Ajaj Yusuf Nuwayhed

He was a Lebanese militant with an Arab nationalist approach,

whose field of action spanned Syria, Palestine, Jordan, and finally, Lebanon...

He was born in the town of Ras el-Matn in Mount Lebanon in 1896 AD.

He received his primary education in his hometown school and then continued his studies at the English "Friends" school in Brummana. When the school closed its doors in 1914 due to the First World War, he moved to the Souq el-Gharb school, where he completed his studies. When the Great Arab Revolt broke out in 1918 and the government of Damascus was announced under the presidency of King Faisal bin Hussein, the young Ajaj was among the nationalists who joined the Hashemite King in Damascus to build the new Arab state.

He worked in Damascus in teaching—where the genius Hassan Kamel Al-Sabbah was his colleague—as well as in the Supply Department.

Driven by his literary and media interests, he collaborated with the distinguished scholar Abdullah al-Najjar to issue "Al-Qalam" (The Pen) magazine.

When France occupied Syria in 1920, he went to Palestine and worked for about two years in the Finance Department of the Palestinian government. He then devoted himself to translating the book "The Present of the Islamic World" by the American author Lothrop Stoddard, later becoming the secretary of the Supreme Islamic Council, which was headed by Hajj Amin al-Husseini,

and then an assistant to the Inspector of Sharia Courts in Palestine. He enrolled in the Law Institute and graduated in 1924, writing numerous articles and delivering many lectures, some of which were collected by Muhieddin al-Khatib in his book "Al-Manfa" (The Exile).

In 1925, he welcomed the militant commander Rashid Tali' in Palestine and worked in cooperation with him and Hajj Amin al-Husseini to form a national committee to support the Great Syrian Revolt with money, weapons, ammunition, and medicine under the leadership of Sultan Pasha al-Atrash. This committee was named the "Central Committee for the Relief of Syrian Victims," and this occurred before Rashid Tali' moved through Jordan, hidden from the eyes of the British, who had clashed with him when he was Prime Minister in the Emirate of Abdullah bin Hussein.

On August 27, 1932, Ajaj established "Al-Arab" magazine in Jerusalem, which became the mouthpiece of the Independence Party that was founded that year, of which he was a co-founder.

In 1935, he established a law office in Jerusalem.

In 1936, he became the secretary of the Palestinian delegation headed by Hajj Amin al-Husseini to the Islamic Conference in Mecca. There, during the conference, he served as a translator for the Indian Caliphate delegation headed by Maulana Shaukat Ali and his brother Maulana Mohammad Ali. In 1939, he was arrested following the Great Arab Revolt (the General Strike) and sent to Jericho, then transferred to the Sarafand detention camp near Ramla.

In 1940, he was tasked with monitoring the Arabic section of the Palestine Broadcasting Service, but he refused unless certain conditions he set were met, which the government accepted. He held this position for four years,

after which he returned to practicing law in 1944 until the Nakba of Palestine occurred in 1948. He then went to Amman, where he was appointed assistant to the Chief of the Hashemite Royal Court in 1949–1950, then Director of Jordanian Radio in 1950–1951, and then Director-General of Publications and Publishing in 1951–1952. At the same time, he worked as a correspondent for the Cairo-based Al-Ahram newspaper in Jordan. In 1959, he returned to Lebanon to settle in his birthplace, Ras el-Matn, and his home became a destination for men of science, literature, and politics. He devoted himself to writing and translation, and on June 25, 1982, he passed away and was buried in Ras el-Matn.

Ajaj Nuwayhed left behind a collection of books, articles, seminars, and lectures, including: "The Present of the Islamic World" (Translation, with an introduction by Emir Shakib Arslan), "Political System" (Translation), "Iraq or the New State" (Translation), "The Hypocrisy of the Jews" (Translation), "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion" (Translation), "Abu Ja'far al-Mansur," "Men from Palestine," "The Conquest of Jerusalem," and "Al-Tanukhi."

His unpublished works include: A history of the Arab movement (started in Amman in 1949), a biography of Emir Shakib Arslan, a book containing biographies of a number of thinkers and politicians in the Arab and Islamic worlds, a collection of articles published in Arab newspapers, lectures on history and politics, a diwan (poetry collection) containing a number of national poems and anthems, and finally, his memoirs.

Ajaj Nuwayhed's Lasting Mark

Naming "Jabal al-Druze" as "Jabal al-Arab":

On page 76 of his memoirs, he says:

"Jabal Hauran in Syria, the stronghold of the revolution, was commonly referred to as 'Jabal al-Druze,' a name I do not agree with.

I say: 'The Monotheists' or 'Bani Ma'ruf,' and I do not say 'Druze.' A significant occasion arose where I was able to put an end to that naming, and the alternative to it was: Jabal al-Arab.

A festival was held in the city of Amman to honor Sultan Pasha al-Atrash and his men and brothers in 1937, on the occasion of France's recognition of the independence of Syria and Lebanon, and the return of Sultan Pasha and the revolutionaries to Syria. Delegations from Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Palestine attended this festival. When it was my turn to speak as a orator, I directed my words to Sultan Pasha al-Atrash in the courtyard of the Petra Cinema, where thousands had gathered to greet him and the revolutionaries, and where no fewer than twenty of the greatest militants surrounded him. After saluting him and expressing my gratitude for his struggle and the struggle of his brothers, I said:

'This sword that you have drawn for the sake of Syria is today called upon to be drawn in the region of Alexandretta, because the land of the Arabs is one; it is not given piece by piece to the Jews and to the strangers.

Therefore, the symbol of the independent Arab jihad is inherited in you and in your honorable clan, Bani Ma'ruf. The mountain that is called Jabal al-Druze has become, thanks to your struggle and the struggle of your brothers, Jabal al-Arab...'"

No sooner had I uttered these words than the place erupted with applause and cheers for naming the Hauran mountain Jabal al-Arab. What I drew people's attention to at that moment was that Sultan Pasha himself was the first to appreciate and support it... The festival concluded with the name 'Jabal al-Arab,' and the head of the Syrian delegation, Fakhri al-Barudi, cabled the Egyptian newspaper "Al-Muqattam" to inform them that the honoring festival for Sultan Pasha and his brothers in Amman today had adopted the name 'Jabal al-Arab' instead of 'Jabal al-Druze.' Arab newspapers in the homeland and the diaspora then began using the new name until it became widespread. This name was born carrying a militant, revolutionary spirit; for the Arabs, as King Faisal bin Hussein said, were Arabs before the coming of Jesus and Christianity, and Muhammad and Islam..."

Ibrahim Al-Akil, Research in Society and History