Muhammad Issaf Ibn Othman al-Nashashibi

Issaf al-Nashashibi was born in Jerusalem in 18851 to an aristocratic family. His father, Othman al-Nashashibi, held several positions within the Ottoman Empire, including a position in the Chamber of Deputies.2 His mother, Fatima Abu Ghosh, was the daughter of Sheikh Mustafa Abu Ghosh, who headed the district of Jerusalem’s traffic route in the 19th century.3

The Nashashibis were a very wealthy family with high social standing. Their palace, built by Issaf in 1922 in the neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah, was a place where salons, gatherings, and cultural seminars were held.4 His father’s library contained a large collection of books, to which Issaf had access and read most heartily. This unique cultural environment influenced his upbringing and his passion for the Arabic language, which would become quite obvious later in his life.

Al-Nashashibi educated himself and was thereby able to reach an advanced level of knowledge in Arabic language and literature without the help of teachers. He was enrolled in a traditional primary school (kuttab) in Jerusalem, then moved to Beirut and studied at Dar al-Hikma School. After studying there for four years, he returned to Jerusalem.

In Beirut, al-Nashashibi was educated by the most prominent teachers in the city. One of them, Abdullah al-Bustani, a Maronite bishop of the diocese of Sidon, was an Arabic linguist, teacher, writer, and journalist, and his influence on al-Nashashibi and his linguistic style is evident in his writings. In Beirut and Jerusalem, al-Nashashibi had the opportunity to work with distinguished writers, poets, and thinkers of the Arabic language such as Shakib Arslan, Ahmed Shawqi, Khalil al-Sakakini, Hanna al-Issa, and ‘Abd al-‘Aziz Shawish. He also learned French and was well acquainted with it, which helped him to read some scientific books and newspapers.

After finishing his studies in Beirut in 1905, al-Nashashibi returned to Jerusalem where, following the proclamation of the 1908 Constitution,5 he briefly edited the journal al-Asma‘i, which was founded in 1908 in Jerusalem by Hanna al-Issa. Then he began publishing articles and poems in the magazine al-Nafa’is, which was owned by Khalil Beidas, and in the magazine al-Manhal. Founded in 1912 by Muhammad Musa al-Maghribi, a prominent Palestinian journalist and publisher at the time, al-Manhal was one of the first magazines to be published in Jerusalem. It was issued monthly and lasted for one year.

Al-Nashashibi was appointed at al-Salahiyya School as a professor of the Arabic language. Then he was appointed as the principal of the Rashidiyya School in Jerusalem. Shortly afterwards, he became the Inspector General of Arabic in the public education department, where he supervised the development of the curricula for teaching Arabic and managing teachers of Arabic. He also oversaw the teaching of Islamic studies.

Al-Nashashibi resigned from his work as inspector general in 1929 because of increasing problems between him and the British Department of Education in Palestine. Instead, he decided to focus on writing, lecturing, and traveling to nearby Arab countries.

In 1923, al-Nashashibi was elected as a member of the Arab Scientific Academy in Damascus (al-Majma‘ al-‘Ilmi al-‘Arabi) and he began writing for the academy’s journal in 1924.

In December 1931, al-Nashashibi participated in the General Islamic Conference, held with the aim of securing Muslim support for the Palestinian cause, and he was chosen as secretary of the Call and Guidance Committee during the conference. Additionally, he participated in the Arab National Conference, also held in December of that year, where talks of the emergence of a Palestinian Arab Independence Party began to surface.

From 1937 to 1947, he published a series of chapters in the Cairo-based magazine al-Risala under the title Nuql al-Adib (Table Talk of a Man of Letters), which gained him widespread fame in the Arab world. He frequently signed his articles under pseudonyms such as “al-Qari,” “al-Sahmi,” and “Hashim al-‘Arabi.”

As a condition of employment, the British Mandate authorities required proficiency in English. Al-Nashashibi responded to this decision by resigning from his government job as an Arabic language inspector in 1929. He countered attempts to Westernize the Arabic language, calling on people to use the classical Arabic language (fusha) in their daily life. He believed that the Arabic language was targeted as part of an effort to weaken and control the Arab population. To al-Nashashibi, Arabic was part of the national culture and must be preserved.

He was a true fighter although he did not carry a weapon; al-Nashashibi fought with words. His sharp style and strong personality made his voice heard. His articles and speeches urged freedom, independence, and resistance against the British Mandate of Palestine and the Zionist movement.

Al-Nashashibi participated in most of the celebrations held in Palestine, especially those held for national or cultural events. His speeches were characterized as revolutionary and energized people into taking action to preserve their homeland. He wrote many poems and literary articles that lamented the divisions and weakness of Arab nations, calling on them to unite their goals and bear arms to achieve independence for themselves and Palestine.

Al-Nashashibi lived during a time of intense conflict between those advocating for changes in the Arabic language to reflect modern times and those advocating for the conservation of the language. He called for changes to the language that would actually preserve it from eventual corruption and decay that he feared would occur. Specifically, he called for a renewal that would develop and progress Arab civilization in literary and linguistic ways, not one that would eliminate the Arabic language and mainly adopt colloquial dialects or that would abolish traditional rhyme in poetry by calling it “freestyle.” 

During his lifetime, he earned the title Adib al-‘Arabiyya (the foremost Arabic scholar). Palestinian educator al-Sakakini described him as “the Lisan al-‘Arab dictionary walking on two legs.”6

Al-Nashashibi moved to Cairo in 1947, where he quickly drew a circle of intellectuals. He died in Cairo on January 22, 1948. He was buried there in the cemetery of ‘Abd al-Qadir Bey Mukhtar, after a huge funeral was held for him and many notable figures attended. He did not marry or have children. He devoted his life to the Arabic language and to Islam through writing and teaching.

After his death, during the Nakba (Catastrophe), al-Nashashibi’s personal library was looted and stolen. Interviewed for a documentary on the subject, his nephew, Nasser Nashashibi, bemoaned the “treasures of literature that were stolen from the house of my uncle, Issaf Nashashibi, which was unique; it was known for its wealth. Rare copies of manuscripts, of the Quran, or the hadiths. What happens with his books? What happens with his private library? Where is it? Who took it?”7

As Israel historian Ilan Pappé explains in the same documentary, during and after the 1948 War, there was both random, unauthorized individual looting as well as a systematic, organized, official collection of such valuable private libraries in the city by “the official looters.”8 From May 1948 to March 1949, the National Library sent teams to emptied homes of Palestinians throughout the city to collect private libraries and transfer them to the library.9 Al-Nashashibi’s invaluable collection was likely among them.

Al-Nashashibi’s family palace later was used as the headquarters of the French Consulate and then in 1964 as the headquarters of the German Archeological Institute.