A tribute to one of the figures of the “Moroccan nation”, Abdullah Kannoun, who preserved its literature written in the Arabic language, in its broad and comprehensive sense, and its various intellectual and cultural expressions, and defended its independence and values, while adhering to the value of innovation and repelling stagnation, is presented in a new book published entitled “The Glow Hidden in… “The Works of Abdullah Kannoun,” published by the Academy of the Kingdom of Morocco by “Saliki Akhawayn” Press, including “Proceedings of the Symposium Honoring the Scholar Member.”
The book places Abdullah Kannoun in the context of his time, and bears witness to him as a “scientific symbol,” and reflects on his perception of the Renaissance, literary patriotism, his interpretation of the Qur’an, his translation of himself, his poetry, the diversity and richness of his writings, and their need for renewed reading. Abdul Jalil Lahjamari, Muhammad Kannoun, Muhammad Al-Kattani, Idris Al-Dahhak, Farouk Al-Nabhan, Al-Hassan Wakak, Idris Khalifa, Muhammad Nour Al-Din Afaya, Hasnaa Daoud, Abdel-Fattah Al-Hajamari, Abdul-Latif Shahboun and Ahmed Bouhassan participated in it.
The author of “Moroccan Brilliance” is of interest to this collective book, according to the study of critic Ahmed Bouhassan, because “the scholar Abdullah Kannoun (represents) a model of intellectuals who combine the authentic traditional Moroccan Arab culture, from jurisprudence, literature, language, history, education, politics, and foreign and modern culture, In his own way, by reading modern translators, he also learned French and Spanish himself. He also represents a patriotic Moroccan intellectual who struggled with his work, ideas, pen, and numerous writings against colonialism and for the reform of society, based on the teachings and values of the true Islamic religion.”
Abdeljalil Lahjamri, Permanent Secretary of the Academy of the Kingdom of Morocco, stated that Abdallah Kannoun “was plural in the singular, a national fighter, jurist, Islamic thinker, linguist, critic, poet, literary historian, heritage investigator, social reformer, and educational teacher.” Thus, he mapped his cultural and literary preoccupations and diversified the arts of verbal creations, while carrying “the message of renewing religious thought, defending the independence and sovereignty of his country, revealing the uniqueness of the creative genius of his heritage, and correcting the slanders of those who are prejudiced against our religion and heritage, as the main basis for his national intellectual project.”
He continued: “In his writings, he worked to strengthen confidence in our cultural subjectivity and civilizational identity, and to highlight our genius, which is no less than the genius of others (…) emanating in this from his patriotic feelings that were kindled by his involvement from a young age in the national movement, the pain of which he suffered and its imprisonment with the nobility of the sincere national message. With this broad national vision in the scope of its components and the breadth of its borders, he saw that patriotism could not be reduced to one Moroccan city, responding in this regard to the National Action Bloc and the Moroccan resistance movement. The limits of his patriotism did not stop at calling only for intellectual and national liberation from colonial domination, but rather he called for liberation from colonialism. To colonialism, he thus fought national faces that carried colonial hearts. In addition, he is considered one of the reformist thinkers calling for liberating the mind from the shackles of tradition and correcting offensive stereotypes, affirming Islam’s custody of the finest human values and believing in the integration and coexistence between reason and religion, identity and universality.
Muhammad Al-Kattani, Assistant Secretary of the Academy of the Kingdom of Morocco, wrote in turn that “the first concern that preoccupied Abdullah Kannoun at the beginning of his intellectual life was to uncover the role of the Arabic language in fortifying the Moroccan identity, and the literature related to this language and the national epics that this literature expresses.” And fixed values, so his work in writing “The Moroccan Genius in Arabic Literature” was a detailed answer to Morocco’s linguistic identity through the literature created by Moroccan poets and writers throughout the ages. In presenting this book, he revealed the falsehoods and contradictory claims related to the conflict between the Arabs and the Amazigh Moroccans, this conflict that was… “It is due to competition for power and the monopolization of the state.”
He continued: “Many thinkers and political activists considered the book “Ingenuity” to be a prominent phenomenon in the context of Morocco’s political resurgence, and evidence of that position was taken by the French authorities when they announced a military decision to ban the book and withdraw it from circulation in the region under its influence, and to punish anyone in whose possession a copy was seized. from him.”
He added, “The striking phenomenon in Abdullah Kannoun’s works related to various intellectual interests is the breadth of his thought, the multiplicity of its aspects, and the complexity of his interests, as his activity was not polarized by a specific direction. He is the jurist, mufti, critical writer, critical historian, heritage researcher, journalist, and Islamic thinker. Before that, he was a poet and critic who corrected the mistakes of some Orientalists and opponents of Islam. He is the interpreter of the Qur’an and familiar with the sciences of Hadith and its chains of transmission,” pointing out that “Abdullah Kannoon’s thought is an unlimited space for research, writing, criticism, reform, investigation, and guidance.”
Member of the Academy of the Kingdom of Morocco, Farouk Al-Nabhan, recorded, for his part, that he knew “the lofty scientific symbol of the city of Tangier, the great scholar, thinker and writer, Professor Abdullah Kannoun Al-Hassani” through his writings, before he met him for the first time in the Al-Hassani Ramadan lessons, which he opened every year in his capacity. President of the Association of Moroccan Scholars. He also touched on the qualities he was known for, saying: “He represented the loftiness of the scientific personality in his respect for the message of science as a guiding beacon in its society, and he represented that loftiness in his positions and ideas.”
He added that the second characteristic is that he “was very proud of his Moroccan affiliation as a culture that contributed to enriching the Islamic heritage through the efforts of those successive generations who added a lot to the efforts of the predecessors, and he recorded this in his book “Moroccan Brilliance,” which is considered one of his most important scientific works.” The third quality that characterized Kannoun, according to the witness, was “wisdom in the positions that enabled him to lead the League of Moroccan Scholars.”
As for a member of the Academy of the Kingdom of Morocco, Mohamed Noureddine Afaya, he pointed to the “recovery of awareness” among the Moroccan elite after independence, through openness to intellectual figures such as Abdullah Kannoun. He then highlighted his vision, which was characterized by a level of boldness against the stagnation in jurisprudence, literature, and general thought. Among the examples he provided of this was his reference book, “Moroccan Genius.”
Afaya wrote: “Abdullah Kannoun, as much as he made writing the book “Moroccan Brilliance in Arabic Literature” a literary project and a national act, at the same time he adhered to a level of audacity to criticize the reality of this literature, the dominance of tradition over it, the limitations of its texts and collections, and the absence of major figures. In prose and poetry, they are able to influence public taste and embody the creative images of Moroccan literature.”
He continued: “His great patriotic feeling and his defense of “Moroccan genius” did not exempt him from exposing the limitations of this literature or this genius, the traditionalism of its writers and poets, and the weakness of its creative dimensions. His literary patriotism did not prevent him from registering the necessary criticism of the contents and forms of this literature, and it also made him alert to the manifestations of the shortcomings from which he suffered, which prompted him to introduce new additions and data to the successive editions of the Moroccan genius, the last of which was related to issues that constantly occupied him, related to what he called: “Renaissance of the Arts and Women’s Participation.”
#book #honors #Abdullah #Kannoun…a #symbol #Moroccan #genius #triumphs #renewal #criticism #stagnation
2024-06-20 01:50:46