Abdellah Guennoun (Arabic: عبد الله ڭنون ʻAbd Allāh Gannūn; 16 September 1908 in Fes – died 9 July 1989 in Tangier) was an influential Moroccan writer, historian, essayist, poet, academic, administrator, journalist, and faqīh.[1][2] He was one of the leaders of the Nahda movement in Morocco, and served as the general secretary of the League of Moroccan Religious Scholars (رابطة علماء المغرب).[3][4]
He is known for writing an-Nubūgh al-Maghribī fī al-adab al-ʻArabī (النبوغ المغربي في الأدب العربي, Moroccan Intellect in Arabic Literature),[5] a three-volume anthology of Moroccan literature in Arabic that was banned by the French Protectorate.[6][7]
Guennoun also served as a member of a number of linguistic, educational, and Islamic academies and organizations in places such as Rabat, Cairo, Damascus, Baghdad, and Amman.[8][9]
Early life
Abdallah Guennoun was born in Fes in 1908 to a family of noble Idrissid lineage long associated with knowledge.[10] His family moved from Fes to Tangier in 1914.[10]
He had a traditional Islamic education, memorizing the Quran and some Hadith.[10] With access to international books in Tangier, he also taught himself Spanish and French.[10]
Career
Guennoun began his writing career early; he published in the newspaper Idhar al-Haqq (إظهار الحق) in 1927 when he was 20 years old.[11] He also wrote for publications such as the Egyptian literary magazine Arrissalah.[10][12][13][14][15][16]
He became active and influential in the flourishing intellectual and cultural scene in Tetuan, and he published many of his works there.[11] As part of this intellectual circle in Tetuan, he was involved in the first nationalist publication in Morocco, as-Salaam, which published its first issue October 1933.[17][11]
He opened the first of the Moroccan free schools in Tangier, the Free Abdallah Guennoun School (مدرسة عبد الله كنون الحرة), and worked as a teacher in 1936.[10]
He was the editor in-chief of a monthly Islamic publication called Lisaan ad-Din (لسان الدين) in the 1940s and published a number of articles.[10][18][9] He also served as the general secretary of al-Mithaq, a journal put out by the faculty of al-Qarawiyyin University.[10][18]
Guennoun was, among other members of the Mococcan Nationalist Movement (الحركة الوطنية المغربية) including Allal al-Fassi, Abdelkhalek Torres, Abdallah Ibrahim, a member of a generation of Moroccan intellectuals brought together the political and the cultural, and who criticized the reform movement in the country, arguing that there can be "no reform without independence."[11]
Abdellah Guennoun taught Ahmed Boukmakh [ar] and later assisted him in the creation of Iqra' [ar] (اِقْرَأ, "Read"), the first series of Arabic textbooks for children in Morocco, published in 1956, 1957, and 1958.[19][20]
an-Nubūgh al-Maghribī
In 1938, he published an-Nubūgh al-Maghribī fī al-adab al-ʻArabī (النبوغ المغربي في الأدب العربي, Moroccan Intellect in Arabic Literature), his three-volume anthology of Moroccan literature.[7] This anthology indexed and contextualized major Moroccan works of literature written in Arabic, and led to the development of a Moroccan literary canon.[5] Affirming both Morocco's contributions to Arabic literature and the long tradition of Arabic literature in Morocco, an-Nubūgh al-Maghribī was seen as a nationalist reaction to colonialism.[5] It was banned by the authorities of the French Protectorate, and could not be brought into the area under French colonial control, nor could it be sold, displayed, or distributed there.[6][7] Spain, however, was receptive of the work; an-Nubūgh al-Maghribī was translated into Spanish and Abdallah Guennoun was granted an honorary doctorate from a university in Madrid.[21]
He held a number of different positions. In 1937, he was made director of the Khalifi Institute (المعهد الخليفي),[9][22] then professor at the High Institute of Religion (Arabic: المعهد الديني العالي) and the College of Theology in Tetuan (كلية أصول الدين بتطوان).[22] He held the office of Minister of Justice in the Khalifi government from 1954 to 1956.[9]
In 1981, he founded al-Ihyaa' (الإحياءThe Revival), a journal published by the Association of Moroccan Academics focusing on Islamic theological sciences and thought from an open, critical perspective.[23]
Death
Abdallah Guennoun died on 9 July 1989, aged 80, in Tangier.[8]
Notable works
Abdallah Guennoun's works include poetry, literary fiction, and history. Some of his most notable works include:
an-Nubūgh al-Maghribī fī al-adab al-ʻArabī (النبوغ المغربي في الأدب العربي, Moroccan Intellect in Arabic Literature), 1st ed. al-Matba'a al-Mehdia. 1938; 2nd ed. Dar al-Kitab al-Lubnani. 1961; 1st ed. Dar al-Kutub al-Ilmiyah. 2014.
Abdellah Guennoun's personal library, which he donated in 1985 to the City of Tangier, has been housed since his death in the former building of the Moroccan Debt Administration.[24]
Notes
^Literatura Marroqui [1] (retrieved 13 February 2009)
