In his Asharq Alawsat column, Mshari Al-Zaydi remonstrates against the ‘Arab intellectual’. Where, he asks, are they now that entire populations are free for the first time in their histories to define their own destinies.

Al-Zaydi correctly points out that actual intellectuals rather than public intellectuals have actually be rather thin on the ground. Instead, the public intellectual got the print space and air time because whatever ideas he was promoting, they were acceptable to the powers that be. Those with critical messages either fled their countries into exile or were removed from the discourse. As a result, the only ‘intellectualism’ that was going on was Marxist, post-colonialist/nationalist, or religious, depending on what directions the head of state wanted to be seen going. Those who occupied the public space of ideas were largely sycophants. If they had real mental horsepower, then they could come up with ideas to promote the government’s agenda in new and perhaps better ways.

There were exceptions, he notes, people like the early feminist Qasim Amin and Taha Hussein who promoted free and universal education in Egypt. But the real intellectuals can be counted on the fingers of one hand. They found themselves facing pressures to simply keep quiet. Those who objected discovered the meaning of ‘or else’. Then, as their modern counterparts now, were criticized as having become ‘Westernized’ to the detriment of their Arab or Muslim credentials.

Al-Zaydi questions whether gathering today’s ‘Arab intellectuals’ to discuss the course of Arab societies is worth the bother. Today’s crop doesn’t seem to have much to say for itself or for Arab societies.

The Arab intellectual: The problem or the solution?
Mshari Al-Zaydi

Ever since the fragility of Arab culture and the lack of awareness regarding the concept of the civil state in Arab society became apparent following the [parliamentary] election results that brought religious currents to power, one question has continued to be raised, namely: what has happened to our centuries of efforts regarding Arab culture?

Have our efforts with regards to developing education, encouraging contact with global cultures, instilling the values of art, beauty and tolerance, and consecrating the idea of citizenship and the state, completely vanished?

Were all these efforts in vain when – for the first time and without restraint – the Arab societies could express their real “desire” for the optimum model of righteous rule? Was it in fact their dream for the Muslim Brotherhood and the Salafist al-Nour Party in Egypt, Rached Ghannouchi in Tunisia, and the likes of al-Zindani in Yemen, to rise to power?
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