Jabal Amel or Jabal ‘Amil / Amil Mountains Region : جبل عامل

late Ottoman reforms, its pillars being the Arab press influences, Shiite clerical students and emerging intellectual groups, as well as the impact of missionary schools that exposed the gap between the traditional inherited knowledge and the scientific development that the West had reached at the time. The author attempts to amend the superficiality of the historical presentation method in previous local works on the history of ‘Amil, most remaining descriptive. To do so, he relies on scientific interviews, the Archives of the Ottoman Prime Minister in Istanbul, the National Archives Institution in Lebanon, Presidency of the Lebanese Council of Ministers, in addition to academic studies submitted to the Lebanese University.

a continuous history, the author assumes a stable identity for ‘Amil that is crystalized at the opening of the 20th century with the Arabist movement. The Arabist movement in Jabal ‘Amil is identified by the author as one of the ‘Amili resistance movements. The movement starts with embracing reform in the empire and carries the banner of reform demands, and with supporting the Committee of Union and Progress (hereafter CUP) on the basis of the principles of freedom, justice and equality. With the “Turkifying intensions” of the CUP exposed, the ‘Amili youth began a comprehensive withdrawal process from the CUP, as argued by the author.

Revolution figures, and the writings of the Lebanese decolonial figures. This book documents the emergence of modern politics in Jabal ‘Amil and the move from the politics of Notables represented by the internal struggle between the traditional leadership (e.g. Kamel Al-Assaad and other notables) on the one hand, and the Arabist leadership (e.g. the person of Rida Al-Solh and his son Riad) and the Ameli Arabist movements of enlightened wujaha’ on the other. Subscribing to George Antonius’ thesis on the “Arab awakening” under the unionists, the book charts the of x ‘Amilis from unionists to Arabists, beginning with the withdrawal from the CUP after its intentions to “Turkify” the Arabs. The ‘Aley Trials (1916) constitutes a historical turning point in the life of the Arab movement in Jabal ‘Amil –it is then that the movement is consolidated. Following the trials, a cold struggle arise between these two political currents, which continued throughout the period of the First World War, exploding with the dawn of Faisal’s independence on August 1918.

it is a practice of oral history writing and a depository of the writer’s 80 years of memories. The author includes entries on the origins of the author’s parents, miscellaneous information on the town such as its architecture, customs, and practices, schools and teachers, and the names of doctors and lawyers. The author also retells folk tales and includes a selection of his poems and of some Jahiliyya poetry.

undeniable impact on the overall political, social and economic conditions in Jabal ‘Amil. The study puts before it the task of researching the historical conditions of this region as a case study for which the development of many other Lebanese regions went through similar conditions in the late Ottoman era and under the control of the French mandate to the independence period.

Methodologically, the authors assume with “entity” that it is not separated from its Arab vicinity, or that there was a socio-historical and geographic barrier between them. Rather, the word entity here is defined by the limits of distinction and partial social and political peculiarities within the general unified and inclusive history of all the inhabitants of the Arab Mashreq. The discussion here does not cover the social, political and economic conditions for the emergence of the political entity of Jabal ‘Amil.

of the Arab revolution and the independence in Syria, the sectarian clashes and the Niger campaign on Jabal ‘Amil, which finally paves the way for the annexation of ‘Amil to Greater Lebanon. The book includes a number of black and white photographs of figures mentioned by the author.

Author - Title - Edition - Place of Publication - Date - Number of Pages. As for the sources catalogued, they cover all information, data and documents on all matters related to Jabal ‘Amil published during the period between 1909 and 1986, and in all religious, political, economic, social and cultural fields and at various official and popular levels. They include government documents, dissertations and unpublished theses, conference papers and resolutions, state documents, institutions and conferences statements, documents and press talks published in documentary books, and so on.

of the Ottoman Empire with thought, politics and revolution.” It also confronted the French colonial policy with all available means such as supporting state building and establishing a political system. The book traces the political developments in Jabal ‘Amil between 1918 and 1926 as the most important political events that resulted from the end of World War I. The role of ‘Amilis in the political events of the mandate period between 1926 and 1936, foremost of which is the promulgation of the 1926 Constitution and the Lebanese Presidency crisis in 1932 is also addressed. The researcher made use of documents that were unpublished before such as the reports of the Iraqi commissions in Syria and Lebanon, as well as the published documents of the records of the Lebanese Parliament.

and the attempts at renewal did not appear until the year 1882, the year the first modern school was established in Nabatiye. This school was a major pillar in the foundation of the nahda in Jabal ‘Amil, which came late to the nahda in Egypt and in Mount Lebanon. The author notes the late emergence of political literature and war chronicles, in addition to vernacular ‘Amili poetry, and the literary contributions of women. The author argues that the intellectual movement in Jabal ‘Amil remained highly influenced by the aspirations of the clerical class.

a predominantly rural and agricultural area, which is South Lebanon, and the socio-political rise of the political elites, whether at the level of the local authority base represented by municipal and voluntary councils, or at the level of notable leaders who continued to reproduce themselves in their assumption of seats, Parliamentary membership and ministerial portfolios for more than half a century (1920-1972) on the basis of its material power represented by land ownership. The first chapter analyzes the Ottoman policy in adopting the private ownership of land through the issuance of the “title deeds,” and the results reached by this policy in terms of the emergence of a real estate aristocracy of large owners of agricultural lands from the notables of cities and rural notables, and thus how to acquiring real estate was a basic condition in the process of social ascension. The study adopts a social history approach.

with the status of the Shiites in Syria and in Lebanon. They disclose of the Ottoman political malpractice and its responsibility in the social disruption in Jabal ‘Amil with conscription and forced labor during the Great War. In his diaries, Rida’s political positions gradually shift from an Ottomanist, to seeking Syrian unity after the disintegration of the empire, to not seeing any harm in belonging to a nascent political reality, that is Lebanon, provided that its citizens were equal. In these published diaries we see the first, albeit incomplete, writing of ‘Ameli history, according to the historian Munzer Jabir.

over several centuries reaching the French Mandate, until it touches contemporary times of the ‘Amili society, a “dynamic but religiously conservative society at the same time,” as these collections of stories would reveal. It is a depository of tales having sultans, Sufis, Gendarmerie, Katatib, the memories of Safar Barlik, the relation between what is now southern Lebanese villages and northern Palestinian villages, British Army patrols, and the Nabatieh-Beirut bus line, which reveal to us the changing social and political realities of Jabal ‘Amil over the last few centuries, more importantly the last few decades.

productions combined. Subjects range between history, geography, sociology, economics, science, Islamic jurisprudence, Arabic language, and education. The names of the writers are listed in the directory alphabetically, in addition to the place and the date of birth (and death) of each author, the titles of the books, the date of their publication and the name of the publishing house. This directory is useful for those researching the literary heritage of Jabal ‘Amil and its cultural productions in the last century.

‘Amilis, to Jabal ‘Amil (long debunked as a community myth), and ends in 1517, the year Syria and Egypt came under Ottoman rule after the Ottoman defeat of the Mamluks. The medial period lasts till 1865, in which the Shiite feudal lord Ali Bey al-Asaad of Ali al-Sagheer tribe dies. With his death, feudal rule in ‘Amil comes to an end, and with it the political autonomy of the Jabal. The final modern period extends from 1865 till 1918 and the end of the Great War. This period is characterized by direct Ottoman rule and ends with the disintegration of the Ottoman empire. Al Safa records the history of the educational nahda and the Arabist movement in Jabal ‘Amil as a cornerstone of the general history of political movements of the Arab world.

literature of ‘Amilis, especially the press, and on the archives of the League of Nations in Geneva, and other Arab and foreign sources, some of whose editors contributed to the making of political events in the Levant. The author maintains the opinion leaders in Jabal Amel were not isolated from the nationalist Arabist movement, but rather participated from its beginnings. The aspirations of the ‘Amilis were high in achieving their demands for unity with an Arab state, and later equality within Greater Lebanon. The signing of the Lebanese French Treaty, which consecrated the sectarian system in Lebanon, came in contradiction to the aspirations of the ‘Amili community, as the author argues.

family, or colonial reasons. He evaluates the narration of historical events, correcting and revising the sources of texts. The book preserves events he had lived and participated in making. It preserves the intellectual, religious and social history of Jabal ‘Amil.

Methodologically, the author does this by studying Volumes of Irfan 1909–1960. 1909 is a year marked by the establishment of al-‘Irfan journal. The author provides an introduction on the cultural factors that contributed to the nahda in Jabal Amel, and which had brought about the emergence of al-‘Irfan and the ideas of al-Zayn. Such initiative was only possible following the military coup that removed Sultan Abdul Hamid II in 1908, and the establishment of free primary schools in ‘Amil after the reinstatement of the Ottoman constitution. The author argues that this date was a turning point that led to the inclusion of the Shiite elites in Jabal Amel in public life in the Ottoman Empire. The author puts Al-Zayn’s ideas two phases: Islamic reformist phase in the period before the demise of the Ottoman Empire, and an Arab nationalist phase after the disintegration of the empire.