Shakib Arslan

Amir Shakib Arslan was born in Choueifat near Beirut into the noble Druze Arslan family and studied under Muhammad Abduh in Beirut. Serving in the Ottoman parliament, he became one of the foremost international spokesmen for Arab and Muslim anti-colonial independence during the interwar period from his base in Geneva.

Hailed across the Arab world as Amir al-Bayan ('Prince of Eloquence') for his magnificent classical prose style, Arslan published the influential journal La Nation Arabe and wrote his famous 1930 treatise Limadha Ta'akhkhara al-Muslimun wa-Limadha Taqaddama Ghayruhum (Why Have Muslims Fallen Behind While Others Have Advanced?), urging scientific education, civic responsibility, and moral fortitude.