The Domino Theory in the Arab Spring

On February 11, 2011, Mubarak as the Pharaoh of Egypt, fell.  Before that, the former President of Tunisia, Ben Ali, had fled to Saudi Arabia, and the fall of Mubarak was shortly followed by the bloody end of the reign of Qaddafi of Libya.  A few weeks ago, the former President of Yemen relinquished power, and now the President of Syria, Bashar Al-Assad is trying, in the most brutal fashion, to destroy his people and his country in a hopeless attempt to stay in power.  The Arab Spring is proving the existence of a domino theory which is expected to apply in short order to Bahrain.  The rest of the Gulf oil rich countries may soon follow.
We therefore pose the question: What makes the domino theory work its magic in all these Arab countries?  The answer lies in monolinguality -the Arabic language and its rich culture, more than in Islam as a faith, or history as a shared tradition.  The Arabs adhere either to Islam or Christianity.

The Arabic language, the language of the Quran, in its highest classic form, is the lingua franca of nearly one third of a billion population.  Its cadence and rhythm are nearly hypnotic.  Its intonation is gripping.  Its poetry and prose have galvanized populations from the Atlantic Ocean to the Gulf to rise up in war or to follow the lead even of unworthy tyrants.

It is sung in recitation of the Quran, and through the lovely voices of great singers like Umm Kalthoum and Abdel-Wahhab and Fairooz.  It is used in all Arab Courts and from pulpits in mosques and churches.  It is even known to Arabic-speaking populations as the "language of the DHADH" - one of the 26 letters of the Arabic alphabet.  Like another semetic language, Hebrew, it is written from right to left.

Regarding the origin and dominance of the Arabic language, the great Egyptian philosopher, Taha Hussein has a theory.  In his seminal book in Arabic entitled "About the Pre-Islamic Literature," he says: "The Arabian Tribe of Quraish located in the Hedjaz (western Arabian peninsula) possessed a form of Arabic which then became the Classic Arabic Language.  Quraish (from which the Prophet Muhammad descended) imposed its Arabic on all other tribes, not by the sword, but through the intersection of mutual relationships, religions, political, economic.  Quraish in whose midst Mecca is located also used the Pilgrimage (Al-Hadj) to make its Arabic dominant."

It will be noted that the cry of the millions in Tahrir Square, Egypt, resulting in collapsing the Mubarak regime, was "The People want the Regime to Go" (Al-Shaab Yorred Issqat Al-Nizam).  For the other Arab revolts that slogan became the equivalent of the Marseillaise to the French Revolution.  That unity of language has been at the heart of the domino within the Arab Spring.

An Iraqi celebrated poet, Maaroof Al-Russafi, once wrote (in Arabic) about Arabic as a harmonizing inter-faith factor:

"If we(the Arabs) are one national unity.
What does it matter that we adhere to various religions.
Our people are bound together through three values
One tongue, various countries and a belief in God."

Al-Russafi penned that poem in the early 20th century.  When I asked a modern Iraqi woman, Dr. Hend Shnayen, my Executive Assistant: "What do you like most in Classic Arabic?"  Without hesitation, she said with deep conviction: "Its multiplicity of synonyms."

Absolutely correct!!  In Arabic, God (Allah) is known by 99 names.  A cry for freedom in the west of the Arab world quickly reverberates in many synonyms throughout that vast area which is now being forever transformed.  That domino for dignity works.

As a student of the psychology of education in Egypt in the late 1940's I was offended by a decision taken by a Deputy Minister of Education regarding teachers' salaries.  As head of the student teachers union at that time, my criticism of that decision, which denigrated the status of teachers, was swift.  During that period, since I wrote songs and poetry, my attack was in poetry which brought about a general strike for higher salaries.  The Deputy Minister expelled me from the Teachers Institute, thus causing the prolongation of the strike.  That strike was eventually settled by various measures including bringing me back from my village to my seat at the Institute, fully rehabilitated.

Ah!!  For the power of classic Arabic which has moved millions to action and caused dictators to disappear!!