President Abdul Rahman Aref

Abdul-Rahman Aref
[1916- 24 August 2007]

The Man Who Ruled Iraq: Lived Quietly and Departed Quietly

By Kadhim Finjan Al-Hamami

http://www.urbab.net/news.php?action=view&id=1215

(The Arabic Version)
الرابط لمقالة كاظم فنجان الحمامي

Translated to English by Misbah Kamal

On this day in 2007 the former Iraqi President Abdul-Rahman Muhammad Aref passed away after a principled life-long service and historic deeds to the homeland that will not be forgotten over the generations. He was a genuine patriot loved by all people whether they agreed or disagreed with him. He did not bear grudge against any person in Iraq or elsewhere. His attention was focused on serving the Iraqis; he put these concerns above all other considerations.

His reign was characterized by calmness. He lived quietly, and distanced himself and his family from the vagaries of political turmoil and explosive conditions. That is why he enjoyed a long life of nearly ninety years. He departed calmly as an ordinary person, like one of us. Indeed, he is the only Iraqi president who died naturally in his bed. His funeral in Jordan, where he was buried in the Mafraq Cemetery among other Iraqi officers and soldiers who died in the battles of liberation, was a majestic event. He was not dragged to death or assassinated or hanged; he simply died laying in bed in an intensive care unit in Amman, and that is a blessing from God that set him apart from other rulers of Iraq.

Aref’s regime was characterized by a wide margin of cultural freedom, a prevailing spirit of tolerance, magnanimity, bypassing trivialities and grudges, and discarding denunciations. He was known during his reign for his tolerance, flexibility in attempts to open the door for opponents, establishment of what is known as the Presidential Advisory Council, which included a number of former prime ministries, some of whom were opponents. During his presidency, political parties became active; he kept friendly relations with them. He was tolerant even with those who sought to overthrow him. Throughout his rule, he never signed any decree of execution.

Let me record here a unique situation related to me by Qais Abdul-Rahman Aref, my teacher at the Marine Vocational School. This incident reflects the simplicity of the president and his serenity. He refused to be accompanied by the trappings of presidential processions. He was never happy with security vehicles following him with their sirens breaching traffic rules. He was happy with only one car driving behind him slowly. One day he decided to drive his white car himself accompanied by his gentle wife to visit his relatives, unaccompanied by any protection. It happened that one of the tyres of the car was suddenly damaged in the middle of the road. A car passed by driven by a young Iraqi doctor with his family. The young doctor stopped and saw that the President of the Republic was stuck on the side of the road with a flat tyre. The doctor walked towards the President, and said to him: "Am I imagining or you are really the President?” The President smiled and said to him: “Yes my son, I'm the President.” The young man rolled up his sleeves, replaced the flat tyre and accompanied the President all the way to the house he intended to visit out of his concern for his safety.

Incidents like this were not alien to this humble man, who kept his Baghdadi home in the Yarmouk district, seen by people in the popular Ma’moun Market with his wife (Umm Qais), shopping vegetables and meat, wearing a white dishdasha, conducting himself spontaneously like any ordinary citizen, thereby expressing extreme simplicity that was a mark of his life and those of his children after him, chief among whom is Mr Qais Abdul-Rahman.

Captain Ali Hussein Karim talked to me a few hours ago on the part that Marine Colonel Qais Abdul-Rahman has played in changing the course of his life. Says Ali: “I was frequently absent from the marine classes at the Marine Academy to the point of breaching the disciplinary limits. The order on my expulsion from the Academy was contingent on the signature of the Colonel, but he refused to sign the order. He decided to give me one last chance. He tendered his advice and guidance in the presence of my father, and expressed his concern for my future and the future of my family. At the time I felt his genuine words, the brotherly care, and that the person who was talking to me was my older brother. Today, I am a captain navigating the open sea thanks to this eagerly concerned patriot.”

May God have mercy on the soul of the great Abdul-Rahman Aref, who was a good and wise president, a sincere man overflowing with patriotism, and an Iraqi worthy of respect and honour. He deserves to be well remembered after having lived calmly, ruled quietly, stepped down from the presidential post quietly and died quietly.

Basra 08/24/2010

________________

Translator’s Remarks by Misbah Kamal
 
This translation was commissioned by Wafaa’ to commemorate the 3rd anniversary of the death of Abdul-Rahman Aref. Wafaa’ rightly believes that the life and politics of Aref, a unique interregnum in Iraq’s modern history, deserves serious study.

Translation was not easy as the style of the writer is discursive and lacks conciseness. I have taken some liberty in rendering the text in English. The article reads like a rushed journalistic piece to pay tribute to Abdul-Rahman Aref on the third anniversary of his death. It is anecdotal. Aref was president of Iraq for two years (1966-1968); therefore crediting him with “historic deeds” as the writer asserts may be viewed as an exaggeration..

For a different journalistic approach, Arabic readers can refer to Laith Al-Hamdani’s article (published on 27 August 2007), some of whose ideas were borrowed by Kadhim Finjan Al-Hamami. Here is the link to Al-Hamdani: http://www.ahewar.org/debat/show.art.asp?aid=107178

Insurance in 1935: Law No. 64 of Dallaleen

by Misbah Kamal

A Note on Insurance Intermediation in the
Law of Dallaleen No. 64 of 1935

In September 2008 I published a short study in Arabic entitled: "Concerning Intermediation and Insurance Intermediation in Iraq" in the Iraq Insurance Review blog http://misbahkamal.blogspot.com/2008_09_01_archive.html

In introducing the study I pointed out that it is "a preliminary incomplete study, which needs to be developed." In making that statement, I was hoping that "colleagues in Iraq would contribute to aspects of the legal and economic role expected of insurance brokers in the structure of Iraq’s insurance market.” I also mentioned that “insurance intermediation, as a distinct profession is not known in Iraq’s business sector; there is no business culture associated with insurance intermediation but, in the broad sense, it is not lacking in Iraq and in this context we have to recall intermediation in buying and selling real estate.”
Recently I have come across a piece of legislation entitled Law of Dallaleen No. 64 of 1935, confirming the validity of the comments that I have quoted above regarding the concept and practice of intermediation and its public circulation but more importantly the presence of insurance intermediation apparently as a distinct activity.

This Law (قانون الدلالين) is called Kanoon Al-Dallaleen. The word Dallaleen is the plural form of Dallal, which is used to imply auctioneer, insurance broker, stockbroker, intermediary, middleman and estate agent. Literally, the Arabic word Dallal means one who guides (and any professional intermediary is expected to guide clients).

I have translated the Law to English in full, appended below, for the benefit of the non-Arabic reader and to use it for my commentary on selected aspects of the law in the context of insurance intermediation. From the perspective of insurance history in Iraq, it is an important piece of legislation.
Here, I am taking advantage of some of the provisions of this Law to re-state and refine the general idea of intermediation to which I referred in my earlier study in Arabic– namely, that insurance intermediation, albeit in a limited form, was known and was the subject of limited regulation in the 193os.

Because of the generic nature of the concept “Dallal” as applied in this law, I have opted for using the English transliteration of the Arabic word in its various forms.

Article 1 of this Law provides the following definitions:

"Delalah – al-Wassattah [mediation, intermediation, brokerage] for concluding contracts or facilitating civil or commercial transactions concerning movable and immovable property, bonds and [shipping/insurance?] policies[1] and banknotes of different types and other branches deriving from such transactions.

Dallal [intermediary, broker] – he who is engaged in intermediation as a profession.”


We note here that the word "Dallal" is explained by the word al-Wassattah "mediation, intermediation” which suggests that the two words are synonymous. We also note that Delalah, the activity of intermediation, according to article 2 of this law, is limited to natural persons, as the law makes no specific provisions for the registration of the Dallal as a corporate body.

Sub-Article 2- E requires that the Dallal is “Competent in reading and writing in Arabic or employs a person with such competence.” This is interesting as it points to promoting Arabic as a language of business. It also implies that the Dallal might be either illiterate or a foreigner who has no command of the Arabic language. Thus, to make up for the lack of language competency, the Dallal has to employ “a person with such competence.”

Article 3 mandates that the Dallal must register at the Chamber of Commerce in the region where he practices his business. The registration is annual and subject to renewal and updating the identity of the category(ies) of Delalah engaged in. Here we see the early role of law in consolidating the position of chambers of commerce as partners in regulatory activity.

Article 4 refers to the classification of Dallaleen by the Chamber of Commerce to five categories but these categories are not mentioned (we assume that there was an implementing instrument or regulation in this regard that we have not been able to trace). We also assume that Delalah [intermediation, brokerage] in insurance business was one of these five categories. We are encouraged to assert this view because Schedule B of Order Number 14 of 1936, based on Law of Dallaleen No. 64 of 1935, sets the level of fees for intermediation in Baghdad in respect of a plethora of activities. The following fees were set for insurance:

“Fire and Flood and other Insurance, excluding life insurance, 10% of the original premium.

Life insurance, 25% of the total premium of the first year.”

The law also includes a few provisions on the organization of the Dellal’s business like bookkeeping, adherence to the designated category of activity for which he is licensed, i.e. not breaching the field of specialisation, etc (Article 6). Also, to be noted is the emphasis on trust and the penalties stipulated if it is breached (Article 8). This is a significant provision as it registers a basic regulatory principle underlying modern systems of protection for the insured’s interest.

We can conclude from reviewing these selected provisions that Delalah/intermediation activity, including insurance intermediation, was known in Iraq in the 1930s if not earlier but was not properly regulated and thus required legislative intervention in the form of the 1935 law and the orders derived from it.

We are not able to determine the source of this law. It may well be the case that it was based on an English model. But this is only a guess and needs proper investigation.

It is useful to note that this law, under Article 15, repealed the Ottoman Dallaleen and Brokers Order dated 26-7-1304 [20 April 1889] and its Supplement dated 25-8-1306 [26 April 1889]. The word Brokers here is a literal translation of the word Simsareen.[2] Unfortunately, we were not able to trace this Order and its Supplement, dating back to the nineteenth century, to compare it with the 1935 law. We are not sure if insurance and insurance brokerage were covered by them.

It is not enough to write history, and we do not claim to be doing so, by speculating and relying on legal texts alone. It is true that laws reflect existing conditions necessitating regulation and influencing the direction of business development, but that does not absolve us from researching the facts relevant to these conditions and the practices associated with them. We view these legal texts as indicators that shed some light on existing conditions, and pave the way for professionalization of non-codified traditional practices in certain areas.

We concede that professionalism does not always arise by the force of law as the history of some professions in the West in particular witness Professionalization, through defining terms of entry, for example, developed from within the professions themselves. The promulgation of the Dallaleen Law points to the emergence of specialized activities in the service sector. One is inclined to the view that legislative intervention in regulating business activities contributes to shaping or re-shaping of existing practices. And this is why this particular piece of legislation, like others, is so significant.

However, despite the legal framework for regulating intermediation and as far as insurance is concerned, intermediation did not develop for reasons that need to be investigated. The activity, in its evolution in the 1950s and 1960s, was reduced to the work of agents who were tied to insurance companies that survives to this day but without much weight.[3]

The 1935 Law, however, survived for over four decades until it was repealed by the Delalah Law Number 58 of 1987. Significantly, article 2 of the new law defined four categories of intermediaries: estate agency, buying, selling and leasing vehicles, auctioneering and buying and selling agricultural and industrial products and other properties. Insurance intermediation was not included among them. By now, insurance intermediation has lost all legal recognition.

One wonders if the chambers of commerce in Baghdad, Basra and Mosul kept records. If records do exist, they would be of great value to economic historians in estimating the number of intermediaries, their specialist activities, identities, revenues, etc.

If our analysis were correct, then Law of Dallaleen No. 64 of 1935 would be the first of its kind in regulating insurance broking business in Iraq. But this has to be qualified by virtue of the existence of previous regulations: Dallaleen and Brokers Order dated 26-7-1304 [20 April 1889] and its Supplement dated 25-8-1306 [26 April 1889]. The word “Brokers” in the title of the order (plural: simsareen, singular: simsar) here might not necessarily stand for “insurance brokers.” This of course needs further investigation.

We hope that colleagues concerned with the history of insurance in Iraq, and generally with Iraq’s economic history, will follow-up this and other related topics.

London July 2010
English Translation of the
Dallaleen Law No. 64 of 1935

The Arabic text of this law can be read by using this link:

http://www.iraq-ild.org/LoadLawBook.aspx?SC=260920059254324

_________________________________


We the King of Iraq
With the agreement of the Senate and the House of Representatives ordered the promulgation of the following law:


Article 1
The following words and expressions have the meanings set opposite thereto:

Intermediation (Delilah) – al-Wassatah [intermediation, brokerage] for concluding contracts or facilitating civil or commercial transactions concerning movable and immovable property, bonds and [insurance] policies and banknotes of different types and other branches deriving from such transactions.

Intermediary (Dallal) – he who has taken on intermediation as a profession."

Chamber of Commerce - Chamber of Commerce in the region where the Dallal practices his regular work.

Article 2
The Dallal must meet the following conditions:

A – must not be less than twenty-one year of age and have Iraqi nationality.

B - Not to have been convicted of a felony or misdemeanour involving moral turpitude unless he has regained the rights denied to him (sic) [i.e. unless the conviction was spent].

C – Not made bankrupt unless he has restored his solvency.

D - Known for his integrity and good conduct.

E – Competent in reading and writing in Arabic or employs a person with such competence.

Article 3
The Dallal who meets the conditions set forth in Article 2 must register with the Chamber of Commerce and renew the registration annually and has a certificate evidencing his registration containing his photograph and the categories of Delalah for which he is licensed to practice.

Article 4
A – The Dallallon [plural of Dallal] are classified by the Chamber of Commerce into five categories and the Dallal can object to [his] classification by the Chamber within one year.

B – The Dallal pays an annual registration fee to be set by a directive.

C - Part of the year is considered [a full] year for the purpose of registration.

Article 5
A Dallal registered with the Chamber of Commerce is permitted to practice his business throughout Iraq.

Article 6
The Dallal must comply with the following obligations:

(Class Three or lower Dallals are exempt from all or some of these obligations based on a special directive.)

A - Maintain a register with numbered pages the first and last pages of which to be stamped and approved by the Chamber of Commerce without charge according to the form approved by the Chamber of Commerce after approval by the Minister of Finance. Transactions are to be entered in Arabic by using ink or copying pencil.

B - Enter all transactions brokered in the logbook daily with their details and the result gained by such transaction.‏

C - Avoid erasing and deletion or tearing of a page from the contents of the logbook.

D - Does not leave a space between lines or more than the usual space between one transaction and another.

E - Does not leave a blank page between the pages in which transactions have been entered.

F - Keep logbooks that are full, for a period of not less than ten years from the entry date of the last transaction.

G - Presents the license to a court of law when the court so decides.

H - Presents the license, on demand, to the relevant departments upon their request.

I - Submits to the Chamber of Commerce a statement in writing if he wishes to leave the profession within a year.

Article 7
A – a person who engages in Delalah in professions that by law are not to be the subject of Delalah, or practises Delalah without registering with the Chamber of Commerce shall be penalised by a court of law initially by a fine not exceeding forty dinars, and when the same [offence] is repeated by a fine not exceeding sixty dinars, or by imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months.

B – A person who continues to engage in Delalah after the end of the license year and before the renewal of the license or before payment of the fee shall be penalised initially by a fine not exceeding twenty dinars and on recurrence by a fine not exceeding forty dinars, or by imprisonment for a term not exceeding one month.

C – The Dallal who violates one of the obligations mentioned in Article 4 shall be penalised by the court initially by a fine not exceeding five dinars and on recurrence by a fine not exceeding ten dinars.

D – The Chamber of Commerce, at the request of the Minister of Finance or the stakeholders, bars the Dallal from doing business for a period not exceeding one year if he has neglected one of the obligations in Article 6 and that in addition to the sentence imposed by the court.

Article 8
The name of the Dallal will be permanently removed from the register of the Chamber of Commerce if he has been in breach of trust or has damaged the interests of those for whom he has acted as a broker or used deception and cheating in his dealings, after he is proven guilty in court and [the verdict] publicized in the press.

Article 9
The testimony of a Dallal who has engaged in Delalah without a license does not count in court in respect of the transactions that he has brokered.

Article 10
It is not permissible for the Dallal to conduct business for his own account, and if in breach will be punished in accordance with paragraph B of Article VII.

Article 11
It is not permissible for government departments or municipalities to use a Dallal who is not registered with the Chamber of Commerce.

Article 12
The Dallal collects a fee not exceeding the ratios specified by a special directive.

Article 13
This law also applies to the Dallal who works for a sole trader or company or more than one company.

Article 14
The provisions of this law apply in areas, designated by a special bylaw, that have chambers of commerce.

Article 15
The Dallaleen and Simsareen Order dated 26-7-1304 and its Supplement dated 25-8-1306 is repealed.

Article 16
This Law shall become effective on 1 April 1936.

Article 17
The Minister of Finance and [the Minister of] Justice shall implement this law.

Written in Baghdad on the twelfth day of the month of Ramadan in the year 1354 and the eighth day of the month of December 1935.

Ghazi
Rasheed Ali, Deputy Minister of Justice
Raouf Al-Bahrani, Finance Minster
Yaseen Al-Hashimi, Prime Minister

Published in the Official Gazette number 1479 on 23-12-1935.

NOTES
* The present paper is an extensively revised and expanded version of the original Arabic that I have posted to the Iraq Insurance Review blog. I wrote this and other isolated article to remind the reader that knowledge of the past is important not only to preserve memory of the past but also to stress that accumulation is a pre-condition for progress. The ideology of ‘destroy and rebuild’ has placed a heavy toll on the advancement of Iraq.

[1] The bolisat, the plural form of bolisah, can be translated as “policies” plural of “policy” as in insurance policy. It seems that the word "bolisat" (plural) and "bolisah" (singular) was commonly used at that time as the word "Bolesat" is mentioned in the Insurance Companies Act No. 74 of 1936 in conjunction with the word 'sukkook' (instruments, documents) as follows:

“Article 3”

1. The Minister of Finance must suspend the license ….. or cancel the license in each of the following circumstances:

A - If the [insurance] company or its agent violated the provisions of Law No. 74 of the year (1936) in any way.

B - If it is conclusively proven that one of the sukkook holders (sic.) [policyholders] bolesat al-Tameen [insurance policies] in Iraq has made a claim against the insurance company, which is not contested, and the company or its agent neglected the claim for ninety days or if the agent or the company declined the implementation of a peremptory judgement.” [Emphasis added]

Here we see the use of the Arabic word “sukkook" (plural of 'sukk') and the foreign word "bolesat [policies] of insurance" as synonymous.

The word "sukk" is used in common parlance in Iraq as equivalent to the words "cheque" (bank cheque) and "document" as in the expression “sukk al-Entidab" (the Mandate Document or Instrument."

But the word “Bolisah” is also common in shipping as in Bolisat al-Shahan (Bill of Lading).

Based on the above the word Bolisat under Article 1 of the Dallaleen Law of 1935 does not, strictly speaking, stand for insurance policy. This linguistic digression is meant to show that idiomatic use of words was not rigorously applied.

[2] For an extended comment on word simsareen (plural of simsar: middleman, broker, intermediary), readers of Arabic can refer to my article “Concerning Intermediation and Insurance Intermediation in Iraq," Iraq Insurance Review, http://misbahkamal.blogspot.com/2008/09/blog-post.html

[3] Misbah Kamal, Munther Al-Aswad & Fouad Shamkar, “Insurance Agencies in Iraq: a preliminary attempt at stimulating research” (in Arabic), Iraq Insurance Review, January 2010, http://misbahkamal.blogspot.com/2010/01/1.html.

Mohammed Al-Kubaisi, “Insurance Agencies: an approach to understanding insurance service,” (in Arabic) Iraq Insurance Review, January 2010, http://misbahkamal.blogspot.com/2010/01/blog-post.html

M. Kamal learned the principles of insurance in Baghdad when he started working for the National Insurance Company (1968). He holds first and postgraduate degrees from British universities (1967 & 1978). At present, he works for a London-based international insurance broking house. He has co-authored Arabic translations of insurance books and contributed to compiling an English-Arabic insurance dictionary. Kamal manages the Iraq Insurance Review blog http://misbahkamal.blogspot.com/ and is part of the Iraq History group's translators' team.

The History of Arabs in IRAQ

 By Wefa M. S.

The history of Arabs in Iraq can be traced back to ancient Mesopotamia. Arabs were mentioned in Assyrian manuscripts. They were known to be talented singers and musicians. 

In “Ancient and Oriental Music” book edited by Egon Wellesz, chapter V, page 236, “The Music of Ancient Mesopotamia”, Henry George Farmer states, “…It has been said that ‘the old danced whilst the young made music. One imagines that there were toil songs among the ancient Semites, as we know in the ‘well song’ of Numbers xxi.17. Singers and drummers, in a picture of Assyrians felling palm-trees, certainly appear to be facilitating labor. Indeed an Assyrian annalist gives a picture of the Arabs who, as prisoners of war, were working as slaves at Nineveh, where they sang their native songs to relieve their sorrows. Their exotic music fascinated the idle Assyrians who begged for more.”

The earliest mention of the term ‘Arab’ was recorded during the reign of the Assyrian King, Salmanassar III (858-824 BCE) when Assyrians were at war near Al-Asi River, north of Homa in Syria. The war was between the Assyrian army on one side and the Arameans, Phoenicians and Arabs on another; all backing the king of Damascus. The war ended in favor of the Assyrian King who wrote: “Qarqar is the capital; I burnt and destroyed it: 1200 Knights, 20,000 soldiers and 1000 camels for the Arab Jandibo….”

During the Assyrian king, Tiglat Pilesar III (745-727 BCE), who was mentioned in the Torah, Arabian queen, Zabiba, was recorded as follows: “…and so the Aribi [meaning Arabian] queen, Zabiba paid taxes …” to the Assyrian king Pilesar III. In his reign, there was also a mention of another Arabian queen, Sams, Shams or Shamsa.

Arabs were also mentioned during King Sargon II (721-705 BCE). He was quoted as saying, “The distant Arabs who live in the Badiya [or Peninsula] don’t have a king or ruler and they never paid taxes to any king before me.”

In documenting the war against Babylonians, Assyrian King, Sencharib (705-681 BCE) stated that, “he took soldiers of an Arabian army, led by Basqanu, as prisoners”. Basqanu was the brother of Arabian queen Yatie. In 691 BCE, Sencharib also mentioned that he went to war against another Arabian queen, Talkhono, and later against the Arab King, Khazayli (خزعلي).

The term ‘Arab’ was recorded in Assyrian manuscripts as Aribi, Arbi, Arabi or Urbi. Arabs were also mentioned numerous times in the Torah as well as ancient Greek and Roman manuscripts.

Therefore, the statements indicating that Arab history began with Islam and in the Arabian Peninsula are far from the truth. In ancient times, and depending on who was in power and where they lived, Arabs spoke their native language, Arabic, and the languages of the region, Aramaic and Hebrew; all Semitic languages. There is absolutely no evidence as to which of the Semitic languages appeared or was spoken first. One thing is certain: Only Arabic (of all Semitic languages) is still used closest to its original form (more than one and half thousand years) in books, newspapers, TV/radio, films, the UN and in religious mosques and institutions with the largest number of speakers (in comparison to speakers of other Semitic languages).

Jaroslav Stetkevych*, an emeritus professor of Arabic at the University of Chicago, described Arabic language as follows: “It has lived for one millennium and a half essentially unchanged, usually gaining, never completely losing. Venus-like, it was born in a perfect state of beauty, and it has preserved that beauty in spite of all the hazards of history and all the corrosive forces of time. It is true that there was not always that Praxitelean limpidity of line about it. Figuratively speaking, it has known its Gothic, its Renaissance and its Baroque periods. It has known austerity, holy ecstasy and voluptuousness, bloom and decadence. It exuberated in times of splendor and persisted through times of adversity in a state of near-hibernation. But when it awoke again, it was the same language. The fact that Arabic long survived and still had the vitality to burgeon a new might be due to religious and social factors, but the quantitative ability to expand and the qualitative capacity to attain perfection and to maintain its essential characteristics are merits of the language exclusively.”

Jaroslav Stetkevych

Ancient Arabs followed paganism and practiced Judaism, Christianity and Islam. A minority of Arabs are Sabi'a (aka Mandaeans) who have been living in Iraq for centuries or Druze who live outside of Iraq, mainly in Syria and Lebanon. Christian Arabs have been living in Egypt, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine and Sudan. The largest number of Jewish Arabs have lived in Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Morocco and Yemen. Moslem Arabs are the vast majority and have been living in twenty different countries extending from Yemen, Oman and Iraq in Asia to Sudan, Libya and Mauritania in Africa.  

In the 20th Century and with the European colonization and later Euro-American monopoly, the terms ‘Arab Jew’ or ‘Jewish Arab’ became a matter of debate to the extent of rejecting these terms by Ashkenazi Jews (European converts to Judaism), Zionists and pro-Zionists in the industrial west. Due to this identity rejection along with the continued discrimination against Jewish Arabs (in some Arab countries and especially in Israel), the history and contributions of Arabs in general and of Jewish Arabs in particular have been marginalized. 

The interference of Ashkenazi Jews (who adopted and funded Zionism) in the lives of Jewish Arabs has been mentioned in depth by Naeem Giladi, Yeheskeil Kojaman, Ella Shohat, Shoshana Madmoni-Gerber, Zvi Bendor, Sami Shalom, David Shasha, Sami Michael, Samir Naqqash, Shimon Ballas and others. In his book, “Ben Gurion’s Scandals,” Giladi mentions in details how the Zionists applied terror and used explosives to force Iraqi Jews to leave Iraq for Israel and use them as cheap labor. 

There is a large body of misinformation and errors made about the history of Arabs in general and especially in Iraq that necessitate re-evaluation and correction, not only in history books and journals, but also in school curriculum and the media.    

* Died on June 21, 2021
____________________________________________________

Sources:

1. “Ancient and Oriental Music,” edited by Egon Wellesz, Oxford University Press.

2. “The Link,” Volume 31, Issue 2, April-May 1998.

3. “Tareekh al-Musiqa al-Arabiyah” by Subhi Anwar Rashid, Bavaria Institute, 2000.

The Beginnings of Insurance Regulations in IRAQ

THE BEGINNINGS OF INSURANCE AND REGULATION OF INSURANCE ACTIVITY IN IRAQ – AN OVERVIEW

Misbah Kamal

The Arabic version of this study was published in Al-Thakafa Al-Jadida, Baghdad, No. 331, 2009, p. 44-52

Secondary sources are not sufficient for the writing of history. Historical research requires searching for information and data from original sources. Because of the lack of such sources, we have based the writing of this paper on published material as a first attempt to present a brief outline of early insurance activity in Iraq.

This paper requires critical review by those interested in the history of insurance in Iraq, especially those who have or can access the sources.

It is not correct to say, as a matter of national pride, that insurance activity in Iraq is very old going back to the Code of Hammurabi and other ancient laws of Iraq as though the institution of insurance, in its modern form, was known in ancient times. Yet we can trace some aspects of transferring the burden of loss and compensation in old practices that these laws were enacted to regulate. Other people had also similar practices in their past. These practices come close to the insurance mechanism in mitigating the consequences of bodily injury and material damages to property as evidenced by tribal funds and other types of social solidarity like disbursement of zakat funds, charity and caring for parents. These and other forms of mutual assistance constituted a form of protection in the absence of social welfare and security provided by the modern state. [1]

This ancient heritage did not translate itself in practices leading towards the formation of even a rudimentary institution of insurance. That heritage itself was not discovered until the twentieth century after the spread of insurance as a protection institution against risks that are inherent in human life and in collective activities. There is in fact a lack of continuity and an intellectual break with the past, which means that we were not able to take advantage of old secular and religious laws in the promotion of insurance and appreciate its importance in contemporary life. Thus, Iraq has not experienced insurance activity based on mutuality[2] - the oldest type of insurance witnessed in the ancient world - and even the tribal fund[3], which is a form of primitive mutuality was not institutionalized.

With the change of social structure (the emergence of a middle class, population growth, social mobility based on the growth and expansion of cities and building new roads, etc.) and the gradual decline of tribal affiliation [4] and increasing migration from rural areas to cities the tribal fund lost its importance and was replaced by social security. Because the tribal fund is based on social custom and is not written there are no records that can throw light on the role that it has played.

Insurance activity in its modern form in Iraq did not arise because of a local economic or social need for the protection of individuals and physical assets against perils of nature and risks inherent in trade and industry, as was the case in other countries such as Britain and other Western countries. Insurance entered Iraq, as in Arab countries, through the establishment of agencies for Western insurance companies.

The foreign insurance agencies in Iraq and the Arab countries were mainly associated with foreign trade of the European metropolis, and these agencies were the primary form taken by insurance activity in the Arab countries under Ottoman rule. Marine insurance of goods was the most important type of insurance transacted by the foreign agencies but there was no shortage of insurance against the hazards of fire. This type of insurance was associated with financial institutions, such as banks, providing loans for trade financing and issuing letters of credit and requiring the borrower to provide insurance as a security.

The expansion of the insurance industry outside of Britain, for example, was linked to the spreading of British trading companies in the world, and expansion of insurance took the form of establishing agencies and branches. [5]

An academic historian of The Sun Insurance Office, founded in 1710, states that

“One of the Sun’s first non-European markets was in the Near East, where the Crimean War [1853-1856] had turned the attention of British capitalists to what The Times called ten years later, ‘the productive wealth and commercial importance of Western Asia Minor. The first indication of the concern of British business interests with this region was the concession granted in September 1856 by the Sultan to Sir Joseph Paxton and his partners to construct a railway from Smyrna, justly described as ‘the Liverpool of the Levant’ to Aydin, 80 miles inland.”

This was followed by the establishment of the Imperial Ottoman Bank and later the establishment of two insurance agencies in 1863 by the Royal of Liverpool and the Sun Fire Office.

The writer goes on to mention the difficulties and the efforts by these two agencies to overcome the “religious prejudice (was it right to guard against disasters decreed by God?), commercial conservatism, inadequate fire-fighting methods, low standards of morality, and dangerous methods of building and manufacturing.” [6]

The writer also mentions that in 1867 the Sun appointed an agent in Istanbul. In the early 1880s, agencies were established in Cyprus, Beirut, Alexandria and Port Said. Mosul or Baghdad or Basra were not part of this expansion until later in the twentieth century. [7]

We did not trace the history of the expansion of British insurers to Iraq and we hope that it can be researched when sources become available. What we have shown is the tendency of British capitalism to expand abroad, including Iraq, especially after its occupation in 1917. Thus, we find that the first entry for British companies to Iraq was in the wake of the occupation.

If the experience of insurance companies in other Arab countries, Egypt for example, can be used as a guideline, one can presume that insurance against the risks of fire and life insurance was also known in Iraq.

"Insurance and assurance in the Arab World were latecomers, as their first appearance in any Middle East country occurred after the invasion and occupation of Egypt by British forces in 1882. The first class of business was life assurance. It was a small British office founded in 1845 that moved into Cairo as part of its move into countries outside the UK. This took place in the mid-1880s." [8]

When the Insurance Companies Act of 1936 was enacted, it confirmed the presence of life insurance, as we shall describe later.

There was no national insurance company in Iraq when Faisal son of Sharif Hussein was crowned king of Iraq on 23 August 1921, the event that marked the establishment of an independent political entity by the name of Iraq under British tutelage,. Even before the First World War (1914-1918) insurance activity, in its commercial institutional form, was not known in Iraq. Bassim Faris in his encyclopaedic book on insurance in the Arab countries presumes that the introduction of insurance to Iraq, in its Western form, was at the end of 1922 after the signing of the Anglo-Iraqi agreement in October of that year. The assumption is that the great British trading houses were tracking the expansion of the British Crown in the world. [9] This assumption is true in many cases (but there are exceptions with regard to the expansion of British insurers companies in some European countries and the United States which were not under British occupation or colonies belonging to the British Crown during the period of expansion of insurance outside Britain). But other sources indicate the validity of this date as two British companies, the Provincial Insurance Company and the Guardian Assurance Company, began work in Iraq in 1920. [10]

The 1920s witnessed rapid and important changes represented by the formation of various state institutions, including educational and financial institutions, and population increase, especially in Baghdad. A tendency appeared in this period to expand the scope of private property and wealth accumulation through the expansion of Iraq’s links with the world markets. But these and other changes did not translate in this period by the rise of an Iraqi insurance company. A quarter of a century will elapse before such a company is established.

There is a reference in one of the tables in Hanna Batatu’s The Old Social Classes and New Revolutionary Movements of Iraq, to three foreign insurance companies in the year 1928-1929. Based on English reports, all important insurance business in 1936 was controlled by British insurance companies. [11]

We do not have information on the laws regulating insurance activity in this period and it appears that the first Iraqi law in this regard was issued in 1936. Before then insurance in Iraq was regulated under the Ottoman Commercial Law of 9 August 1904 (21 Jumādā al-Ālthani 1323) and its Supplement the Insurance Act (Sigorta). The Sigorta was composed of 25 articles. This commercial law was influenced by European commercial codes. Thus, insurance activity at that time was subject to the Ottoman Law of Insurance Companies, al-Sigorta (this is indeed how the supplement on the reasons for issuing the Law of Insurance Companies and Agents No. 49 of 1960 refers to it).

On 1st April 1936 the Insurance Companies Act No. 74 of 1936 was issued during the second ministry of Yassin al-Hashemi (1894-1937), which did not last long (1935 to 1936), as it was ousted by Bakr Sidqi (1886-1937) in a military coup (26 October 1936), the first coup in the history of modern Iraq and in the Arab world.

This short law (no longer valid, replaced by subsequent legislation) consists of 13 articles. It is perhaps the first serious attempt to supervise the operation of local and foreign insurance activity. We first note in this law its focus on what it calls "human life" as it draws a distinction between life insurance, instalment insurance and guarantee of capital, although the so-called insurance by premiums is a form of life insurance. Article 1 in this regard reads:

"The meaning attached in this Act to the terms [below] shall be:

Life insurance is commercial business whereby contracts are made to insure the lives of human beings, including any contract to pay a sum of money at death or the occurrence of a happening related to human life as well as any contract to pay the insured persons an amount of money for a period depending on human life and

Instalment Insurance is commercial business by means of which contracts of insurance are made to pay the insured persons instalments of fixed sums depending on human life.

Capital Guarantee is commercial business by means of which contracts of insurance are made to pay in the future to the insured persons an amount or several amounts in consideration of one or several payments that they have made to the insurance company, excluding life insurance and instalment insurance mentioned above." [12] [Emphasis by author]

We infer from this text that these types of insurance policies were known at the time, but we do not know the names of companies that were underwriting them and the social groups that purchased them and the level of the insured amounts. We also do not know the number of Iraqis who were holders of such policies.

Other types of insurance, such as fire and marine insurance are not identified in this law except that article 2 refers to "other insurance" as follows:

"A company that transacts any type of insurance business Sigorta [13] in Iraq, whether it has an office in Iraq or is represented by an agent or [and] deposits in its name at a bank designated by the Minister of Finance:

1 - a sum of money, not less than 10,000 Dinars for life insurance or for instalment insurance or capital redemption or as a whole.

2 - a sum of money, not less than 5,000 Dinars for other insurance business."

It appears from the text that the companies referred to in the law are non-Iraqi companies ("whether it [the insurance company] has an office in Iraq or is represented by an agent") since at that time no insurance company with Iraqi capital was incorporated.

Other insurance business was defined under the Act Amending the Insurance Companies Act No. 74 of 1936 (Al-Waqa'i Al-Iraqiya, Iraqi Official Gazette, Issue 1896, 4/7/1941), where under Article 1 of the Amendment Act it was stated:

"Article 1
The following paragraph is added to the first article of the Insurance Companies Act No. 74 of 1936:

Other forms of insurance are contracts to insure against fire, accidents, accidents at work and injuries arising therefrom, loss or destruction or damage or burglary, land, sea and air transport, and dishonesty and all risks and accidents that are not expressly stated in this act."

Perhaps this law was the first in Iraq to provide for the financial solvency of insurance companies as Article 6 states that companies "at least once every three years, investigate [audit] their finances, including the assessment of debts and assets, by an accountant specialising in insurance business ..." Perhaps by a specialist accountant is meant an actuary or a chartered accountant. We may be wrong in this regard since Iraq has not had a full-time actuary working for an insurance company.

Moreover, this law may also have been the first Iraqi legislation regulating the operation of foreign insurance companies. Article 7 in this regard states:

"No foreign company is permitted to transact in Iraq life insurance business or instalment insurance or guaranteeing capital unless it has a subscribed capital equivalent to at least one hundred thousand dinars."

This article was slightly modified under the Act Amending the Insurance Companies Act No. 74 of 1936:

"Article 5
The provisions of Article 7 of the said Act is cancelled and replaced by the following:

It is not permissible for a foreign company in Iraq to transact any type of insurance provided for in the first article of this act unless it confirms that it has a paid up capital equivalent to at least one hundred thousand dinars."

The focus of the amendment was to replace the subscribed capital (authorized capital subscribed by the shareholders in the company) with a paid-up capital (amounts paid by the shareholders for their subscribed share). The emphasis on the paid-up capital is a matter of ensuring that the insurance company is financially solvent to operate and meet its liabilities.

After the enactment of the Insurance Companies Act No. 74 of 1936, the Licensing of Insurance Companies’ Agents Order No. 25 of 1936 (the Iraqi Official Gazette, Issue 1522, 6/18/1936) was issued. This order included five articles:

"Article 1
The license provided for under Article 8 of the Insurance Companies Act No. 74 of 1936 to engage in agency for an insurance company must meet the following conditions:

1 - The agent must have an agency conferring on him a legal status...

2 - The Agent must:

A - be 21 years old
B - is not convicted of a felony or misdemeanour involving moral turpitude.
C - is not bankrupt unless rehabilitated.
D - known for his integrity and good conduct.
E - registered with the Chamber of Commerce.

This order was amended by the Order Amending the Licensing of Insurance Companies’ Agents No. 25 of 1936 (Iraqi Official Gazette, 30 May 1938). The focus of the amendment was paragraph 2 of Article 1, which cancelled paragraph 2 of Article 1 and replaced it by the following paragraph:

"2 - the agent must be:

A – a juridical person whose juridical personality is admitted under Iraqi laws in force and registered with the Chamber of Commerce.

B - a natural person, 21 years of age, known for his integrity and good conduct and not convicted of a felony or a misdemeanour involving moral turpitude or bankruptcy unless rehabilitated and is registered with the Chamber of Commerce."

The importance of this amendment lies in the recognition of the insurance agent as a juridical person in addition to the agent as a natural person. This indicates either a development in transacting insurance business within a two-year period or the legislator paying attention to a shortcoming in the order regulating the licensing system of insurance companies’ agents.

Article 3 of the Licensing of Insurance Companies’ Agents Order No. 25 of 1936 defined the conditions for suspending the license of the insurance company or agent:

"Article 3
1. the Minister of Finance shall suspend the license granted under the first article of this Order for a period not exceeding six months or cancel the license in the following circumstances:

A - If the company or its agent violated in any way the provisions of law No. 74 of 1936.

B - if it is conclusively proven that one of the policyholders insurance in Iraq has submitted an undisputed claim against the insurance company and the company or its agent neglected it for a period of ninety days or if the agent or the company declined the implementation of a peremptory judgement.

C - If the company's financial position falls requiring increasing the guarantee or the value of bonds used in lieu of a guarantee falls and the company or its declined to effect the increase.

2. The Minister of Finance shall reinstate the license if the provisions of the law mentioned above are implemented within sixty days from the date of suspension or revocation [of the license].

3. The license is nullified if the agent does not meet one of the conditions set forth in the first article of this order."

We note that the suspension of the license is based on three conditions (violation of the provisions of the Insurance Companies Act No. 74 of 1936, ignoring the rights of policyholders and decline in the financial position of the insurance company requiring increase in the security guarantee). These conditions are intended to protect the rights of the insured except that the text, as it is, does not elaborate with respect to recovery of such rights from the insurance company breaching the provisions of the law. Moreover, the text does not mention the imposition of a fine on the company in breach of the law.

Thus began the early regulation of insurance activity in Iraq. The subject deserves further research.

 London March 2010

[1] Misbah Kamal, “The Position of the Hammurabi Code in the History of Insurance,” written as an introduction to my Arabic translation of pages from the chapter The Early History of Insurance in Irving Pfeffer & David R Klock, Perspectives on Insurance (Englewood Cliff, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, Inc, 1974) pp 4-6, posted to the blog Iraq Insurance Review http://misbahkamal.blogspot.com/2008_07_01_archive.html

[2] C. F. Trenerry, The Origin and Early History of Insurance (London: P. S. King & Son, 1926).
[3] The tribal fund is a form of limited social solidarity, financed by individuals, each according to his ability and not on the basis of defined rules. The fund is managed by a trusted person with integrity and he may be the imam of the mosque or the tribal sheikh or an elderly person known for his rectitude. Such trustee of the fund disburses the accumulated contributions in the fund to compensate those afflicted with loss or damage. The awona (relief) is a form of spontaneous social assistance to ward off the aftermath of damages sustained by other.

It would not be out of place to mention here another traditional institution relating to dispute resolution: tribal administration of justice. This is made up of unwritten ‘laws’ and customs in use by members of the tribe to organise their life and settle their differences by resorting to the judgement of the tribal judge. The judge is a member of the tribe distinguished by his knowledge of tribal laws, traditions and customs and his high moral standing and reputation. The judge may be the sheikh of the tribe or other member of the tribe who has the attributes expected for the role. The system includes procedures represented by jaha (a group of people commissioned by one person or more to intercede or mediate in resolving a problem); attwa (a truce between to adversaries, the truce being granted by the aggrieved, victim’s, family for such period as they deem fit) and qahwa arabiya (drinking Arabic coffee, a symbol signifying the termination of disagreements).

qahwa arabiya is known in Egypt as ga’dat al-arab, to be found in rural and Bedouin communities, which is equivalent to a customary court, resorted to end disputes over killing among important families. Alhayat newspaper, 8 September 1999.

[4] In order to maintain control over the reign of power, in the wake of the fracture of the institution of the family, the regime started to stoke tribal affiliation which has become after the US occupation and in conjunction with sectarianism, an effective instrument for the management of public affairs. cf Zuhair Al-Jazairy, The Despot: the making of a leader, the making of a people (Baghdad & Beirut: Institute of Strategic Studies, 2006), pp 235-245.

The artificial revival of tribal affiliation since 9 April 2003, encouraged by the US Administration, the occupying power, and pursued by a few of the ruling political parties in Iraqis confined to the political and security space.
[5] R L Carter, Economics and Insurance (Stockport: PH Press Ltd, n.d. [1971?], p56.

[6] P G M Dickson, The Sun Fire Office 1710-1960 (London: Oxford University Press, 1960), p188.

[7] Dickson, op. cit., p190.

[8] Basim A Faris, Insurance &Reinsurance in the Arab World (London: Kluwer Publishing, 1983), p43.

[9] Faris, op. cit. pp 192-193.

[10] Abdul Zahra Abdullah Ali, Insurance Development in the Arab World (London: Graham & Trotman, 1985) p 2, quoting Swiss Reinsurance Company, Insurance Markets of the World (Zurich: Swiss Re Publications, 1964).

[11] Hanna Batatu, The Old Social Classes and New Revolutionary Movements of Iraq, (London, al-
[12] The original Arabic does not read well as it appears to be a translation from an English text. The provisions of the law cannot be easily matched with the common types of life insurance policies.  These policies can be in the form of:

Convertible Life Insurance – a term insurance policy with the option, to be exercised before the expiry of the policy, to convert to Whole Life or Endowment.

Endowment Life Insurance - a fixed term policy with the sum insured payable on death or at the end of the term whichever occurs first.

Industrial Life Assurance – based on collection of weekly or monthly premium to insure life of an individual. It was popular in industrial areas as a means of saving for a future lump sum or protection against industrial accidents, etc. It is now extinct.

Term Life or Temporary Life Insurance – sum insured payable only if death occurs during the policy term.

Whole Life Insurance – sum insured payable only on death.

[This endnote was not in the original Arabic text. I added it when drafting the English text].

[13] The term sigorta is Turkish taken form the Italian sicurta means insurance. There was an Ottoman law with that term in its title – namely, Law of Insurance (Sigorta) issued in 1322 AH. In Iraq, the word is sometimes spelled as sogarah or ssograh. The latter is popularly used in Iraq as equivalent to insurance; it is also used to denote certainty. In the law of 1936, the term “sigorta” appears as explanatory of the preceding terms “insurance business.”Saqi Books, 2000). The table is in page 307 of the Arabic translation of the book (Beirut: Arab Research Establishment).

July 14 Remembered

July 14, 1958

© Copyrights Khalis Azmi, 2009

PM Abdul Karim Qassim (left), Khalis Azmi (middle) and the late Naji Al-Aseel (right)

Picture was taken at Babul Muatham on July 14th celebrations, 1962

 
July 14, 1958 was the date on which the revolution led by the "Free Officers" put an end to the monarchy and established the Republic of Iraq. Since that date, General Abdul Karim Qassim became the Prime Minister until his execution in February 1963.

To read more about the revolution, the free officers and the life, family and leadership of Abdul Karim Qassim, please click here

In Memory of Those Who Were Murdered . . . .

Layla Al-Attar

Layla's Paintings

 

 

June 26/27, 1993

A Forgotten Piece of History

by Wefa M. S.

The U.S. military was commanded by Bill Clinton to demolish the headquarters of the Mukhabarat, the Iraqi intelligence services, in central Baghdad. The attack took place on the evening of June 26, 1993 (morning of June 27 in Baghdad). Twenty missiles hit the agency complex while three missed their targets.

Clinton stated that information became available about Iraqi operatives who were behind an assassination attempt on President George Bush I in April 1993 while at a ceremony honoring him in Kuwait. Saddam Hussein was said to have ordered the attempt on Bush’s life. Despite the capturing of those who were to carry out the attack, Clinton felt the urge to retaliate!

"Those arrested were merely drug and alcohol smugglers. In the aftermath of the June 26 missile attack, one-by-one the mythical would-be assassins were released from Kuwaiti jails, but, the U.S. media did not consider this information newsworthy. It was not as exciting as assassination plots and missile attacks." 1

At that time, opponents of Clinton criticized him for his lenient policies for Iraq despite it being a defenseless country suffering from the aftermath of the 1991 war and the harshest economic sanctions ever. Iraq was an easy target to strike and show off strength.

The three missiles that missed their intended target fell on residential houses in Harthiya and Mansour areas of Baghdad killing eight civilians unrelated to the Intelligence headquarters. Unfortunately, the name of only six of the victims are available to me and are acknowledged here with the hope that the two additional names will be provided by the help of truth-seeking individuals.

Among the murdered were two members from the Al-Qaisy family, three from the family of Jreidan-Attar and one guard by the name of Khalid (unknown last name) from the Sabaawi residence, which was referred to as the Chinese house due to its design.

Renowned artist, Layla Al-Attar, was among the victims; her husband, Abdul Khaliq Jreidan and their care taker, Khadija. In the nearby town of Al-Mansour, another family lost two of its members; the father, Maan M. Abdo Al-Qaysi and his son; Mohammed. M. A. Al-Qaysi.

Al-Attar was the director of the Iraqi National Art Museum. She was active in the international art scene of Iraq. Due to a rumor from an unknown source, some Iraqis have speculated that the killing of Al-Attar's family was on purpose because the late Layla was the one who made the portrayal of George Bush I on the floor of Al-Rashid Hotel. However this is not true. The portrayal, which was made of ceramics, was the work of another artist. Layla Al-Attar's art neither included ceramics nor portrayals.

Several testimonies by those who have met her indicated that she was steadfast, talented, elegant, organized and shrewd.  Iraq has certainly lost one of its greatest artists.

In Memory of Those Who Were Murdered, We Dedicate This Humble Memorial

They are in our thoughts

Al-Qaisy Family

Maan M. A. Al-Qaisy (father)

Mohammed M. A. Al-Qaisy (son)

Attar-Jreidan Family

Adbul Khaliq A. Jreidan (husband)

Layla Al-Attar (wife)

Khadija (care taker)

Sabaawi House

Khalid . . . (guard)

And Two Unknown Civilians . . .

*******

More Memorials & Testimonies:

June 24-27 2009
1. Jeff Archer http://www.malcomlagauche.com/id12.html (Scrawl Down to June, 2009)
Article's Title:  A Forgotten "Day of Infamy" 
2. Dr. Balsam A. Hani http://zennobia.blogspot.com/2009/06/2627.html (Arabic)

In Previous Years

1. Rick Giombetti http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article2358.htm (details)
2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8rLpXVZZWs&feature=related (song)
3. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgF914EHmeg&feature=related (narration)
4. http://www.ittijahat.com/4th_issue/layla_alattar.htm (in Arabic)


We Acknowledge All Who Provided Information and/or documented the tragedy with Appreciation

Dr. Balsam A. Hani
Maysaloun Faraj
Jeff Archer
Rima A. A. Jreidan (L. Al-Attar's daughter)
Aseel Dyke

(c) copyright Wefa M. S. 2009

Moslem Polymaths of IRAQ in Wikipedia

Written by Wefa M. S.

The following Medieval Scholars were either born, have lived most of their lives and/or have studied in IRAQ.

They were all Moslems and all, but one (Ar-Rumi) have published their work in Arabic. Al-Biruni published his books in Arabic and Persian.

The points below reflect the errors and misconceptions committed by those maintaining Wikipedia about these scholars:

1. Both Al-Farabi (alpharabius) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Farabi and Ibn Sina (Avicenna) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avicenna are presented as Persians. In the case of al-Farabi, Wikipedia enlisted two subtitles; one on his Persian origin backed supposedly by "historic sources" without using the term 'claim,' and the other introduced his Turkic origin as a claim to denote its unreliability. Under the paragraph “Persian Origin,” it states Al-Farabi’s “Iranian-speaking Central Asian origin”! There is no Iranian language, but Persian or Farsi. Additionally, 'Iran' is a modern reference. Both Al-Farabi and Ibn Sina were born and raised in Central Asia, specifically in today’s Afghanistan/Uzbekistan, little to nothing known about the origin of their parents and both contributed during the Islamic era, yet Wikipedia refers to it incorrectly as “Persian Empire” or “Samanid dynasty” and categorizes these scientists as PERSIANS.

Even though al-Farabi lived 40 years in Baghdad with no source ever mentions that he lived or studied in any city in today's Iran, in the list of regional countries (in which he was supposedly born and lived) on the right side of the page, Wikipedia completely neglect IRAQ and enlists:

Region: Central Asia, Iran, Egypt and Syria


2. The greatest Moslem chemist of his time Jabir bin Hayan al-Kufi, who was born and raised in Kufa, South of IRAQ  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geber is according to Wikipedia born in Khorasan/Iran. The Wikipedia page about this great Arab scientist is filled with mention of Persians and Persian language/thesis and unrelated Shiites-Umayyad-Abbasid rivalry overshadowing the more important subject of his great inventions. It includes a corrupted and a damaging account in the middle of the page under the subject title of "The Geber Problem" Western writers and so-called historians twist history facts and make errors about Arab (and Islamic) history. According to Wikipedia, This Arab chemist was Persian!

3. When there are serious discrepancies about the ethnic and regional origin of a Moslem Scholar, the phrases 'Moslem Scholar' or 'Moslem Scientist' are placed above the personal portrait on the right side of the webpage, yet when those are argued to be "definitely known" as Persians, the categorization above the portrait is typed 'Persian Scholar' for distinction. The portrait for the Arab scientist, Jabir al-Kufi, has only ‘Scientist’ placed on top of it without ethnicity!

4. Even though Ibn Al-Haytham http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Haytham was of Arab descent, Wikipedia enlists him as ' Arab and/or Persian' on the right-side index and interestingly does not enlist his sect as normally mentioned about the so-called Persian scholars. It states that Basra city was part of Persia by stating that he was "Born circa 965, near modern-day Basra, part of present-day Iraq, and then part of Buyid Persia,[1] ..........." This reference is unacceptable because there was no such an area or dynasty as Buyid Persia in the 10 and 11 centuries.

5. Al-Bayrooni or Al-Biruni  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Biruni has been documented as Persian even though the origin of his parents is unknown and he was born in a city in today's Kazakhstan! It typically mentions his sect (on the right-side list) during a time when there was no such categorization made. The interesting discrepancy is that even though it states in this Al-Biruni page, under the “Biography” section that Khawarizm was “then part of the Abbasid Empire,”  Wikipedia does not label him an Arab. But when the polymaths were said to have been born in a city under the so-called Persian Empire, (a wrong categorization) they are automatically labeled as Persians. See the commentary about al-Khawarzmi below.

6. Jalalu~Ddine Ar-Rumi or Rumi  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jalal_ad-Din_Muhammad_Rumi (the famous Sufi scholar) was born in Balkh, today's Afghanistan. His father was Arab and his mother was Persian, yet he is documented in this Wikipedia link as Persian eliminating his Arab ancestry. His father, Mohammed bin al-Hussein bin Ahmed al-Khatibi al-Bakri, was a well-respected religious scholar whose ancestry goes back to Rashidun Caliph Abu Bakr As-Siddiq. Wikipedia states that Balkh (during Rumi's time) was part of the Persian Empire despite that during Rumi's time there was no Persian Empire, it was an Islamic era/dynasty. Arabs never referred to their golden centuries as Arab Empire. They were anti-imperialists since the Assyrian & Roman empires and participated in pre-Islam wars against them, and eventually defeated the two strongest empires at that time: Persian & Roman. 


7. Ibn Zakariya Ar-Razi http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad_ibn_ZakarÄ«ya_Rāzi is again labeled Persian just because his family's name is said to mean 'from the city of Rayy' (if this is truly what it means)  Wikipedia states that:

"In Persian, Razi means "from the city of Rayy (also spelled Ray, Rey, or Rai, old Persian Ragha, Latin Rhagae -formerly one of the great cities of the World)", an ancient town on the southern slopes of the Elburz Range that skirts the south of the Caspian Sea, situated near Tehran, Iran. In this city (like Avicenna) he accomplished most of his work.[9 "   In other words, gibberish was used just to relate Ar-Razi to Iran. 

8. Al-Hasan al-Basri who was born in Medina in today's Saudi Arabia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hasan_al-Basri is also categorized as Persian indicating that his parents were Persians. Interesting enough that he is the only polymath in Wikipedia that despite being so-called Persian, the index on the right of the page (which normally has a personal portrait) does not have the title “Persian Scholar,” instead it is “Moslem Scholar”. It seems that the "Arab ethnicity" is completely and purposefully neglected by Wikipedia.


9. Mohammed bin Mousa Al-Khawarizmi  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Khawarizmi is again Persian despite that it states he was "born maybe in Khwārizm[2][4][5], in Uzbekistan," Here there is an unprecedented and scholarly unacceptable terminology, “………which was then part of the native Iranian-Khwarizmian Afrigid dynasty[6]" undoubtedly one of Wikipedia’s new inventions!
 

There is a seriously damaging sectarian inclusion provided in the Wikipedia pages under madh.hab (sect) or religion, which appears on the right side of the page. It discloses the sect as either Ismaeli or Shiite. According to Wikipedia, none of the Moslem polymaths were Arabs and nearly all of them were Persians and Shiites, which is incorrect!! Religious sects have no relevance in documenting the history of people worldwide. None of the Christian and Jewish polymaths, kings, artists and professionals are being categorized in Wikipedia or in any other encyclopedia by their religion or sect (Orthodox, moderate Jews, Catholics, Protestants, etc.) whether in documenting the past or the present!

In other words, no Moslem scholar (especially the popular) is presented in Wikipedia without being linked often incorrectly or unnecessarily to Persian ancestry!

__________________________________

This article was last updated on May 4, 2022

The Last Surviving Princess of IRAQ

© 2018, Copyright http://iraqshistory.blogspot.com 

Princess Badeea with Her Son, Mohammed Hussein

By Wefa M. S.

Born in Syria in 1920, Badeea Ali Hussein al-Hashimi* is the last surviving princess after the elimination of her entire family in July 1958. She has been living in London for more than three decades.

Princess Badeea came with her family to Iraq in 1927 and left it in 1958 after hiding for one month following the July 14 revolution. King Faisal I was her uncle and Prince Abdul Ilah (who was killed in the 1958 revolution with PM Nouri Saeed and King Faisal II) was her brother. She has three sons, the eldest is Mohammed (appearing in the picture), the middle is Abdul Ilah and the youngest is Ali (aka Asharif^ Ali) who campaigned to claim his right for the throne following the fall of Baghdad in 2003.

I interviewed Princess Badeea and her eldest son, Mohammed, in their London flat on Wednesday, July 23, 2008.  I thank retired colonel Ali Hussein al-Jasim for his appreciated efforts to introduce me to Princess Badeea and for arranging a meeting with her.

I am hoping to interview some of King Ghazi's surviving nephews, nieces, cousins and other relatives from his mother's side. It is important to also interview surviving personalities who worked with or befriended the King. If you or someone you know can help in this matter, please send an email to historyofiraq@gmail.com

* In documentation, her name often appears as Princess Badeea bint (daughter of) King Ali bin Hussein al-Hashimy.

^ Asharif means 'honorable'