Background and education Muhammad Ali al-Abid was born in
Damascus, then in the Ottoman Empire. His father,
Ahmad Izzat al-Abid, the son of
Hawlu al-Abid, had initially been brought up in Damascus before pursuing his education in
Beirut,
Beirut Vilayet. Ahmad Izzat al-Abid, who was fluent in
Arabic, French, and
Turkish, started working in the administration of Damascus Vilayet and was authorized to found a periodical. Muhammad Ali was educated in the primary schools of Damascus then continued his education in 1885 in
Beirut. In 1887, Ahmad Izzat al-Abid closed his periodical and moved to Constantinople (now Istanbul). Muhammad Ali moved with his family to Constantinople where he was sent to
Galatasaray High School, a prestigious Ottoman high school. He would then study law in
Paris, France, and
Islamic jurisprudence, graduating in 1905. In the meantime, in 1894, his father had been introduced to Sultan
'Abdu’l-Hamid II and would become the sultan's adviser and serve as the head of his intelligence services, and also govern over the Iraqi city of
Mosul.
Diplomatic and political career Muhammad Ali al-Abid was fluent in
Arabic, French, and
Turkish and fond of
French literature and
economics; he also had a good knowledge of English and
Persian. Al-Abid started to work in the Foreign Affairs administration. In 1907, he became the Ottoman Empire's ambassador to Washington. However, he returned to the Ottoman Empire soon, after the declaration of the Ottoman Empire's constitution on 23 July 1908, when the Young Turks revolted against Abdu'l-Hamid II. His father escaped from Constantinople and went to
London. Al-Abid joined his father traveling between England, Switzerland, France, and reached
Egypt on the eve of
World War I. Al-Abid moved back to Damascus in the summer of 1920 when Syria came under the
French Mandate. In 1922, Al-Abid was appointed Syria's
Minister of Finance. On 30 April 1932 Al-Abid was elected to the parliament in Damascus as a nominee of the National Bloc (Syria) and then elevated to the
presidency on 11 June of the same year. In 1936, after a free parliament was elected in Damascus, he resigned and went to
Paris. He was replaced by
Hashim al-Atasi, the nominee of the
National Bloc, though Syria would remain in control militarily until full independence in 1946. Al-Abid died on 22 October 1939, from a
heart attack at a hotel in
Rome. His body was transferred to Beirut, from which the funerary procession left to Damascus on 16 November.
Bahij al-Khatib had become president a few months before his death. ==Distinctions==