Al Jawaib (Arabic: الجوائب al-Jawāʾib, "The News")[1] was a newspaper which existed from 1861 to 1884. The paper was founded by Ahmad Faris al-Shidyaq, a Lebanese journalist, and headquartered in Constantinople, Ottoman Empire. Over time it became the most popular Arabic publication in the Empire and made its founder known as a respected journalist and writer.[2][3] In the last year of its existence the paper was published in Cairo.

Al Jawaib
TypeWeekly newspaper
Founder(s)Ahmad Faris al-Shidyaq
Publisher
  • Ottoman Imperial Press (1861–1870)
  • Jawaib Press (from 1870)
Founded1861
LanguageArabic
Ceased publication1884
Headquarters
CountryOttoman Empire

History and profile

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Al Jawaib was launched by Ahmad Faris al-Shidyaq in Istanbul in 1861.[3][4] He owned the paper until 1870 when his son Salim took over it.[5] During the initial period it was subsidized by the Ottoman authorities.[5] In addition, it was published at the imperial press for nine years which was announced in the paper.[6] From 1870 the paper was published by the company named after it, Jawaib Press, which was also established by al-Shidyaq.[3] The paper came out weekly.[7] It frequently published the Arabic translations of the official Ottoman legislation, international treaties, and speeches along with their original Ottoman Turkish texts.[8]

In the mid-1870s Al Jawaib enjoyed higher levels of circulation in various places, including India and East Asia.[9] For instance, British historian Albert Hourani argues that it was possible to find the paper in different Muslim regions such as Nejd, Arabia, and Bombay, India.[8] As a result of its significant influence on Muslims, the British Foreign Office covertly financed Al Jawaib from 1877.[5][9]

Al Jawaib temporarily ceased publication in 1879 when the Ottomans banned it due to its praise for the Egyptian Khedive, Isma'il Pasha, who was among its financiers.[6][10] The paper was moved to Cairo in 1883.[11] It was closed down by the Ottoman government in 1884 due to its extreme pro-British stance which had been evident since the 1881 rebellion against the Empire in Sudan.[5]

References

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  1. ^ "تعريف و شرح و معنى جوائب بالعربي في معاجم اللغة العربية معجم المعاني الجامع، المعجم الوسيط ،اللغة العربية المعاصر ،الرائد ،لسان العرب ،القاموس المحيط - معجم عربي عربي صفحة 1" (in Arabic). Almaany. Retrieved 25 January 2023.
  2. ^ Ahmet Dardır (2007). "From the Colony to the Metropol and Back: The Travel of Discursive Crowd" (Conference paper). Tufts University. p. 174. Retrieved 4 December 2022.
  3. ^ a b c Geoffrey Roper (Summer 1998). "Aḥmad Fāris al-Shidyāq and the Libraries of Europe and the Ottoman Empire". Libraries & Culture. 33 (3): 233–234. JSTOR 25548637.
  4. ^ Nabil H. Dajani (August 1971). "The Press in Lebanon". Gazette. 17 (3): 154. doi:10.1177/001654927101700302. S2CID 144324754.
  5. ^ a b c d Ceren Uçak (2021). "Breaking the news: a case study on nineteenth century journalism and Selim Faris". Middle Eastern Studies. 57 (4): 658, 660. doi:10.1080/00263206.2021.1874362. S2CID 233917871.
  6. ^ a b Ami Ayalon (1995). The Press in the Arab Middle East: A History. New York; Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 30. ISBN 978-0-19-535857-5.
  7. ^ A.N.M.A. Hasan (1931). Western Influences in the Arabic Literature of Egypt and Syria Between 1820 and 1879 (PhD thesis). SOAS University of London. p. 211. ISBN 978-0-438-64546-2. ProQuest 2176730171.
  8. ^ a b Stephen Sheehi (2005). "Arabic Literary-Scientific Journals: Precedence for Globalization and the Creation of Modernity". Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East. 25 (2): 443–444. doi:10.1215/1089201X-25-2-439. S2CID 143166875.
  9. ^ a b Azmi Özcan (January 1993). "The Press and Anglo-Ottoman Relations, 1876-1909". Middle Eastern Studies. 29 (1): 112. doi:10.1080/00263209308700936. JSTOR 4283543.
  10. ^ Adam Mestyan (2014). "Arabic theater in early khedivial culture, 1868-72: James Sanua revisited". International Journal of Middle East Studies. 46 (1): 119. doi:10.1017/S0020743813001311. hdl:10161/12572. S2CID 162781557.
  11. ^ "A Chronology of Arabic Periodicals". Project Jara'id. Retrieved 28 April 2023.