One of the advantages of the spread of newspapers in the early eighties in Arab countries is that they left a large legacy of the writings of prominent scholars about public life, which could later be collected under one title in a unique book. This is precisely what happened in the book “With the People,” published by Al-Manara House in Jeddah, in 1996 in 225 pages in its third edition, by its author, Sheikh Ali Al-Tantawi, which includes a group of interesting articles that talk about the sheikh’s positions with people in different times and places.
Introduction to the author
Sheikh Ali Tantawi is one of the most famous writers and educators of the twentieth century, and he also has a long history in jurisprudence and Sharia sciences. He was called the writer of jurists and the jurist of writers. Syrian by birth (1327 AH – 1909 AD) and upbringing, he traveled to many Islamic countries in the world, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Lebanon, India, Kuwait, etc., and his death occurred in Jeddah (1420 AH – 1999 AD). He left a great legacy, including books, articles, and recordings, and we are now with one of his wonderful books, distinguished by its smooth, sometimes sarcastic classical language, and the great and various benefits it contains.
With the book
The book includes 38 articles representing the harvest of many years of advocacy, research, diligence, and writing, written over a period of nearly 20 years on various topics and different events, but they all agree that they examine social issues and problems that occur among people, and he comments on them with what he sees as an appropriate and definitive solution to these problems that may cause the collapse of entire societies. The book actually contains wonderful solutions to problems that some people thought were chronic and unsolvable. Perhaps the reason for this is due to the writer’s knowledge of Sharia matters, and since he held many positions in teaching and then in the judiciary, especially (the Family Court), he was successful because of that in identifying the basis of the problem, and then searching for solutions to it. The book dealt with many widespread issues and problems, but it paid particular attention to issues related to virtue and chastity, as well as jealousy over identity and belonging to religion and Arabic. The book quotes many verses from the Qur’an as well as texts reported from the Prophet – may God bless him and grant him peace – or from his companions and followers, and what was also reported from later scholars and masters of wisdom from all societies and religions, but it never enumerates the sayings of these people, and rather only quotes a few from them.
Book summary
The book dealt with several social issues and provided realistic treatment and solutions for them, most notably the issue of worship, happiness, seeking knowledge and virtue, and paying attention to cleanliness and time. The issue of worship: The book talked about this issue and its impact on people’s lives, as well as the obstacles that are placed in people’s way to it, under the following titles: Be good as God has been good to you – Ramadan – Annoying matters of Ramadan – The making of sheikhdom – Eid Hadith. The issue of time: The book talked about the issue of neglecting time and violating appointments in the same interesting, fun, sarcastic and acerbic style in some articles related to this issue, such as: Time Thieves – Do not postpone – The Eastern Promise. The issue of happiness: By talking about this issue, the book demolishes the idea that happiness is represented by an abundance of money or positions, and establishes the idea that happiness is through contentment and faith. We find this clear and clear under the title “The Path to Happiness.” The issue of seeking knowledge: Because the author worked as a teacher for quite a while, he identified some of the problems that concern the emerging generation of students and students, and then presented possible radical solutions to take the hand of these students to the path of seriousness and benefit the nation, under the following titles: Keep the students busy during the summer vacation – between the teacher and the students – to the students – the students and the holiday – from the frivolity of the students – the topic of creation. The issue of virtue: The call to chastity and virtue is one of the issues that occupied the Sheikh’s mind the most, as is evident in many of the articles in this book, where the Sheikh talks about violations of chastity and virtue that he saw in many of the countries to which he traveled, then he follows them with criticism and then with what he sees as a solution to such violations, from these titles: Ibrahim Bey Hananwa told me – Our women and the women of the Franks – This is a warning to the people – This is the medicine – A message. The issue of marriage: It is related to the previous issue or related to it, as it is a basic treatment for many of the problems presented in the previous issue. We find the book presenting the problems that were created in this issue, and how to get rid of them, all of this under these headings: The problem of marriage – the causes of the problem – love and marriage – the appropriate age for marriage – in marriage.
Comment on the book
In his book, the Sheikh uses journalistic language directed at the common people, so his words are a mixture of eloquence and simplicity. Also, many of the well-known terms that are well-known in the English language are mentioned in the book, but they are not mentioned in the language in which they are famous. Rather, they are mentioned in classical Arabic, and the author puts their meaning next to them in parentheses in the language in which they are well-known among the people, including, for example: Al-Rad (radio) – Al-Dakhina (cigarette) – Al-Uqdah (carafat). In fact, the book “With People” is interesting, enjoyable, smooth, and close. You will never tire of its style or topics. It is full of stories and anecdotes, full of benefits and sermons. One article is not suitable for it, rather it needs several articles. I fear that I have fallen short in presenting the book’s contents in general, but it truly contains many pearls.
