Al Ustadh

Al Ustadh (Arabic: الأستاذ, lit. 'The Master') was a satirical, literary and political journal that was established by Abdullah Al Nadim in Cairo, Egypt, and published for eleven months in the period August 1892–June 1893. Although it was a short-lived publication, it played an important role in the development of short story genre in Arabic.^[1]

History and profile

Al Ustadh was launched by Abdullah Al Nadim, an Egyptian writer and political activist, as his third journal in Cairo in 1892.^[2][3] The first issue appeared on 24 August 1892.^[4] Al Nadim had been living out of Cairo for a decade following the ʻUrabi revolt and started Al Ustadh shortly after his return to the city.^[5][6] He established the journals Al Tankit wal Tabkit and Al Taif before his exile.^[3] Sabry Hafez argues that of his journals Al Ustadh is the most prominent one in terms of its influence.^[5]

Al Nadim adopted a rationalist approach when he started Al Ustadh^[3] which featured satirical content and drawings,^[7] didactic fictional materials^[2] and political articles.^[8] The fictional materials were written in the colloquial prose like those in Abu Naddara, a magazine by Yaqub Sanu.^[9] In the articles published in Al Ustadh Al Nadim frequently referred to his former writings published in his early journal Al Tankit wal Tabkit and focused on the Arabic language as a major element of the national identity of Egyptians.^[3][10] He also published sketches of hashish consumption which he considered as one of the reasons for the underdeveloped status of the Egyptian society.^[11] Al Nadim was forced by Cromer, British colonial administrator in Egypt, to close Al Ustadh, and the last issue appeared on 13 June 1893 which contained a letter of thanks to the subscribers .^[4][12][13] Following this incident Al Nadim left Egypt due to his ongoing opposition to the British rule in Egypt.^[7][10]

References