970s. The Tunisian Egypt, a country well endowed with [July 19831 NOTES

1. Khayr al-Din al-Tunisi: Aqwam a/-Masa- 8. Translated by M.M. Badawi in hisarticle 15. See ~ha~lan'sspeeches in a/-Sudd, lik fiMa'rifat Ahwal a/-Mamalik, Tunis 1972. "Convention and Revolt in Modern Arabic p 23 and p. 129. (Ed. M.al-Shanufi). There is an English Poetry." See G.E. von Grunebaum (Ed): translation of this treatise by L.C. Brown Arabic Poetry, Theory and Development, 16. Encyclopaedia of Islam (New edition), entitled The Surest Path, Harvard Middle Wiesbaden 1973, p. 196. article on Ghaylan b. Muslim. Eastern Monographs, 1967. 9. The poem is entitled "Oh Defenders of 17. Haddatha Abu Hurayra QaI, pp. 17-27, 2. See pages 74-86 of the English transla- the Faith" (Ya Humat a/-Din), pp. 165-166 tion. of Abu'l-Qasim al-Shabbi's collected poems Aghani al-Hayat, Tunis 1966. 19. Salah Abd al-Sabur. Ma'sat a/-Hallaj, 3. Wilfrid Knapp (Ed.): North West Africa, Beirut 1965. Oxford University Press, 1977, p. 355. 10. Ibid. p. 235. The title of the poem from which this extract is taken is "The New 20. See particularly the collection of 4. Ibid. p 359. Morning (al-Sabah a/-Jadid). poems by Ali Ahmad Sa'id entitled Aghani 5. Ibid. p. 356 Mihyar a/-Dimashqi, Beirut 1961. See also 11. References are to al-Sudd, 2nd edi- his poems entitled "The Second Songs of 6. Tahir al-Haddad: a/-Ummal a/-Tunisiy- tion, Tunis 1974. Mihyar the Damascene," al-Mawaqif (Bei- yun wa Zuhur a/-Harakat al-Niqabiyya, 12 References are to Mawlid a/-Nisyan, rut), nos. 30-31. Tunis 1966. Tunis, no date of publication. lmra 'atuna fi'l-Shari'a wa 'I-Mujtama ', 21. Abd al-Majid Atiya. a/-Munbatt, 1st Tunis 1972. 13. References are to Haddatha Abu edition, Tunis 1967. Hurayra Qal, 1st edition, Tunis 1973 7. M.F Ghazi: "Le Milieu Zitounien de 22. Izz al-Din al-Madani: Khurafat, Tunis 1920-1933 et la Formation de Abu'l-Qasim 14. For a more detailed analysis of al- 1968 Sudd, see my article "Mahmud al-Mas'adi al-Shabbi." Cahiers de Tunisie, No. 28, 23. Wilfrid Knapp: North West Africa, 1959. and Tunisia's 'Lost Generation.' " Journal ofArabic Literature, VIII, 1977, pp 153-166. p. 375.