Bayoumi Andil
Encyclopedia
Bayoumi Andil (born 31 July 1942 in Monufia, Egypt
Died 8 October 2009) is an Egyptian
linguist, thinker and writer who authored many books on Egyptian culture and Modern Egyptian language
.
He is one of the most renowned researchers and linguists on the topic of Modern Egyptian Language.
In his most important book (The present State of Culture in Egypt), he points out that Egyptians have attempted to change their national identity and language as well as their national religion when they embraced Christianity
in the 1st century AD and again after the Arab conquest of Egypt in 641 AD. He claims that Egyptians have Egyptianized both Christianity
and Islam
. He argues that the true Egyptian spirit survived only in the oral culture of the illiterate Egyptians, whose illiteracy has protected them and their national identity from annihilation. Andil also published many articles and books, in which he assumed that Modern Egyptian language is nothing but the fourth stage of the languages of the Egyptians, and should not be really considered a variety of Arabic
, but rather a daughter of the Coptic language
and the great grand daughter of the Ancient Egyptian language
. The grammatical, morphological and phonological differences between the spoken Egyptian language and the Arabic language is sufficiently deep to categorize them in two different groups, and the similarities between the first and its Egyptian ancestors, both Coptic
and Ancient Egyptian
, are strong enough to consider the Modern Egyptian Language an evolution of the Ancient Egyptian.
Since the 1980s his life mission was to call for the revival of Egyptian nationalism
. Despite his great admiration for Taha Hussein — who himself was one of the pillars of the Egyptian enlightenment movement in the first half of the 20th century— he criticised Hussein’s masterpiece Mustaqbal al-Thaqafa fi Misr (The Future of Culture in Egypt) because it fell short of defining Egyptian culture.
Andil focused on plurality as an important dimension of Egyptian culture. Egyptian myths referred to a host of gods. Followers of different gods used to hold festivals to celebrate them. Yet these festivals were universal; the followers of Osiris celebrated Ra and the other way round while followers of Amon sanctified Isis, and so on. This phenomenon can till today be traced; until today, Cairenes celebrate Mulid al-Sayed al-Badawi of Tanta, while Alexandrians celebrate Mulid Abul-Haggag of Luxor. By the same token, Muslims celebrate the Coptic Mulids such as those held to commemorate the Holy Virgin or St Barsoum al-Erian. Such manifestations of plurality promote the value of recognising and accepting the other. There was no room for such value under Akhnaton, who, by calling for the exclusive worship of one god (Aton), became the founder of the culture of takfir (considering those different in religion as infidels) currently prevailing in most Arab and Muslim societies. Yet Akhnaton is commonly revered as the father of monotheism.
Although Egyptian culture changed in many ways over the ages, certain features survived. The first is tolerance, a characteristic of agriculture-based societies, and the second is plurality which led Herodotus to describe ancient Egyptians as the most pious people. Centuries later, Sigmund Freud conceived of Egyptians as a gentle people, while he considered Semites wild and savage. Plurality in turn led to the promotion of equality between men and women. Yet there was a setback in terms of the status of women with the advent of the Romans and later the Arabs.
Andil has a telling story to confirm his view of the inherent gentleness of Egyptians. He heard the story from a Palestinian friend who was living in Gaza during the Israeli invasion in 1956. When Jewish soldiers of Egyptian origin inspected her home, they caused no harm to the family, on the contrary quelling the family’s fears. One of the soldiers gently told her grandmother: “Don’t be afraid, mother, and don’t bother to get up. Stay where you are”. Iraqi Jew soldiers, by contrast, stormed her neighbours’ house and wreaked havoc in their home and committed horrible crimes.
Andil was a staunch defender of illiterate Egyptians for the role they played in preserving and transmitting Egyptian culture from one generation to the next. Educated people connived with the Anglo-Americans to Arabise Egypt. Reactionary ideas and values were accordingly promoted and this climate bred millions of terrorists who antagonise those who believe in other religions.
Andil concluded that the only way out of this dark tunnel is to revive the Egyptian nationality. Iranians, for instance, accepted Islam, but never accepted Arabism. They are proud of their pre-Islamic heroes, myths and gods. The same could be said about Finnish people who liberated themselves from the Swedish culture thanks to their intellectuals who spared no effort to revive the national heritage of the country. Indians preserved their culture in the face of the Mongols, while the great Spanish people under Queen Isabella liberated their country from the Arab invaders.
Unlike Taha Hussein and Salama Moussa, who opposed the Arabisation of Egypt but set their sights on the Mediterranean, Andil believes that the Egyptian civilisation is African in the first place. Egyptians are Hamites who interacted with a host of peoples and civilisations, but remained Egyptian. Therefore, Egyptians should assert themselves as Africans against Arab identity which, he insists, has for over 14 centuries worked to corrupt the Egyptian identity. Peoples of the region—Egyptians, Berbers, Nubians, Bejas, Kurds and even Yemenis and Hijazis—have no way to preserve their authentic identity but to liberate themselves from Arabism. The outcome would be a more elegant and sophisticated culture that respects all identities.
Andil was a great man. Yet his project was opposed by many intellectuals even though not a single study was conducted to refute his premises.
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
Died 8 October 2009) is an Egyptian
Egyptians
Egyptians are nation an ethnic group made up of Mediterranean North Africans, the indigenous people of Egypt.Egyptian identity is closely tied to geography. The population of Egypt is concentrated in the lower Nile Valley, the small strip of cultivable land stretching from the First Cataract to...
linguist, thinker and writer who authored many books on Egyptian culture and Modern Egyptian language
Egyptian Arabic
Egyptian Arabic is the language spoken by contemporary Egyptians.It is more commonly known locally as the Egyptian colloquial language or Egyptian dialect ....
.
He is one of the most renowned researchers and linguists on the topic of Modern Egyptian Language.
In his most important book (The present State of Culture in Egypt), he points out that Egyptians have attempted to change their national identity and language as well as their national religion when they embraced Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
in the 1st century AD and again after the Arab conquest of Egypt in 641 AD. He claims that Egyptians have Egyptianized both Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
and Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
. He argues that the true Egyptian spirit survived only in the oral culture of the illiterate Egyptians, whose illiteracy has protected them and their national identity from annihilation. Andil also published many articles and books, in which he assumed that Modern Egyptian language is nothing but the fourth stage of the languages of the Egyptians, and should not be really considered a variety of Arabic
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
, but rather a daughter of the Coptic language
Coptic language
Coptic or Coptic Egyptian is the current stage of the Egyptian language, a northern Afro-Asiatic language spoken in Egypt until at least the 17th century. Egyptian began to be written using the Greek alphabet in the 1st century...
and the great grand daughter of the Ancient Egyptian language
Egyptian language
Egyptian is the oldest known indigenous language of Egypt and a branch of the Afroasiatic language family. Written records of the Egyptian language have been dated from about 3400 BC, making it one of the oldest recorded languages known. Egyptian was spoken until the late 17th century AD in the...
. The grammatical, morphological and phonological differences between the spoken Egyptian language and the Arabic language is sufficiently deep to categorize them in two different groups, and the similarities between the first and its Egyptian ancestors, both Coptic
Coptic language
Coptic or Coptic Egyptian is the current stage of the Egyptian language, a northern Afro-Asiatic language spoken in Egypt until at least the 17th century. Egyptian began to be written using the Greek alphabet in the 1st century...
and Ancient Egyptian
Egyptian language
Egyptian is the oldest known indigenous language of Egypt and a branch of the Afroasiatic language family. Written records of the Egyptian language have been dated from about 3400 BC, making it one of the oldest recorded languages known. Egyptian was spoken until the late 17th century AD in the...
, are strong enough to consider the Modern Egyptian Language an evolution of the Ancient Egyptian.
Since the 1980s his life mission was to call for the revival of Egyptian nationalism
Egyptian nationalism
Egyptian nationalism is an ideology that rose to prominence in Egypt before the British occupation to Egypt.- History :It is first used to refer to the native officers’ movement, led by Col. Ahmad ‘Urâbî, against Egyptian government policies that favored officers of Turkish, Circassian , or other...
. Despite his great admiration for Taha Hussein — who himself was one of the pillars of the Egyptian enlightenment movement in the first half of the 20th century— he criticised Hussein’s masterpiece Mustaqbal al-Thaqafa fi Misr (The Future of Culture in Egypt) because it fell short of defining Egyptian culture.
Celebration of plurality
Andil argued that the culture of a nation is the sum total of the value systems created by its people over the entire course of history. He believed that our culture is the outcome of an agriculture-based civilisation. Our forefathers were the first to establish the solar calendar as well as the bases of medicine and geometry. In his books delineating the achievements of the Egyptians, Andil quoted James H. Breasted to show that the ancient Egyptians were the first to create a system of writing. Andil referred to the arguments of linguistics scholar Simon Potter over the leading role of the Egyptian alphabet.Andil focused on plurality as an important dimension of Egyptian culture. Egyptian myths referred to a host of gods. Followers of different gods used to hold festivals to celebrate them. Yet these festivals were universal; the followers of Osiris celebrated Ra and the other way round while followers of Amon sanctified Isis, and so on. This phenomenon can till today be traced; until today, Cairenes celebrate Mulid al-Sayed al-Badawi of Tanta, while Alexandrians celebrate Mulid Abul-Haggag of Luxor. By the same token, Muslims celebrate the Coptic Mulids such as those held to commemorate the Holy Virgin or St Barsoum al-Erian. Such manifestations of plurality promote the value of recognising and accepting the other. There was no room for such value under Akhnaton, who, by calling for the exclusive worship of one god (Aton), became the founder of the culture of takfir (considering those different in religion as infidels) currently prevailing in most Arab and Muslim societies. Yet Akhnaton is commonly revered as the father of monotheism.
A gentle people
Among the cultural norms stressed in Andil’s writing was the respect of women. Unlike the region’s other peoples, Egyptians were distinguished by the appreciation of women. The attributes of Sayeda Zeinab, the granddaughter of the Prophet Mohamed—had their source in those of Isis. The same could be said about her brother al-Hussein whose attributes had much in common with those of Osiris.Although Egyptian culture changed in many ways over the ages, certain features survived. The first is tolerance, a characteristic of agriculture-based societies, and the second is plurality which led Herodotus to describe ancient Egyptians as the most pious people. Centuries later, Sigmund Freud conceived of Egyptians as a gentle people, while he considered Semites wild and savage. Plurality in turn led to the promotion of equality between men and women. Yet there was a setback in terms of the status of women with the advent of the Romans and later the Arabs.
Andil has a telling story to confirm his view of the inherent gentleness of Egyptians. He heard the story from a Palestinian friend who was living in Gaza during the Israeli invasion in 1956. When Jewish soldiers of Egyptian origin inspected her home, they caused no harm to the family, on the contrary quelling the family’s fears. One of the soldiers gently told her grandmother: “Don’t be afraid, mother, and don’t bother to get up. Stay where you are”. Iraqi Jew soldiers, by contrast, stormed her neighbours’ house and wreaked havoc in their home and committed horrible crimes.
Out of the dark tunnel
Egyptian culture had an impact on Quran tajweed (the way of chanting Quranic verses). Sheikh Mohammed Refaat used the oriental Nahawand scale in the tajweed while Sheikh Mustafa Ismail used the Bayaty scale.Andil was a staunch defender of illiterate Egyptians for the role they played in preserving and transmitting Egyptian culture from one generation to the next. Educated people connived with the Anglo-Americans to Arabise Egypt. Reactionary ideas and values were accordingly promoted and this climate bred millions of terrorists who antagonise those who believe in other religions.
Andil concluded that the only way out of this dark tunnel is to revive the Egyptian nationality. Iranians, for instance, accepted Islam, but never accepted Arabism. They are proud of their pre-Islamic heroes, myths and gods. The same could be said about Finnish people who liberated themselves from the Swedish culture thanks to their intellectuals who spared no effort to revive the national heritage of the country. Indians preserved their culture in the face of the Mongols, while the great Spanish people under Queen Isabella liberated their country from the Arab invaders.
Are we Egyptian?
In sum, Andil’s cultural project revolved around one question: are we Egyptians at the core? Semites—Arabs and Hebrews alike—led tribal pastoral lives based upon violence and seizing others’ lands, whereas the values of tolerance, cooperation and love characterising Egyptian culture has much to do with the agricultural society of our forefathers. Such conflict between the two cultures is very well expressed in the title of Andil’s opus magnum Hadher al-Thaqafa fi Misr (The Present of Culture in Egypt). In the book, Andil posed the decisive question: who is going ultimately to win, the farmers or the herdsmen?Unlike Taha Hussein and Salama Moussa, who opposed the Arabisation of Egypt but set their sights on the Mediterranean, Andil believes that the Egyptian civilisation is African in the first place. Egyptians are Hamites who interacted with a host of peoples and civilisations, but remained Egyptian. Therefore, Egyptians should assert themselves as Africans against Arab identity which, he insists, has for over 14 centuries worked to corrupt the Egyptian identity. Peoples of the region—Egyptians, Berbers, Nubians, Bejas, Kurds and even Yemenis and Hijazis—have no way to preserve their authentic identity but to liberate themselves from Arabism. The outcome would be a more elegant and sophisticated culture that respects all identities.
Andil was a great man. Yet his project was opposed by many intellectuals even though not a single study was conducted to refute his premises.