Ali Mubarak is considered by many to be “Pioneer among Egyptian historians” because of his influential writing. He cited new scientific research and draws upon European research in his work which is completely written in Arabic. Ali Mubarak is perhaps most well known for his completion of the twenty volume “Al-Khitat al-Tawfiqiyah.” In al khitat, Ali Mubarak gives a historical and topographical description of Cairo. He gives a very detailed description of the locations of the buildings and streets of Cairo. However, in addition to classifying and ordering the locations of Cairo, Ali Mubarak also provides a commentary on institutions in Cairo. In organizing al-Khitat, Ali Mubarak organized the history of Cairo into dynasties. He saw the development that Cairo experienced in the second half of the nineteenth century as positive progress while criticizing the state of the city when it was under Ottoman rule. In his opinion, the Ottomans did not take sufficient care of the city when they controlled most of the government. Streets, buildings, and squares were not adequately taken care of resulting in copious amounts of dust and odors overtaking many parts of the city. Mubarak believed this to be a health concern and emphasized the need for modern city throughout his writings.
Ali Mubarak's Interest in Ancient Egypt During the late nineteenth century, Egypt experienced a reawakening of interest in the history of
ancient Egypt. Egyptian intellectuals worked to integrate European sciences with the study of ancient Egyptian history. They hoped that by using science to explain ancient Egyptian civilization a sense of pride and positive understanding could be fostered amongst Egyptian for their unique history. The scholars also hoped to illustrate the progress that Egypt experienced over its long history. Many Egyptians viewed the
pharaohs and the physical remnants of their kingdoms as sacrilegious objects. Ali Mubarak encouraged seeking knowledge of Egypt's past. He believed that everyone should be knowledgeable about the history of his or her community. He believed that ignorance and indifference of the lives of a community's ancestors cannot foster positive growth for the future. It is only possible for a country to grow together by sharing and appreciating the past. As more intellectuals studied Egypt's ancient history and wrote and spoke about it, the past became a source for nationalistic sentiments. The work that Ali Mubarak and his colleagues undertook laid the foundations for territorially defined
Egyptian nationalism in the twentieth century.
Al-Khitat Ali Mubarak was a major contributor the process of creating sentiments of
nationalism in Egypt through his active role in the
public sphere and his many publications in Arabic. Ali Mubarak published work in a number of magazines, journals, and books and covered topics from science, education, justice, translations, and political commentaries. However, his most famous work is Al-Khitat al-tawfiqiyya al-jadida. Al-Khitat is a twenty-volume work that contains information on the
geography,
topography, and
history of Egypt. It brought together information on literature, history and science in en encyclopedic format. Al-Khitat is considered to be Ali Mubarak's biggest achievement. Throughout the twenty volumes, Mubarak illustrates the interconnectedness of history and geography and uses the relationship between the two to create a national identity for Egypt. In al-Khitat, Ali Mubarak emphasizes his belief that with knowledge comes technical progress and material affluence which in turn produced "self-respect, patriotic pride, and deference to authority." He believed that education was the key to advancing Egypt .
Ali Mubarak's Criticism of Al-Azhar As the head of the Department of Education, Ali Mubarak wrote extensively on
education in Egypt. He was an advocate for European styles of education with a focus on science and enlightenment philosophy and wrote many criticisms of education in Egypt. One of the oldest educational institutions in Egypt is
al-Azhar, a center for learning about
Islam. Ali Mubarak viewed
al-Azhar as a significant part of the Egyptian history and identity because of its prominent role in educating Egyptians for centuries. However, Ali Mubarak believed that the time had come for
al-Azhar to modernize. With the reforms undertaken by the Egyptian government during the nineteenth century, Ali Mubarak thought that it was only to be expected that
al-Azhar modernized as well. Ali Mubarak was very critical of the traditional education system that al-Azhar used. The old traditional system did not require students to take exams and did not have a formal system to determine who graduated from al-Azhar. Students who wished to become teachers at
al-Azhar studied under a teacher until they were thought to be ready to begin teaching to a class. There was no method in place to monitor the academic progress of the students. Learning was entirely dependent on the motivation of the university students. Ali Mubarak highly regarded the spiritual lessons offered by
al-Azhar but believed that the lack of structure in the university fostered undisciplined behavior, immorality, pride and pettiness and the structure needed to be reformed to recreate and mold the moral identity and personality of the modern state of Egypt. Ali Mubarak's primary concern regarding
al-Azhar was its lack of appearance of being a modern educational institution. He did not see al-Azhar as holding an important position in modern Egypt. In order for future generations of Egyptians to be successful, they needed to have the right education. Ali Mubarak encouraged institutions to teach information produced by Europe and give students the opportunity to become productive and important members of Egyptian society. == References ==