Foreword
Written by: Professor Dr. Ibrahim Khalil Al-Allaf
Experienced
Professor of Modern History - University of Mosul.IRAQ
How happy
and joyful I was when Mr. Abdullah Salem Al-Jubouri called me by phone to ask
me to write an introduction to his new book entitled (The Struggle of Genes in
the Land of the Arabs). I immediately agreed for two reasons. The first is that
I know him personally as a writer, novelist, researcher, and jurist. The second
reason is that he is a writer. He is a historian who published a number of
books, including his encyclopedic book on (the history and lineage of the
Jabour tribe), which is in ten volumes. This is in addition to his books,
collections of short stories, novels, and collections of poetry.
The topic
(genes and the struggle of genes), and what is related to the Arabism of Iraq,
is a topic that caught my attention. I said that the brother, Professor
Abdullah Salem Al-Jubouri, must bring us something new. I returned to a
decades-old dialogue that took place between me, when I was head of the History
Department at the College of Education - University of Mosul from 1980-1995,
and the late brother and friend, Professor Dr. Khader Jassim Al-Douri, who was
the dean of the college, and the basis of the dialogue was that I was starting
it. With certainty, I assume that all people are good until some of them prove
to me the opposite. The late Professor Dr. Al-Douri used to say, “I do not
assume that all people are good, because I begin with doubt and end with
certainty. Not all people are good until they prove the opposite.”
Now I
have discovered that Professor Dr. Khader Jassim Al-Douri’s statement is the
most accurate; A person must begin to doubt that not every human being is good,
and that the genes that every human being carries have a role in his genetic
makeup, and what we feel, feel, or perceive has a relationship to what the
father, grandfather, and great-grandfather carried. Yes, what we learned or
tasted may have a role, but genes still have the final say. The genetic makeup
and DNA that we inherited is what determines our taste, inclinations, or even
political orientations. It is a strange thing that the father was a Marxist
fifty years ago, and now his son sympathizes with Marxist thought. Likewise, I
am a nationalist Arabist, and I found that my children, like me, have
nationalist Arabist orientations.
It is
funny that I once read about genes, and I learned that genes are largely
responsible for people’s differences in their tendency to love nature, enjoy
its embrace, and passion for the chirping of birds and the chirping of
nightingales, just as they are responsible for their difference or similarity
in appearance, image, and psychology.
A strange
thing I want to remind the reader of is that the one who laid the foundations
of education in Iraq since the twenties of the last century, and at the
founding of the modern Iraqi state, was the educator and thinker, Professor
Sati’ al-Husri (died in 1968). He assumed the administration of education since
1921, and when the May 1941 movement took place under the leadership of the
four colonels and Rashid Ali al-Kilani, the young Iraqi army clashed with the
British military forces, and Iraq was occupied. The British expelled Professor
Sati’ al-Husri, stripped him of his Iraqi nationality, and told him that you
are responsible for the existence of a nationalist Arab generation that hates
the English.
When the
Americans occupied Iraq on April 9, 2003, one of the post-occupation men stood
up to denounce the Arabs and say that we were their firewood, but they were
ours, meaning the Iraqis were the firewood carriers.
They went
to cancel a paragraph in the constitution that says that Iraq is part of the
Arab nation. In other words, Iraq is a member of the League of Arab States, and
there is a difference between the two articles.
Some
writers began to describe those who wrote about nationalism and Arabism as
nationalists and nationalists. Over time, the voice of these people faded and
they became ashamed of what they had done when they called for help from the
Americans to occupy their great country, Iraq, and destroy it.
The
colonialists, the Zionists, the imperialists, and the entire West have stood
and have been standing for 200 years against the rise of the Arabs, and the
matter does not stop there. Rather, they aim to tear the Arab nation apart and
encourage the Islamists to replace nationalist thought and even replace liberal
thought, progressive thought, and renaissance thought.
Therefore,
it is not strange that it fuels religious conflicts, national conflicts, ethnic
conflicts, sectarian conflicts, urban conflicts, regional conflicts, and every
conflict that divides the nation. The author discussed all of this in his book,
even though we know that when we say Arab nationalism or the Arab nation, we do
not mean race, ethnicity, or blood, but rather language. History, common
feelings and common interests.
Also,
what the author focused on is that the powers controlling the world are trying
to attack social structures, destroy the social fabric, and encourage the
destruction of history, its symbols, and the questioning of origins, even
though the Arabic language and Arab culture were what brought together Arabs and
non-Arabs. Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi, although he was an Iraqi Kurd, defended the
nation, and Tariq bin Ziyad, although he was a Berber Berber, but he defended
the nation. The same applies to Abd al-Basit Abd al-Samad, the famous reciter
of the Qur’an and the prince of poets, Ahmad Shawqi, Muhammad Kurd Ali, head of
the Arabic Language Academy in Damascus, and Mahmoud Taymur, among others.
These people were not Arabs by blood, but rather they believed in the nation
and worked for it, which gave them a history.
The book
- says its author - is directed to the Iraqi reader, and it is a book on
history in a political guise, and I - as a historian - say that Iraq has not
witnessed sectarianism in its history, nor has it witnessed ethnicity, nor has
it witnessed regionalism, nor has it witnessed regionalism. The great
revolution of 1920, which laid the foundations of the modern Iraqi state, was
the revolution of all Iraqis from the north of Zakho to the south of Al-Faw.
Everyone participated in it, I mean all names, and now the people of Iraq are
proud of it and show off its symbols in all Iraqi cities and countrysides.
Here I
say that Iraqi culture, since the founding of the modern Iraqi state in 1921,
has been a moderate culture. There was Arabic poetry, Kurdish poetry, and
Turkmen poetry. There was the story, the novel, and the contemporary historical
school. There was no distinction. We did not ask whether Al-Sayyab was a Sunni
or a Shiite. We did not ask whether Al-Jawahri was a Shiite or not. Sunni, Dr.
Ali Al-Wardi was Dr. Saleh Ahmed Al-Ali, and Dr. Mahdi Al-Makhzoumi was. I
swear I was a student in the History Department at the College of Education -
University of Baghdad 1964-1968. I do not know sectarianism, religion, or... Or
the race or nationality of this professor and that professor.
Education
is important and necessary, and how much we need to rearrange the papers of
education and distance it from everything that distinguishes or divides. The
Iraqi scene must show us, others, and the whole world an Iraqi scene in which
all segments of society and its beautiful spectrums participate in its
formation.
What made
me happy and delighted in the book was its follow-up of the Arabs, Shiites and
Sunnis, at the tribal level in Iraq and the Arab countries, and pointing out
the departures of those tribes and the accumulation of their role in
construction, urbanization, politics, and culture through their symbols, which
confirms the correctness of the idea of Arabism and its sovereignty throughout
the great Arab homeland. It is funny and useful that the author did not
hesitate to mention much of what was said and fabricated in terms of the
contributions of segments of Iraqi society, including Arabs, Kurds, Turkmen,
and all Iraqis, in rebuilding the state, the army, education, and society on
national foundations, which reduced the space for those who wanted to fish in
troubled waters and serve agendas. A suspicious foreigner.
I agree
with the author on some of his theses, and he agreed.. It does not matter. I
just say that the man works hard, and if he is correct, he will have two
rewards, and if he is wrong, he will have the reward for his effort. I wish him
success.
