Rifa\' has Al-Tahtawi

Rifa' has Al-Tahtawi (1801? - 1873, Cairo?) (رفاعةرافعالطهطاوي, in Arab) is an Egyptian reformer.

Rifa' has leaves its native village of Tahtah in 1817 to follow the courses of the University of Al-Azhar to Cairo. In 1826, it is named imâm first Egyptian school mission sent in France by Mohamed-Ali

Its experiment of the French company, after a five years stay to Paris before 1831, inspired a reflection to him on the evolution of Moslem civilization and its meeting with Western modernity.

Responsible for the instruction in the reform program of Mohamed-Ali, it published a work on becoming to it Islamic civilization in 1834 ( Takhlîç Al-ibrîz fî talkhîç Bârîs , transl. france the Gold of Paris , 1988), which launches the debate which will be taken again by the reformers of the Moslem rebirth intellectual, the Nahda. It is about an account of voyage (rihla) in which it describes the life in France - manners, institutions and laws, organization - the glance is that of a character fascinated by the European civilization, and from which the concern first is to draw from them for the Egypt the elements from a modernization compatible with the Islam. The style is limpid, and reveals a clear tendency to the easing of syntax. Tahtawi wants to simplify the language, to transmit a new message to the greatest number.

So that achieves the rebirth of the Moslem identity, he proposed the development of the instruction and the introduction of the democracy. He will inspire the reformers of the end of the century.

Tahtawi “plays the part of a cultural institution only supplements with him”. It goes:

To take the direction of the first Egyptian newspaper, Al-Waqâ' I `Al-Miçriyya written in Arabic and Turkish, and founded by Méhémet Ali in 1828.
To found madrasat Al-alsun , the school of languages, in 1835.
To be an editor association of the Official journal in 1840.
To direct maktab At-tarjama , the Office of translation, opened at its instigation in 1841.

But the Khedive Abbas Ier, opposed to the modernisateurs, moves away Rifa' has Al-Tahtawi in Sudan of 1848 with 1854. The khedive Saïd the fact of returning and names it Miralaï (brigadier general). Rifa' has transforms the Military academy of the Citadel which it consequently directs in military University. Once again isolated of its responsibilities at the Military academy in 1861, he becomes director of the department of the translations of 1863 to its death in 1873.

Dâr Al-Kutub.

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