Ismail Ahmed Adham (Arabic: إسماعيل أحمد أدهم IPA: [esmæˈʕiːl ˈæħmæd ˈʔædhæm] Ismā'īl Aḥmed Adham; 13 January 1911 – 23 July 1940) better known as Ismail Adham was an Egyptian writer, and atheist. He is known primarily for his work (Why am I an atheist?), in which he declared his atheism in 1937.
Ismail Ahmed Adham | |
|---|---|
 Undated | |
| Born | إسماعيل بن أحمد بن إسماعيل بن إبراهيم بن أدهم 13 January 1911 Alexanderia, Egypt |
| Died | 23 July 1940 (aged 29) The Meditarian Sea, Alexanderia, Egypt |
| Occupation | Writer |
| Citizenship | Egypt |
| Alma mater | Moscow State University |
| Notable works | Limāḏā ʾanā Mulḥid (Why i'm an atheist), Min masadir al-tarikh al-islami (From the sources of Islamic history) |
Life
editHe was born and educated in Alexandria, his father was a Turkish army officer Ahmed Adham, and his mother a german lady, he alleged that he obtained a doctorate in science from Moscow State University in 1931, and was appointed as a teacher of mathematics at Saint Petersburg University. Then he moved to Turkey and was a teacher of mathematics at the Ataturk Institute in Ankara (which did not exist),[1] and returned to Egypt in 1936.
Career
editWhy am I an atheist? (1937)
editIn his article he declared himself an atheist for social, psychological, and scientific reasons, the last of which he set out to expound. There then follows a shallow, quasi-scientific exposé in which he argues that the world is subject to the all-embracing law of chance (qanun as-sudfa or at-tasaduf ash-shamil). That meant that the world could be compared with a printing-office with millions and millions of pieces of type. If one combines these pieces haphazardly for an infinite length of time, Adham argued, one can expect one day to see this article, or the Quran for that matter. Einstein, Adham said, found only one element in a book that remained unclear to him, and that element he called the intellect of the author. But, Adham concluded, in this Einstein overlooks the law of chance which, in the end, can be held responsible for the coming into existence of everything.[1][2]
He declared in this booklet that he is happy and content with atheism, just as a believer in God feels happy and at peace.[3]
From the sources of Islamic history (1936)
editA book in which he disputed the authenticity and the historical reliability of hadith. He sent 100 free copies to the religious scholars at Al-Azhar. This enraged the Rector of Al-Azhar Muhammad Mustafa al-Maraghi, who complained to the Ministry of Interior, and within few days the book was banned.[4][1]
He concluded the book with two reuslts:
- The Hadith originated later than the era of the Companions of the Prophet who knew Muhammad well.
- The Hadith originated from the spirit of civilization brought to Islam by the new Muslims who wanted to know what Muhammad said and did.[5]
Views about him
editSeveral historians and researchers, wrote about him, including Al-Zirakli in "Al-Alam", Al-Kayyali in “The Departed,” and Ahmed Al-Hawari in his collection of the aforementioned works. These short biographies were collected by the researcher Suleiman Al-Kharashi in his book “The Suicide of Ismail Adham,” with some references about Adham in newspapers and magazines, as well as responses and discussions. About his book “Why am I an atheist?”
In 1972, an article for Journal of arabic literature by G.H.A Juynboll said:
Adham never got any doctorate, never became a member of the Academy of Sciences, never published one book or article in either Russian, French or German, never wrote his two-volume work in Turkish, entitled Islam Tarihi, never made friends with the Russian Orientalist Barthold, who had already died in 1930, one year before Adham claims to have gone to Russia, and never met with favourable criticism from the Russian Orientalist Kazimirsky, because there was no such person.[1]
It has been suggested that Adham may never have travelled beyond Egypt[4]
Death
editAdham apparently suffered from depression, and fueled his melancholy by reading Schopenhauer and Kierkegaard.
On the evening of July 23, 1940, the body of Ismail Adham was found floating on the waters of the Mediterranean coast. In his coat, the police found a letter from him to the chief prosecutor informing him that he had committed suicide due to his asceticism in life and his hatred for it, and that he recommended that his body not be buried in a Muslim cemetery and requested that it be burned.[6][7]
References
edit- ^ Jump up to: a b c d Juynboll, G.H.A (1972). "Ismail Ahmad Adham (1911–1940), the Atheist". Journal of Arabic literature. 3: 54–71. JSTOR 4182890.
- ^ Adham, Ismail Ahmed (1937). "!لماذا أنا ملحد؟" [Why am I an atheist?!]. Scribd.
- ^ الزركلي, خير الدين. "موسوعة الأعلام". موسوعة شبكة المعرفة الريفية. Archived from the original on 9 July 2012. Retrieved 9 April 2024.
- ^ Jump up to: a b Whitaker, Brian (26 July 2017). "Arabs Without God: Chapter 2". Medium.
- ^ Adham, Ismail Ahmed (1936). "From the sources of Islamic history". Univeyes.
- ^ Alkhair, Hany (1993). (مشاهير و ظرفاء القرن العشرين) [(Famous and satirist people in the 20th century)] (in Arabic) (1st ed.). Damascus: دار الكتاب العربي (The Arabic bookhouse). pp. 63–68.
- ^ الخراشي, سليمان بن صالح (4 January 2003). "انتحار ملحد" [The suicide of an atheist]. Islamway. Archived from the original on 31 May 2018. Retrieved 4 January 2003.
External links
edit- [1] "Blasted Backlash," by Gamal Nkrumah. Al-Ahram Weekly, 3–9 April 2008, Issue No. 891
- [2] Archived 28 September 2011 at the Wayback Machine "Islamic viewpoints: New secularism in the Arab world," by Ghassan F. Abdullah. Center for Inquiry.
- An overview of the reactions to his manifesto
- A journal article about the reactions to his manifesto
- His works at hindawi.org (in Arabic)
- His manifesto at archive.org (in Arabic)
- His manifesto at scribd.com (in Arabic)
- A translation of his manifesto in English (sceptics of islam pp 79-91)