Mohammed Abed al-Jabri
Born on 27th December 1935 in Fagig/Morocco.
Academic degrees
- 1967 Diploma in Philosophy, University of Mohammed V., Faculty of Humanities, Rabat.
- 1970 PhD in Philosophy, University of Mohammed V., Faculty of Humanities, Rabat.
Profession
- Inspector and educational director for philosophy teachers.
- Since 1967 university lecturer of Philosophy and Islamic Thought at the University of Mohammed V., Faculty of Humanities, Rabat.
The most important steps in his career
- 1953 – at the age of 18 he taught pre-school and primary school classes at the Muhammadiyya School in Casablanca, after the classes of the secondary school were closed upon the expulsion of Mohammed V and the following wave of protest and uprising against the French colonist.
- 1956 he achieved the final school certificate “Certificat et brevet” in addition to a certificate for special achievements as primary-school teacher which qualified him to work as an official teacher in 1957. For a while he was appointed as teacher of “free class“ at the same school.
- 1956 he got his first certificate as translator.
- 1957 in July he finished his baccalaureate. At that time he established contacts with the Moroccan oppositionist Mehdi Ben Barka, who was killed in 1965.
- 1957 worked at the newspaper “al-Alam“.
- 1957-1958 al-Jabri took leave from his teaching job and spent an academic year at a university in Damascus/Syria, where he achieved a certificate in general education.
- 1958 worked again at the newspaper al-Alam.
- October 1957 enrolled as student of philosophy at the Faculty of Humanities, Rabat.
- October 1958- June 1959 deputy head of the newly founded Institute l’Ermitage in Casablanca.
- 1959 he was involved in the uprising of 25th January and volunteered as editor for the newspaper of the opposition party, ”al-Tahrir“, from its start in April 1959. As a consequence of the events of June 1959 he gave up his well-paid job at the Institute l’Ermitage, but kept his modestly-paid one at the newspaper “al-Tahrir“.
- June 1961 obtained a Bachelors in Philosophy (Licence). June 1962 obtained a certificate for an extra (fourth) year of philosophy study.
- 1962 al-Jabri resumed his profession as teacher and continued his study as postgraduate in philosophy. He continued to work at the newspaper, but on voluntary basis.
- 1962 in May he was elected member of the Central Committee of the National Union of the representatives of the people at its second conference.
- 1962 in October Mohammed al-Jabri was appointed headmaster of the newly established private secondary girls’ school.
- 1963 in June in the course of the clashes between the government and the Union al-Jabri was arrested along with other Unionists. Al-Jabri stayed in prison for more than two months, finally to be set free for lack of circumstantial evidence. In the same year the ministry of culture nationalised both private schools and appointed the teaching staff as ministry teachers. Consequently, al-Jabri became teacher for secondary level but was no more headmaster.
- 1964-1983 contributed as editor at the newspaper „Aqlam“. The newspaper had ceased publication when editor-in-chief Ben Amr along with some others of his colleagues left the Socialist Union.
- 1974 in December as part of the preparations for the unscheduled congress of the National Union the newspaper „al-Muharrir“ was published for the first time. From 1959 until his arrest in 1963 al-Jabri wrote a daily column in „al-Tahrir“ with the title „Sabah al-Nur“ (Good morning). He also wrote another daily column entitled „bi-saraha“ (To be honest) for the newspaper „al-Muharrir“ from 1965 until his resignation from the party in the year 1981.
- 1964 al-Jabri was appointed secondary teacher at „Maulaya Abdalla“-School in Casablanca.
- 1965 al-Jabri was appointed deputy headmaster of the newly founded secondary school in the 6th district in Casablanca and later its headmaster.
- 1965 As a result of the disturbances in March al-Jabri, once again, was arrested together with other teachers. After a short while he was released because of lack of circumstantial evidence.
- 1965-1966 al-Jabri contributed in founding a national trade union for teachers and in reviving the Moroccan university solidarity.
- 1966 together with Ahmad al-Satani and Mustfa al-Omari, al-Jabri wrote a textbook for teachers of philosophy for secondary school (Baccalaureate), „Durus al-falsafa“, which appears in two parts: Part I deals with ethics and metaphysics, Part II with methods of sciences, social science and psychology.
- 1967 al-Jabri published another school texbook entitled „Islamic Thought and the Study of Documents“, concipated according to the Baccalaureate-curriculum.
- 1967 in June graduation with a diploma in philosophy.
- In October 1967 al-Jabri becomes assistant professor at the University of Mohammed V., Faculty of Humanities, Rabat.
- 1967 in August al-Jabri engaged himself in the project „unity“, at that time led by Abdulrahim after the leader of the movement al-Mahjoub Ben al-Sadiq had been arrested.
- 1968 al-Jaberi contributed to the weekly newspaper ”Palestine“ which was first published in October.
- 1968 together with a university colleague, al-Jabri became inspector for philosophy for all secondary schools in Morocco. At that time the teaching language had already been nationalized (Arabic instead of French).
- 1969 al-Jabri became teacher of philosophy at the University of Mohammed V.
- 1970 al-Jabri obtained his doctorate in philosophy. It was the first doctorate in philosophy being conferred in Morocco. The examining board consisted of Moroccan and French professors. The title of al-Jabri’s thesis was ”Tribalism and the State: Features of Ibn Khaldoun’s Theory in Islamic History.”
- 1971 al-Jabri became university teacher.
- 1972 al-Jabri contributed to the preparations for the uprising of 30th July.
- 973 al-Jabri published his book ”Gaining insight into the problems of school education“ which is a collection of essays al-Jabri published from 1972 to 1973 in ”Aqlam“.
- 1976 his book „Introduction into the Philosophy of Sciences“ was published in two parts: „Development of Mathematical Thought and Reason in Present Day“ and Experimental Methodology and the Development of Scientific Thought.“
- 1977 al-Jabri’s book „ Towards a Progressive Understanding of Some Cultural and Educational Problems“ was published.
- On 5th April 1981 al-Jabri resigned from the Central Committee of the National Union to allow him to concentrate on cultural matters. However, he continued to write articles for the party’s newspaper from time to time.
- 1980 he published his book „Nahnu wa t-Turath“ (Our Cultural Heritage and Us).
- 1997 together with Muhammad Ibrahim Boulo and Abdul Salam Ben Abdulali he published the magazine „Fikr wa Naqd“. Al-Jabri becomes its editor-in-chief.
- 2002 al-Jabri retired after 45 years of teaching
Prizes accepted by al-Jabri
- 1988 Baghdad-Award for Arab Culture, awarded by the UNESCO
- 1999 Maghreb Award for Culture, Tunisia
- 2005 Prize for studies in philosophy in the Arab World, awarded by the Foundation MBI under the patronage of the UNESCO
- 2005 Prize of Pioneers, Arabic Thought Foundation, Beirut
- 2006 Avicenna-Medaillon from the UNESCO with participation of the government in Rabat
Prizes rejected by al-Jabri
- Saddam Hussein Award (100,000 Dollars), end of the eighties
- Meghreb Award, offered and rejected several times
- Al-Sharqa Prize-UNESCO (25,000 Dollar) 2001
- Gaddafi-Award for Human Rights (32,000 Dollar) 2002
- Fellowship in the Moroccan Royal Academy, refused twice, al-Jabri wanted to stay in the opposition and keep on writing from this position.
Mohammed Abed al-Jabri is married and has four children.
Publications in Arabic
- l-Asabiyya ad-dawla: ma’alim nazariyya khalduniyya fi t-tarikh al-islami (”Tribalism and the State: Features of Ibn Khaldoun’s Theory in Islamic History”, PhD) 1971.
- Adwa’ ala mushkil at-ta’lim bi-l-maghrib (Gaining Insight into the Problems of School Education) 1973.
- Madhkhal ila falsafat al-ulum (Introduction into the Philosophy of Sciences) 1976 in two parts: Tatawwur al-fikr ar-riyadi wa-l-‚aqlaniyya al-mu’asira (Development of Mathematical Thought and Reason in Present Day) and al-Minhag at-tagribi wa-tatawwur al-fikr al-ilmi (Experimental Methodology and the Development of Scientific Thought).
- Min agli ru’ya taqaddumiyya li-ba’d mushkilatina al-fikriyya wa-t-tarbawiyya (Towards a Progressive Understanding of Some Cultural and Educational Problems) 1977.
- Nahnu wa t-Turath (Our Cultural Heritage and Us) 1980 – was translated into the Spanish language.
- Al-Khitab al-arabi al-mu’asir (The Contemporary Arab Discourse) 1982 – was translated into the Turkish language.
- Takwin al-aql al-arabi (The Genesis of Arab Thought) 1984 – was translated into Turkish. French translation under way.
- Bunyat al-aql al-arabi (The Structure of the Arab Mind) 1986 – was translated into Turkish. French translation under way.
- As-Siyasat at-ta’limiyya fi l-maghreb al-arabi (Education Policy in the Maghreb) 1988.
- Ishkaliyyat al-fikr al-arabi al-mu’asir (The Problems of Contemporary Arab Thought) 1988.
- Al-Maghreb al-mu’asir: al-khususiyya wa-l-hawiyya, al-hadatha wa-t-tanmiya (The Maghreb Today: Special Characteristics and Identity, Modernity and Development) 1988.
- Al-Aql as-syiyasi al-arabi (The Arab Political Mind) 1990 – was translated into Turkish, French and Indonesian language.
- Hiwar al-mashriq wa-l-maghrib (Dialogue of East and West), Dialogue with Hassan Hanafi 1990. translated into German.
- At-Turath wa-l-hadatha (Cultural Heritage and Modernity) 1991.
- Al-Mas’ala ath-thaqafiyya (The Question of Culture in the Arab World) 1994.
- Al-Muthaqqafun fi l-hadara al-arabiyya al-islamiyya (The Intellectuals of Arab Civilization) 1995.
- Mas’alat al-hawiyya: al-uruba wa’l-islam wa l-maghreb (The Question of Identity: Arabism and Islam and the Maghreb) 1995.
- Ad-Din wa-d-dawla wa-tatbiq al-shari’a (Religion, State and Applying Islamic Law (Shari’a)) 1996 – Was translated into Kurdish. English translation is under way.
- Al-Mashru’ an-nahdawi al-arabi (The Arab Project of an Enlightenment) 1996.
- Ad-Dimuqratiyya wa-huquq al-insan (Democracy and Human Rights) 1997.
- Qadaya fi-l-fikr al-mu’asir (Problems of Contemporary Thought) 1997.
- At-Tanmiya al-bashariyya wa-l-khususiyya as-susyuthaqafiyya (Human Development and the Socio-Cultural Peculiarities) 1997.
- Wughat nadhar: Nahwa I’adat bina’ al-fikr al-arabi al-mu’asir (Point of View: Towards Rebuilding Issues of Contemporary Arab Thought) 1997
- Hafriyyat fi-dh-dhakira, min ba’id, sira dhatiyya min as-siba ila sinn al-ishrin (Impressions on my Mind: Autobiography from Childhood to the Age of 20) 1997.
- Supervising the publishing and providing the introduction and commentaries for critical editions of numerous original manuscripts of Ibn Rushd (Averroes) from 1997-1998, ex. Fasl al-maqal fi taqrir ma baina ash-shari’ati wa-l-hikmati min al-ittisal, al-kashf an manahig al-adilla fi aqa’id al-milla, tahafut at-tahafut, Kitab al-kulliyyat fi at-tibb, ad-Daruri fi s-siyasa
- Ibn Rushd, sira wa fikr (Ibn Rushd, Life and Thought) 1998.
- Al-Aql al-akhlaqi al-arabi (The Arab Moral Mind) 2001.
- Fi naqd al-haga ila al-islah (Critique of the Necessity of a Reform) 2005.
- Madkhal ila al-qur’an al-karim: at-ta’rif bi-l-qur’an (Introduction to the Koran) 2006.
- Fahm al-qur’an al-hakim 2007 und at-Tafsir al-wadih hasab tartib an-nuzul (the first two parts of an interpretation of the Koran, in which the verses are arranged in chronological order of revelation) 2008.
Publications in French
- L’Islam et l’Occident
- La globalisation dans la pensée arabe contemporaine
- Peut-on libérer l’avenir du passé
- Extrémisme et attitude rationaliste
- Ibn Rushd et dialogue des cultures
- choc des civilisations ou conflit des intérêts
- Introduction à la critique de la raison arabe (présentation)traduit de l’arabe et présenté par Ahmed Mahfoud et Marc Geoffroy, éd. La Découverte. Paris. 1994 – was translated into Italian, English, Portuguese, Spanish, Japanese and Indonesian language.
