Arab intellectuals and authority : a continuity of an implied system

Abstract EN

The ruler doesn’t want from the thinker free thinking.

He wants his loyal thinking. Tawfiq al-Hakim, A‘wdat al-Wa‘y (The Return of Consciousness) The modern intellectuals’ crisis has roots that lie in the past, when the pro-authority Arab intellectuals’ predecessors instilled in them the fact that power is always a prerequisite for the nation and should be divinely and earthly sustained.

This has been engraved in the mindset for generations, and I would suggest that the continuity of this notion in the socio-political tradition needs to be reconsidered as a major factor in the formulation of the Arab intelligentsia.

In short, I believe that the present for Arab intellectuals is a continuation of their past.

This paper will provide a synthesis of different positions of Arab intellectuals, with emphasis given to the suitability and continuity of Arab tradition in the present condition of the modern Arab intellectuals.