SSASSA

Syrian Studies Association Newsletter

Volume 12, Number 1 Spring 2006 SSA on the Web: www.ou.edu/ssa

Inside this issue: From the President Peter Sluglett, Professor of History From the President 1 , Salt Lake City Syrian Studies in Russia 3 Guests of the Sheikha 4 Student Voices 6 Dear Colleagues,

News of Members 7 I am delighted to have been elected President of the Notices of Books 8 Syrian Studies Association. It is a pleasant duty to thank my immediate Conferences 11 predecessor, Dawn Chatty, for the energy and commitment she has brought to Election Ballot 15 the position. I would also like to convey special thanks, both on my own behalf and on behalf of the Association, to the retiring Secretary/Treasurer, Sherry Vatter, for her extraordinary dedication over so many years. I hope that Annie Members of the Board: Higgins and I will be able to steer the Association through what promise to be President lively times ahead. Peter Sluglett Continuing its tradition of panel sponsorship, the SSA supported three Past President panels at MESA in Washington DC in November 2005. These were “Between Dawn Chatty a ‘Spring’ and a ‘Fall’: and at a Crossroads” (Amal Ghazal Secretary-Treasurer and Jens Hanssen); “Syria: Change at the Margins” (Fred Lawson), and “The Annie Higgins Levantine Bourgeoisie between Empire and Nation State” (Geoffrey Schad). Member at Large Fred Lawson In addition, several members of the SSA took part in a special ‘thematic Student Representative conversation’ on 20 November in honour of the work of André Raymond Faedah Totah (whom the SSA has elected to honorary membership). Sadly, Professor Prize Committee Chair Raymond’s doctor had advised him not to take the long flight from Marseille to Mary Wilson the United States, but about fifty people attended the session. It was a particular Lifetime Nominating pleasure to see (and hear) so many younger admirers of André Raymond, and Committee Chair also to hear that one of his most influential works,Artisans et Commerçants Peter Sluglett Book Review Editor au Caire au XVIIIe siècle, first published in in 1973, has now been Steve Tamari translated into . Newsletter Editor I shall be spending most of next academic year at the American University Elyse Semerdjian of , and hope to be able to make many visits to Syria while I am there. Webmaster I intend to finish editing the proceedings of the conference onBilad al-Sham Joshua Landis under Ottoman rule (1517-1918), held in Beirut and Damascus in May-June Beirut Representative Stefan Weber 2004 to honour of the work of Professor Abdul-Karim Rafeq, which will be Damascus Representative published by E.J. Brill in 2007. Mohamed Kamel Dorai -Peter

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The Suq Haraj Project

 SSA Syrian Studies in Russia

Dr. Dimitry R. Zhantiev

Syrian studies in Russia started in the mid-19th Panchenko is working on the history of Orthodox century with the brilliant work of the Russian consul Christian community in Ottoman Syria a topic on which stationed in Beirut, Konstantin Mikhailovitch Bazili, who he has published a monograph and several articles. Dr. wrote “Syria I Palestina pod turetskim pravitelstvom” Taras Kobischanov has been studying and comparing (“Syria and Palestine under Turkish rule”) which is the non-Muslim communities of Syria and Egypt. The still considered a very informative source. At present, history of Ottoman Syria is included in the lecture studies of Ottoman Syria are under way mostly in two courses on the history of Arab world and several special Moscow institutions: Institute of Asian and African courses and seminars which are given to the students of Studies (IAAS, Moscow State University) and Institute IAAS. Among our younger generation of scholars we of Oriental Studies (Russian Academy of sciences). should certainly mention Dr. Anastasiya Ganitch with Altogether, dozens of monographs and articles have her monograph on the Circassian diaspora in Syria and been published in Russia on Ottoman Syria (over the last Jordan which originated in the Ottoman period. decades). This subject is also often used by students for At the Academic Institute of Oriental Studies their Master thesis and post-graduate students as well as several prominent scholars are working in the field of Ph.D. dissertations. Ottoman Syria’s history. Worth mentioning is Dr. Irina As one these scholars at IAAS, I have been studying Smilyanskaya, the author of a brilliant book entitled the Tanzimat reforms in Ottoman Syria and their impact Social and Economic structure of the Near and Middle on the social, political and intellectual processes. I East on the Eve of Modern Time (in Russian), based on published Tradition and Modernization in the Arab East: Arabic Syrian sources of the 18th century. Other works of Reforms in the Syrian provinces of the Ottoman Empire professor Smilyanskaya include studies on the Ottoman (Moscow, 1988) and several articles on the topic in Lebanon in the mid-19th century, publication and Russian. Currently I am working on the Abdul-Hamid commentaries of numerous sources (including Russian II period in Syria and the impact of “pan-Islamism” on consular papers on Ottoman Syria from the Archive of the the intellectual elite. Another scholar, Dr. Konstantin Foreign relations of the Russian Empire). Also Professor Z. Levin is working on Arabic thought in Ottoman Syria and other Arab countries in late Ottoman and post- Ottoman periods. Besides dominant interest of Russian scholars towards Arabic and Ottoman sources on Syria, we should mention that Russian archives and the works of Russian diplomats, travelers pilgrims and clerics visiting Syria in Ottoman Age still contain lots of data for new studies and attract growing interest of both currently working scholars and perspective post-graduate students.

Dr. Dimitry R. Zhantiev is a professor Institute of Asian and African Studies, Moscow State University. He specializes in the history of the Ottoman Empire and its Arab provinces.

 SSA guests of the sheikha

Conference on Arab Women Past and Present Attempts to Bridge Academic and Temporal Divides

by Elyse Semerdjian

Qatar is a flourishing Persian debates called “The Doha Debates” Gulf country that is truly international and attempts to create “a public in focus. It has a population of forum for dialogue and freedom of 885,000, only 180,000 of which speech in Qatar.” The debates center are native Qataris. The rest of on international political issues the population is comprised of whereby high profile speakers are Her Highness Sheikha Mozah international workers, primarily invited to present their positions South Asian. Upon entering the Doha in front of a live audience and of women’s political and economic airport one immediately encounters broadcasted on BBC World. After participation. crowds of South Asian guest workers the debate, the audience votes on a The conference was opened by anxiously awaiting new arrivals. position the international community the ever-articulate Sheikha Mozah The present ruler, Amir Hamad bin should take concerning the issue. who called upon scholars to think Khalifa II, came to power in 1995 by Georgetown’s School of more critically about the position removing his father in a bloodless Foreign Service is in its first year of women in the Islamic World and coup. Since then, he has reformed of operation in Doha’s Education dispel dominant images propagated Qatar as a space for free speech. This City and has about 25 students in by the media. She also engaged agenda came into global focus with its first-year class. Georgetown the scholarship on women in the the appearance of al-Jazeera in 1996, University, in cooperation with calling for new scholars the first state-free news broadcasting the Qatar Foundation, sponsored to continue to highlight the historic to the Arab World, as well as its a conference of international and contributions of Arab women to their first 24 hour new service. The local Qatari scholars to discuss societies. intellectual opening of Qatar is also the historic and current status of Some of the research introduced highlighted by the activity of Sheikh women in the Arab World. Amira at the conference addressed the Hamad’s dynamic spouse, Sheikha Sonbol, Professor of History at Sheikha’s calling by advancing Mozah bint Nassar al-Mussned, who Georgetown’s School of Foreign new histories of women in the Arab has devoted much of her time and Service, organized the conference World. An example of these new attention to education. She founded in cooperation with Sheikha Mozah histories is the research of Umayma the Qatar Foundation in 1995 which and the Qatar Foundation. The Abu Bakr of Cairo University who has devoted itself to making Qatar conference brought together a rare uses early biographical sources to the center of intellectual development group of scholars from Europe, the highlight the historic position of and debate in the Arab World. The Arab World and the United States for Muslim women as teachers of Hadith Foundation has worked on creating a conference entitled “Arab Women, and Islamic jurisprudence. In her Education City, a 2,500-acre space Past and Present: Participation and research she has found women who outside the capital city of Doha, Democratization” on March 3-5. The were muftis, imams and teachers which is dedicated to educational broad range of topics covered within of sacred texts. Her provocative and research institutions. It already the conference included women’s findings raise questions concerning hosts several campuses including political participation, education and the disappearance of women in Georgetown University, Cornell and activism in the Arab World. The these crucial roles as interpreters of Texas A & M. The Qatar Foundation conference also brought together religious doctrine. Asma Asfaruddin has also sponsored high profile historians working on the history of the University of Notre Dame

 SSA delivered a paper on the topic of early of women’s participation in women’s narratives. Suzanne Muslim women participants in battles everyday life in the Arab World. Dahlgren, University of Helsinki, as soldiers and nurses. She used As the conference progressed discussed changing attitudes Hadith literature to discuss the early towards a discussion of towards women and sexuality role of women, and looked at how later democratization, the debates about in Yemen after its unification. generations of scholars chose to democracy and the role of NGOs Focusing on Aden, she examined de-emphasize women’s participation grew heated. Participants, such the way in which in a period of in war. as Shiela Capriccio, University changing cultural tastes women Another panel tackled the difficult of Virginia, and Islah Jad, Bir have chosen more conservative issue of private and public space. Zeit University, discussed the Islamic dress in order to attract male Participants included Fadwa El- effect of NGOs on the articulation suitors. Guindi of the University of Southern of women’s grievances. Both Papers were delivered in California, Gwendolyn Mikell of looked at the way in which English and Arabic. The audience Georgetown University, and Ziba NGOs shape which issues are was equipped with headphones Mir-Hossaini of NYU Law School. emphasized and, in some ways, and a simultaneous professional One participant, Hoda el-Sadda of the detract from women’s agency. translation. A large contingent University of Manchester, discussed They argued that NGOs tend to of women from Qatar University the cross-pollination of European focus on issues that are important presented papers and many women notions of domesticity introduced to their own agendas rather than in attendance were from the through Christian missionaries. The the issues of value to the women university. The proceedings of the panel examined the public-private in need. Jackie Armijo of Zayed conference will be published under dichotomy critically arguing that it was University examined at the way the editorship of the organizer, a western concept transposed onto the in which Muslim women in China Amira Sonbol. Middle East. Participants questioned whether or not translating these concepts into Arabic was introducing the dichotomy to the Middle East and serving as yet another form of colonization. A panel discussing women’s historic role in the labor market was highlighted by Hoda Saadi of Cairo University and Dalenda Largueche of the University of Tunis who highlighted the work of women vendors and merchants. The discussion of women’s economic role carried over to a second panel that featured Randi Deguilhem of IREMAM/MMSH, Aix-en-Provence, negotiated forced concubinage at From left to right: Amal Abdel-Hadi who discussed women custodians of the hands of the Han Chinese and (New Woman Association), Islah Jad (Bir waqfs in Ottoman Damascus. Hibba Zeit University), Leena Nasser Al Daffa slowly rebuilt their community. (Candidate for Parliament, Qatar), Manal Abugideiri of Villanova University These women were not cast off Omar (Women for Women International) and discussed the role of women in by their communities. Instead, Kaltham al-Ghanem (Qatar University) midwifery in 19th century Egypt. they are viewed as heroines who Through its examination of women saved their community when it participants in the economy, the was nearly decimated. Another conference dispelled the stereotype panelist, Dina Khoury of George of women as secluded and passive Washington University, shared agents in their historic communities. some of her research examining Instead, scholars constructed a history the memory of the war in

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Student Voices of income for the neighborhood, advantage. In short, the students namely production of authentic who choose Syria are generally quite ‘oriental-style’ gifts, made and sold serious and eager about improving The Word from to tourists in the Old City. Whether their Arabic skills above and beyond Damascus or not this is a fall-out from largely merely having a good time. The negative news-cycles concerning foreigners studying here come Syria, or the result of other unrelated from everywhere and seem evenly I arrived in Damascus in early trends and circumstances is uncertain. distributed around the globe, although October, just as concerns over the UN Finally, I’ve found Syria to be a casual observation might put the led investigation into the assassina- great place to learn Arabic. Despite numbers of Germans and Italians at a tion of former Lebanese Prime Minis- student dismay at a substantial substantially higher number. ter Rafik Hariri were building steam. price-hikes at some local institutions, All in all, life in Syria is above and This crisis has recently fizzled, as has as well as what appears to be the beyond my expectations. I’ve got a the uproar over and subsequent em- subsequent increase in hourly- few months before I leave . . . but I’m bassy attacks in response to the Dan- fees for some well-known private already planning to come back. ish cartoon fiasco. These days, the tutors, the relaxed-pace of the city, atmosphere of Damascus has become low-living costs, availability of decidedly more relaxed, especially decent instruction, and warmth Thaddeus Tierney is living and compared to the tumultuous last few of the locals enhances Damascus’ studying in Syria on a FLAS months. Televisions in public places, growing reputation as a great center fellowship. He graduated from formally tuned to breaking news, are for studying Arabic. I’ve also been Whitman College (B.A. Philoso- now set to less-serious programming, impressed with the quality of students phy) in 2001. He plans to return such as sugary Arabic-pop music here. Although Beirut and Cairo to Seattle this fall and finish up channels. Additionally, pointed can boast of a rocking nightlife his MA in International Studies questions, arising in daily conversa- with significantly more options for (Middle East) at the University of tions with Syrians after I reveal my the social needs of young people, Washington. national identity (American), have I see this working to Damascus’ shifted away from politics to more banal issues of music, movies, traffic, and weather. It is, thankfully, becom- ing rare to face “When is Bush going to attack Syria” type-questions, which were fairly common during my first several months here. In terms of Damascus itself, it seems that a new restaurant or a new foreign/private bank pops-up every few days, not to mention the recent grand opening of a genuine Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise. However, in the unofficial foreign student enclave in the Old City neighborhood of Bab Touma, some families have noticed a considerable dip in the number of student tenants this spring. Not only are foreign students seemingly down in numbers, but European tourists (according to my conversations) appear to be less abundant as well. This downturn has hit a major source Photo by Thaddeus Tierney

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news of members

Globalization and the Muslim World, ed. Birgit Schaebler and Leif Stenberg, Syracuse, N.Y.: Syracuse University Press, 2004 “Fresh and interesting... The case studies are Written by scholars from a range of disciplines concerned with the Middle rich in data, and the East and Islam (history, religious studies, anthropology, sociology, theoretical and historical political science) and covering the Muslim world extensively (from Malaysia, studies are nuanced and , Sudan Egypt, and Israel/Palestine to Muslim communities in Europe insightful....Because of and the United States), this important contribution to the debate on the widespread belief in a ‘clash of civilizations’ globalization sets a standard in dealing with this pervasive force in the both in popular forms and field of Islamic and Middle Eastern studies in parts of the academy, the subtle yet powerful critique that this book dc offers is timely, important, and valuable.” Keith David Watenpaugh, Being Modern in the Middle East: Revolution, – Carl Ernst, University Nationalism, Colonialism and the Arab Middle Class (Princeton, N.J.: of North Carolina Press, 2006).

In this innovative book, Keith Watenpaugh connects the question of modernity to the formation of the Arab middle class. The book explores the rise of a middle class of liberal professionals, white-collar employees, journalists, and businessmen during the first decades of the twentieth century in theArab Middle East and the ways its members created civil society, and new forms of politics, bodies of thought, and styles of engagement with colonialism. Discussions of the middle class have been largely absent from historical writings about the Middle East. Watenpaugh fills this lacuna by drawing on Arab, Ottoman, British, American and French sources and an eclectic body of theoretical literature and shows that within the crucible of the Young Turk Revolution of 1908, World War I, and the advent of late European colonialism, a discrete middle class took shape. It was defined not just by the wealth, “A remarkable book. professions, possessions, or the levels of education of its members, but also by It represents a major the way they asserted their modernity. departure in the current historiography of the Using the ethnically and religiously diverse middle class of the Middle East and is a cosmopolitan city of Aleppo, Syria, as a point of departure, Watenpaugh significant contribution to explores the larger political and social implications of what being modern meant the field.” in the non-West in the first half of the twentieth century. Well researched and provocative, Being Modern in the Middle East makes a critical contribution not – Peter Sluglett, University just to Middle East history, but also to the global study of class, mass violence, of Utah ideas, and revolution.

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Short Notices of Recent Books vols. Tahqiq Ja‘far al-Muhajir. Dimashq: al-Ma‘had al-Faransi lil-Dirasat al-‘Arabiyah bi-Dimashq, 2000- on Syria 2004. [v. 1 : 885-890 H./1480-1485 M., v.2 : 891-896 H./1486-1491 M., v.3 : 897-902 H./ 1492-1497 M.]. The following is a list of recently published books on Syria that were brought to the attention of the book review editor. Willey, Peter. Eagle’s nest : Ismaili castles in Iran and Please contact Steve Tamari, Book Review Editor, at Syria. London: Tauris, 2004. [email protected] with titles of recent books for inclusion in the next newsletter. Members are also encouraged to Winter, Michael and Amalia Levanoni, eds., The contact the Book Review Editor if they are interested in Mamluks in Egyptian and Syrian politics and society. reviewing new books or seeing that recent publications get Leiden: Brill 2004. reviewed in these pages. Ottoman Period The book review editor thanks Samar Haddad of the Atlas Bookstore in Damascus for her help in identifying recently Bani Hani, Khalid Ahmad Muflih. Tarikh madinat published books in Arabic. Interested readers can contact Dimashq wa-‘ulama’uha khilal al-hukm al-Misri, Ms.Haddad directly at [email protected] if they are 1246-1256 H. , 1831-1840 M. Muraja‘ah tarikhiyah interested in ordering books from Syria. Mundhir al-Hayik. Dimashq: al-Awa’il lil-Nashr wa- al-Tawzi‘ wa-al-Khidmat al-Tiba‘iyah, 2005. Christian History Durubi, Samir. Ibn Tulun al-Salihi al-Dimashqi wa- Athnasiyu, Mitri Haji. Mawsu‘at Kana’is Dimashq, fann al-maqamat, surah min sumud al-thaqafah al- v.1-Kanisat ra‘iyat Sayyidat Dimashq, v.2- Kana’is ‘Arabiyah bi-Dimashq fi matla‘ al-‘asr al-‘Uthmani. Hayy al-Midan, v.3- Adyirat wa-kana’is Dimashq wa- al-Karak: Jami‘at Mu’tah, 2005. rifiha.Dimashq: Mitri Haji Athnasiyu, 2003-2005. Establet, Collette and Jean Paul Pascual, Des tissus et Bocquet, Jérôme. Missionnaires français en terre des hommes, Damas vers 1700. Damas: Institut Fran- d’Islam : Damas (1860 - 1914). Paris: Les Indes Sa- cais du Proche-Orient, 2005. vantes, 2005. Hanna, Nelly and Raouf Abbas, eds. Society and Dik, Ignathiyus, al-Hudur al-masihi fi Halab hilala economy in Egypt and the Eastern Mediterranean al-alfain al-munsarimain Halab : Mathba’at al-Ihsan, : 1600-1900 ; essays in honor of André Raymond. 2004. Cairo: The American Univ. in Cairo Press, 2005. Mashlah, ‘Abd al-Hamid. Idlib wa-mintaqatuha fi Islamic History to 1517 al-‘ahd al-‘Uthmani, fi al-qarn 13 H., 19 M., dirasah ijtima‘iyah iqtisadiyah idariyah. Dimashq: Dar ‘Ikra- Ghawanimah, Yusuf Hasan. Dimashq fi ‘asr dawlat al- mah lil-Tiba‘ah wa-al-Nashr wa-al-Tawzi‘, 2004. Mamalik al-thaniyah. Amman: Dar al-Fikr, 2005. Mortensen , Peder, ed. Bayt al-’Aqqad. The History Ibn ‘Asakir, ‘Ali ibn al-Hasan. Tarikh madinat Di- and Restoration of a House in Old Damascus. Pro- mashq, wa-dhikr fadliha wa-tasmiyat man hallaha min ceedings of the Danish Institute in Damascus, IV, 2005 al-amathil aw ijtaza bi-nawahiha min waridiha wa-ah- (440pp, 318 figs. and 4 plates) This book is divided liha. Tahqiq Sukaynah al-Shihabi. Dimashq: Majma‘ into two sections: a report on the restoration of Bayt al-Lughah al-‘Arabiyah bi-Dimashq, 1999-2005. 12 v. al-’Aqqad, which now serves as the domicile of the [v. 48-49, 51-52, 59, 60-66]. Danish Institute in Damascus (five chapters), and a series of studies on the history of the house and its Ibn Tawq, Ahmad ibn Muhammad, Ta‘liq, yawmiyat surroundings (ten chapters), followed by an extensive Shihab al-Din Ahmad ibn Tawq, 834-915 H. 1430- bibliography. SSA Lebanon liaison Stefan Weber con- 1509 M., mudhakkirat kutibat bi-Dimashq fi awakhir tributed to both sections of the book including chapters al-‘ahd al-Mamluki, 885-908 H. 1480-1502 M. 3 on the status of the house between the 15th and 18th

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centuries and on its transformations during the 19th Parti Populaire Syrien and the execution of its founder century and the contemporary period. It can be or- and leader Antun Sa’ada in 1949; reactions to the war dered online from Aarhus University Press, Denmark with Israel in 1948, including the coup that brought (https:// www.unipressdk). Colonel Husni Zaim to power; the rise of the Ba’th Party and union with Egypt in 1958; Communism and Mubayydin, Muhannad, Ahl al-qalam wa-dawrihim fi relations with the Soviet Union; the Arab–Israeli War al-hayat al-thaqafiyya fi-madinat Dimashq, 1708-1758. of 1967; the struggle for power between the Ba’th and Dimashq: al-Ma‘had al-Faransi lil-Dirasat al-‘Arabiyah the progressives between 1968–1971; and the final bi-Dimashq, 2005. coup d’état which brought Hafiz al-Asad to power.

Watenpaugh, Heghnar Zeitlian, The image of an Otto- Salas, Sa’d Mahdi, ed. al-Jumhuriya al-’Arabiya al- man city : imperial architecture and urban experience Muttahida fi manzur as-sihafa al-Iraqiya : 1958-1961. in Aleppo in the 16th and 17th centuries. Leiden: Brill, Dimashq: Mu’assasat ‘Ibal lil-Dirasat wa-al-Nasr wa- 2004. t-Tawzi’, 2004.

French Mandate, Independent Syria, Shandi, Jamil. Mudhakkirat Ba‘thi. Dimashq: al-Tak- the Ba’th win lil-Tiba‘ah wa-al-Nashr wa-al-Tawzi‘, 2005. Zain-ad-Din, ‘Ida. Al-Tatawwur al-iqtisadi wa-al- Assaf, Mustafa ‘Abd al-Rahman. Fikr al-siyasi fi Su- ijtima’i wa-al-siyasi li-madinat Ba’lbak fi ‘ahd al-in- riya fi zill al-intidab al-Faransi 1920-1946. ‘Amman: tidab al-Faransi : 1920-1943. Beirut: Dar al-Farabi, Dar Zayd al-Kilani lil-Nashr wa-al-Tawzi‘, 2005. 2005. Abu Fakhr, Saqr. Suriyah wa-hutam al-marakib al- muba‘tharah, hiwar ma‘a Nabil al-Shuwayri, ‘Aflaq Contemporary wa-al-Ba‘th wa-al-mu’amarat wa-al-‘askar. Bayrut: al-Mu’assasah al-‘Arabiyah lil-Dirasat wa-al-Nashr, Boissiere, Thierry. Le Jardinier et le citadin, ethnologie 2005. d’un espace agricole urbain dans la vallee de l’Oronte en Syrie. Damas: Institut Francais du Proche-Orient, Maliki, Riyad. Sirat al-shahid ‘Adnan al-Maliki, 1919- 2005. 1955, bi-munasabat murur 50 ‘aman ‘alá istishhadih. Dimashq: Dar Tlas lil-Dirasat wa-al-Tarjamah wa-al- Hamash, Munir. Fikr al-iqtisadi fi al-khitab al-siyasi Nashr, 2005. al-Suri fi al-qarn al-‘ishrin. Bayrut: Bisan lil-Nashr wa- al-Tawzi‘ wa-al-I‘lam, 2004. Priestland, Jane. Records of Syria : 1918 - 1973. Slough, UK: Archive Ed., 2005. 15 volumes. Records Kafri, Mustafa al-‘Abd Allah. Islah al-iqtisadi wa-al- of Syria contains 12,000 pages of documents from tanmiyah al-bashariyah, fi al-jumhuriyah al-‘Arabiyah the National Archives in London including mate- al-Suriyah hasab al-muhafazat li-‘am 2002, dirasah rial arising from the Sykes–Picot Agreement, 1916; tahliliyah. Dimashq: Ittihad al-Kuttab al-‘Arab, 2004. the seizure of Damascus from the Turks in 1918; the Arab Government and King Feisal; the French occu- Perthes, Volker. Syria under Bashar al-Asad : moderni- pation of 1920; the French Mandate and the struggle sation and the limits of change. Oxford: Oxford Univer- for self-government; the Druze rebellion 1925-26; the sity Press, 2004. proposed Franco-Syrian Treaty of 1936, and the failure of the French to ratify it; the overthrow of the Vichy Rabo, Annika. A shop of one’s own : independence and administration in 1941; the Free French and General reputation among traders in Aleppo. London: Tauris, de Gaulle; the imprisonment of the Syrian Govern- 2005. ment in 1943; the bombardment of Damascus and the final break with the French; independence in 1946 and Rashid, Salih. Suriyah wa-al-Ittihad al-Urubbi, al-mu- the ensuing political instability; Michel Aflaq, Salah tawassitiyah wa-mashaqqat al-jiwar. Dimashq: Dar al-Din Bitar and the creation of the Ba’th party; the al-Siddiq lil-Tiba‘ah wa-al-Nashr wa-al-Tawzi‘, 2005.

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Rayan, Muhammad Raja’i. Ahzab al-siyasiyah fi Suriya wa-dawruha fi al-harakah al-wataniyah, 1920-1939. Irbid: Dar al-Kindi lil-Nashr wa-al-Tawzi‘, 2006. dc Uthman, Hashim. Muhakamat al-siyasiyah fi Suriyah. Bayrut: Riyad al-Rayyis lil-Kutub wa-al-Nashr, 2004. 2006 Syrian Studies Association Best Dissertation Prize Competition Regional, Cultural, Linguistic In its continuing efforts to promote scholarly Dhib, Munir. Suriyah al-Janubiyah (Huran), al-intima’ research and study on Syria, the Syrian - al-watan- al-turath, mundhu ‘ahd al-Kan‘aniyin Studies Association is proud to announce its wa-hattá ‘ahd al-istiqlal. Dimashq: Ninawá lil-Dirasat annual competition for prizes. In 2005 the wa-al-Nashr wa-al-Tawzi‘, 2004. SSA moved to a new schedule of prizes. This schedule will follow an alternate year rotation. Khalaf, Taysir. Jawlan fi masadir al-ta’rikh al-‘Arabi, In 2005 the SSA gave a prize for best article, hawliyat wa-tarajim. Dimashq: Dar Kan‘an lil-Dirasat in 2006 the SSA will give a prize for best wa-al-Nashr wa-al-Khidmat al-I‘lamiyah, 2005. dissertation, and in 2007 again the prize will be given for best article. Ramzi, Mahmud. Badiyah al-Suriyah, tabi‘iyan wa- bashariyan wa-iqtisadiyan. Dimashq: Wizarat al- Please address any questions to Mary Wilson: Thaqafah, 2005. [email protected]. All submissions must be received by 30 June 2006. Sartre-Fauriat, Annie. Les Voyages dans le Hawran, Syrie du sud, de William John Bankes, 1816 et 1818. Chair of Prize Committee Beyrouth: Institut Francais du Proche-Orient, 2004. Mary Christina Wilson Professor Department of History Stowasser, Karl and Moukhtar Ani. A Dictionary of Herter Hall Syrian Arabic, English-Arabic. Washington, DC: University of Massachusetts Amherst Georgetown University Press, 2004. 161 Presidents Drive Amherst, MA 01003-9312 Tahhan, Samir. Folktales from Syria. : Co- phone: 413 545-6774 lumbia University Press, 2004. [email protected]

Ziadeh, Nicola A. and Sahar Hammuda, eds., Al-Mu- dun al-’arabiya al-kusmubulitiya baina 1870 - 1930 2005 Syrian Studies Association : Bairut - al-Iskandariya - Halab. Bairut: Unesco, Best Article Prize Winner 2004. Geoffrey D. Schad, Assistant Professor of History at Albright College “Colonial Corpo- Teaching Materials ratism in the French Mandated States: La- bor, Capital, the Mandatory Power, and the Camron Amin, Benjamin Fortna, and Elizabeth Frier- 1935 Syrian Law of Associations” Revue des son, eds. The Modern Middle East: A Sourcebook for mondes musulmans et de la Méditerranée History. New York: Oxford University Press, 2006. no:105-106, “Le travail et la question sociale” (The book will be e-licensed in the near future, and (2005), 201–19. will be issued in paperback. The table of contents can be viewed at http://sitemaker.umich.edu/emes, where dc some documents can be downloaded for free).

10 SSA Conferences

Arab Women, Past and Present: Participation and Session Three: The Arab Family Democratization Chairperson : Amira Sonbol Sponsored by the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service (SFS-Q) and its Center for International and Regional Studies (CIRS) Lynn Welchman (SOAS, Department of Law) Four Seasons Hotel Doha • 3 - 5 March 2006 • 9.00 am - 6.30 pm Muslim Family Law and the Shar’i Judiciary Fatma al-Kabisi (Qatar University) DAY I • FRIDAY, 3 MARCH 2006 Women’s Economic Participation in the Qatari Family

Registration - All attendees seated at 9am Amina al-Qazim (Qatar University) Dysfunctional families and Alienation: Impact on the Arab Woman Opening Session: Welcome by: Reem Abu Hassan (Obeidat, Freihat & Hadidi, Amman) James Reardon-Anderson Arab Women and Domestic Violence Dean of the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Qatar

Keynote Address by: DAY II • SATURDAY, 4 MARCH 2006 Her Highness Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser Al-Missned Session Four, Part I: Laws dealing with Women’s Work Amira Sonbol Chairperson : Norma Haddad Professor Islamic History, Law and Society, Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Qatar, Organizer of the Conference Khidr Zakaria (Qatar University) Women’s Work in Arab Countries: Issues for Discussion Session One : Deconstructing an Image of passivity Chairperson : Judith Tucker Amira Sonbol (Georgetown University) The Shari`a and Women’s Labor Barbara Stowasser (Georgetown University) Women’s Bay`a: Qur’an and Sira Judith Tucker (Georgetown University) Women as Ambivalent Legal Subject: Property and in Omaima Abu Bakr (Cairo University) Islamic Law Women Muftis, Teachers and Theologians in the Pre-Modern Period Christina Jones-Pauly (Oxford University and UNDP) Wesam al-`Usman (Qatar University) Gender Aspects of International Labour Law and Arab Law Qatari Women and Decision Making Within the Family Session Four, Part II: Working women and their professions Yvonne Haddad (Georgetown University) Chairperson : Yvonne Haddad Activist Arab American Women in the Public Square Hoda Saadi (Cairo University) Session Two: Public and Private Spheres Women and the Market Place in Early Islamic History: Cairo- Chairperson : Hibba Abu Gideiri Damascus-Jerusalem

Fadwa El-Guindi (University of Southern California) Dalenda Largueche (University of Tunis) Beyond Pubic and Private: A Critique Women Vendors in the Market-places of North-Africa During the pre- Modern Period Gwendolyn Mikell (Georgetown University) Muslim Women of West Africa in the Public Sphere: Activism and New Soraya al-Turki (American University in Cairo) Possibilities Women in the Public Sphere in

Ziba Mir-Hossaini (NYU Law School) Ramadan ell-Khoully (Cairo University) Gender and the Public Sphere in Post-Revolutionary Iran Women Textile Workers in Egypt During the Nineteenth Century

Hoda el-Sadda (University of Manchester, England) Session Five: (PART II): Working women and their professions Alternate Arab Narratives? American Missionaries and the Ideology of Chairperson : Candith Pallandre Domesticity

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Randi Deguilhem (CNRS, IREMAM/MMSH, Aix-en-Provence) Amal Abdel-Hadi (New Woman Association) Controlling Waqf Wealth in Ottoman Damascus: Women as Long-Term Two Decades of Women’s Activism: Challenges and Prospects Renters of Endowment Properties Islah Jad (Bir Zeit University) NGOization of the Arab Women’s Hibba Abu-Gideiri (Villanova U.) Movements Women & Medicine in the Modern Period: The Case of Egypt

Elyse Semerdjian (Whitman College) Conclusions and Closing Remarks by: Illegal Occupations of Women in Ottoman Syria Dr. James Reardon-Anderson Gala Dinner with a Keynote Address by Professor Dr. Sheikha Abdulla Al-Misnad, President, Qatar Dr. Ibrahim Oweiss University Professor of Economics, Georgetown University School of Foreign Education City Service in Qatar LAS Building Dr. Amira Sonbol Professor of History, Georgetown University School of Foreign Service DAY III • SUNDAY, 5 MARCH 2006 in Qatar, Organizer of Conference

Session Six: Discourses on Women’s Participation, past and present Chairperson : Mohanalakshmi Rajakumar

Asma Afsaruddin (University of Notre Dame) Gendered Biographies and Prescriptive Manuals: Women’s Public Lives The Law of Waqf: Origins to Ottoman-era Maturity Friday-Sunday May 26-28 Patricia O’Connor (Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Qatar) The institution of waqf, the Islamic charitable foundation Comparative Perspectives Through Western Literature: Veiled Threats: that allows an owner to settle his or her property for Re-reading Reading Lolita in Tehran beneficiaries in perpetuity, has been the topic of intensified Sabah Ghandour (University of Balamand, Lebanon) research since 1970. Increasingly, its historical, economic, Arab Women Novelists and social implications have been highlighted and explored. Legal aspects of waqf—the rules, procedures, Lauve H. Steenhuisen (Georgetown University) Religion as the Matrix for Constructions of Participation and institutions that govern its establishment and operation—have been relatively neglected, however. The Session Seven: Democratization and Women Islamic Legal Studies Program of Harvard Law School Chairperson : Joshua Mitchell aims to jump-start this line of study with a conference dedicated to the law that formed and transformed the Sheila Carapico (University of Richmond) Patronizing Women: Foreign Aid and Female Empowerment institution of waqf from its genesis through 1800 C.E. Insights from jurisprudence, fatwas, waqf foundational Jackie Armijo (Zayed University) documents, state law, and practice will inform the The Role of Women in Rebuilding Communities in Muslim China proceedings. For information about attendance, please Dina Khouri (George Washington University) access http://www.law.harvard.edu/programs/ilsp. Women, War and the Politics of Memory in Iraq

Suzanne Dahlgren (University of Helsinki) Friday, May 26, 2006, Pound Hall 107, Harvard Law School Women with Too Many Rights: Male-Female Relations in Pre- and Campus Post-Unification Aden 10:00–10:20 a.m. Welcome and Introduction, by Frank E. Vogel, Session Eight: Challenges to Participation Director, Islamic Legal Studies Program

Chairperson : Leena Nasser Al Daffa 10:20–10:40 a.m. Johannes Pahlitzsch, “Is God the Owner? The Issue of Ownership of Foundations in Byzantium and Islam” Kaltham al-Ghanem (Qatar University) Qatari Women and Prerogatives toward Political Participation 10:40–11:00 a.m. Alejandro García Sanjuán, “Stability and Adaptability in the Law of Waqf through the Islamic Jurisprudence from Manal Omar (Women for Women International) al-Andalus” Against All Odds: Iraqi Women’s Participation in the Nation Building Process

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11:00–11:20 a.m. Miriam Hoexter, “Interaction of Law and Practice: 10:20–10:40 a.m. Halit Eren, “Waqf Administrations of Muslims in the Exchange of Endowed Property” Balkan Countries”

11:20 a.m.–12:30 p.m. Q&A and Discussion 10:40–11:00 a.m. Christoph Werner,” Legal Handbooks and Court Verdicts: The Application of Waqf Law in Qajar Iran” 2:30–2:50 p.m. Murteza Bedir, “The Law of Waqf as Expounded by a Bukharan Jurist: Burhan as-Sharia al-Bukhari (616/1219)” 11:00 a.m.–12:30 p.m. Q&A and Concluding Discussion

2:50–3:10 p.m. Timothy J. Fitzgerald, “A New Legal Order: Waqf and 12:30–1:00 p.m. Summing-up, by Randi Deguilhem, CNRS/IRE- the Ottoman Conquest of Aleppo” MAM, Aix-en-Provence

3:10–3:30 p.m. Babak Rahimi, “The Isfahani Waqf: A Study of the State Legal-Administration of the Waqf Institutions in the Isfahani Stage of the Safavid Rule, 1590-1629 C.E.”

3:30–3:50 p.m. Aharon Layish, “Waqf of Awlad al-Nas in Aleppo at the End of the Mamluk Period as Reflected in a Family Archive”

3:50–5:00 p.m. Q&A and discussion

Saturday, May 27, 2006, Library, Faculty Club, 20 Quincy St.

10:00–10:20 a.m. Ana Maria Carballeira-Debasa, “Legal Aspects of Pious Endowments in al-Andalus: Mobility or Immobility of hubs?”

10:20–10:40 a.m. Sabine Saliba, “On the Legal Practices of Christian Waqf: A Case Study of a Convent in Pre-Modern Mount Lebanon”

10:40–11:00 a.m. Sukru Özen, “Legitimacy of Innovations and Modi- fications in Waqf Law During the 16th–17th Centuries of the Ottoman Era”

11:00–11:20 a.m. Tahsin Ozcan, “The Legitimization Process of the Cash Foundations: An Analysis of the Application of Islamic Law of Waqf in the Ottoman Society”

11:20 a.m.–12:45 p.m. Q&A and Discussion

2:30–2:50 p.m. Stefan Knost, “The Alienation of Waqf Property between Shari‘a and Local Custom: A Comparative Study of Ottoman Aleppo, Damascus and Jerusalem (18th c.)”

2:50–3:10 p.m. Randi Deguilhem, “Regulating Waqf Wealth: Shari‘a, Customary Law and Family Waqf Revenues. Fatwas and Court Cases from 18th-Century Damascus”

3:10–3:30 p.m. Musa Sroor, “The Khulû Contract and the Privatization of Waqf Property in Jerusalem During the 18th Century”

3:30–3:50 p.m. Pascale Ghazaleh, “Waqf on Rights: An Examination of Merchant Waqfs in Early 19th-Century Cairo”

3:50–5:00 p.m. Q&A and Discussion

Sunday, May 28, 2006, Library, Faculty Club, 20 Quincy St. Ablaq mural at the Danish Institute, Bayt Akkad 10:00–10:20 a.m. Syed Khalid Rashid, “Analyzing the Level of Maturity Attained by the Law of Waqf in Mughal India as Shown in the Fatawa al-Alamgiriyya” Photo by Faedah Torah

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DALALAH: Institute for Teaching the Islamic As well as Islamic Science Courses Sciences & Arabic Language to Non-Native Speakers 1 – Islamic Law An institute based in Damascus, Syria concerned with 2 – Principles of Islamic Law providing traditionally and academically qualified training 3 – Prophetic Traditions (Science of Narration) to non-native-Arabic-speaking students and researchers of 4 – Principles of the Prophetic Traditions (Science of classical Arabic language, the traditional Islamic sciences Interpretation) and Near Eastern studies. (www.dalalah.org) 5 – Theology 6 – Qur’anic Exegesis Dalalah teaches both elementary and intermediate 7 – Qur’anic Studies courses in: 8 – Prophetic Biography and Islamic History

• The Arabic language On the basis of some researchers’ interest in some special- • The Islamic sciences ized intellectual fields, Dalalah decided to open the follow- • Islamic history and its periods ing courses: • The linguistic system and philosophy of the Arabic language • Islamic history • Theories of the linguistic inimitability of the Noble • Theories of the inimitability of the Qur’an Qur’an • Critical editing of Arabic manuscript • Traditional methods of editing Arabic manuscripts • Inter-religious relations between Islam and Christianity

There are also special courses in:

• Arabic rhetoric • Philosophy of the Arabic language and its linguistic system (root derivation, meaning of the nominal and verbal sentence, subject and predicate) • Arabic literature and its history • Reading classical Arabic texts in different intellectual fields (geography, history, Arab medicine, Arab architecture, etc.) • Grammar and morphology

The Suq Haraj Project

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Syrian Studies Association Elections

Member-at-Large Geoffrey D. Schad

Geoffrey D. Schad is Assistant Professor of History at Albright College. He received an A.M. in regional Studies-Middle East from , and the Ph.D. in History from the University of Pennsylvania, with his dissertation on “Colonialists, Industrialists, and Politicians: The Political Economy of Industrialization in Syria, 1920–1954.” He specializes in the modern social history of the Arab Middle East, with a concentration on Syria during the French Mandate. His publications include The British and French Mandates in Comparative Perspectives/Les mandats français et anglais dans une perspective comparative (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 2004; member of editorial committee); “Toward an Analysis of Class Formation in Syria: Aleppo’s Textile Industrialists and Workers during the Mandate,” in France, Syrie et Liban, 1918–1946: Les ambiguïtés et les dynamiques de la rélation mandataire, edited by Nadine Méouchy (Damascus: Institut Français d’Études Arabes de Damas, 2002), 291–305; and “Colonial Corporatism in the French Mandated States: Labor, Capital, the Mandatory Power, and the 1935 Syrian Law of Associations” Revue des mondes musulmans et de la Méditerranée no 105-106, “Le travail et la question sociale” (2005), 201–19, which won the 2005 Syrian Studies Association Best Article Prize. He is a founding editor of H-Levant, an H-Net discussion network on the modern history and culture of the countries of the Eastern Mediterranean, a member of the Middle East Studies Association of North America and the Syrian Studies Association, and a Junior Fellow in British Studies at the University of Texas at Austin.

Student Representative Hania Abou Al-Shamat

Hania Abou al-Shamat is a Ph.D. candidate in Political Economy and Public Policy (PEPP) at University of Southern California (USC). She received her B.A. in Political Science from American University of Beirut (AUB) in 1995 and an M.A. in Political Science from AUB in 1999. Her M.A thesis was entitled “Syria Under Civilian Rule: An Improbable Democracy, 1954-1958”. Her doctorate thesis topic is “Revisiting Muslim-Christian Educational Divide in 19th Century Arab World through Demand Analysis: Case of Lebanon”. Her research interests include institutional economics, economic development, educational reform, law and economic performance, entrepreneurship. Her region of specialization includes Syria, Lebanon and Egypt.

Currently, she is working as a research assistant on the institutional causes for the economic underdevelopment of the Islamic world. She is an active member of the Institute of Economic Research on Civilizations (IERC) at USC.

______

Ballot (Please vote for the candidate by placing a check on the line)

Member-at-Large Geoffery D. Shad ______

Student Representative Hania Abou Al-Shamat ______

Votes can also be emailed to Secretary/Treasurer Annie Higgins at: [email protected].

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Place Stamp Here

Annie Higgins, Treasurer/Secretary 1765 E 55 St #B2 Chicago, IL 60615

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