Shakib Arslan (1869-1946) was a druze prince (amir) from Lebanon who was known as Amir al-Bayān (Arabic for "Prince of Eloquence") because in addition to being a politician, he was also an influential writer, poet and historian, among other things. Influenced by the ideas of al-Afghani and Abduh, Arslan became a strong supporter of the Pan-Islamic policies of Abdul Hamid. He also advocated the proposition that the survival of the Ottoman Empire was the only guarantee against the division of the ummah and its occupation by the European imperial powers. To Arslan, Ottomanism and Islam were closely bound together and the reform of Islam would naturally lead to the revival of the Ottoman Empire. Image File history File links Amir Shakib Arslan, a Lebanese prince whose most famous work is Our Decline: Its Causes and Remedies Image borrowed from [ASSP]. File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... 1869 is a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1946 was a common year starting on Tuesday. ... The Druze (Arabic: duruzÄ« درزي, pl. ... Emir (also sometimes rendered as Amir or Ameer, Arabic commander) is a title of nobility historically used in Islamic nations of the Middle East and North Africa. ... Arabic can mean: From or related to Arabia From or related to the Arabs The Arabic language; see also Arabic grammar The Arabic alphabet, used for expressing the languages of Arabic, Persian, Malay ( Jawi), Kurdish, Panjabi, Pashto, Sindhi and Urdu, among others. ... A politician is an individual involved in politics. ... The term writer can apply to anyone who creates a written work, but the word more usually designates those who write creatively or professionally, or those who have written in many different forms. ... Bust of Homer, one of the earliest European poets, in the British Museum Poetry (ancient Greek: ποιεω (poieo) = I create) is an art form in which human language is used for its aesthetic qualities in addition to, or instead of, its notional and semantic content. ... History Forums - History is Happening -Discuss all historical topics, as well as current events, in an academic setting. ... This article needs cleanup. ... Pan-Islamism is the loose unification of all Islamic countries and peoples. ... Abdul Hamid is the name of two sultans of the Ottoman Empire: Abdul Hamid I (1774 - 1789) Abdul Hamid II (1876 - 1909) This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... The Ottoman Empire at the height of its power Imperial motto of sultan Abdülaziz El-Muzaffer Daima (Ottoman Turkish for the Ever Victorious) Official language Ottoman Turkish Capital Constantinople (Ä°stanbul) Sovereigns Sultans of the Osmanli Dynasty Population ca 40 million Area 6. ... Ummah (أمة) is an Arabic and Islamic word that means community or nation. ... A satellite composite image of Europe Europe is geologically and geographically a peninsula, forming the westernmost part of Eurasia. ... Islam  listen? (Arabic: al-islām) the submission to God is a monotheistic faith, one of the Abrahamic religions, and the worlds second largest religion. ...

Exiled from his homeland by the French mandate authorities, Arslan passed most of the interwar years in Geneva serving as the unofficial representative of Syria and Palestine at the League of Nations and writing a constant stream of articles for the periodical press of the Arab countries. Mandate can mean: An obligation handed down by an inter-governmental body; see mandate (international law) The power granted by an electorate; see mandate (politics) A League of Nations mandate To some Christians, an order from God; see mandate (theology) The decision of an appeals court; see mandate (law) This... Geneva (French: Genève) is the second-most populous city in Switzerland located where Lake Geneva (French: Lac Léman, but the Genevois are fond of calling it Lac de Genève) empties into the Rhône River. ... The League of Nations was an international organization founded after the First World War at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919. ... The Arabs (Arabic: عرب ʻarab) are an originally Arabian ethnicity of the Caucasoid race widespread in the Middle East and North Africa. ...

Arslan advocated a militant version Islam, charged with political and moral assertiveness. He sought to reconstruct the bonds of Islamic solidarity by reminding Muslims from Morocco to Iraq that despite their diversity, they were united by virtue of their common adherence to Islam; if they would but recognize this bond and act on it, he believed they would achieve liberation from their current oppression and the restoration of what he saw as their splendid past. Arslan's work inspired anti-imperialistic propaganda campaigns, much to the irritation of British and French authorities in the Arab world.

Arslan defended Islam as an essential component of social morality. His message, with its call to action and its defense of traditional values at a time of great uncertainty, was well received and attracted widespread attention during the 1920s and 1930s. It was during this time that he wrote his most famous work, Our Decline: Its Causes and Remedies, which described what Aslan believed to be the reasons for the weakness of existing Muslim governments. Although over seventy years old, Our Decline is still relevant today. Morality is a system of principles and judgments based on cultural, religious, and philosophical concepts and beliefs, by which humans determine whether given actions are right or wrong. ... Value is a term that expresses the concept of worth in general, and it is thought to be connected to reasons for certain practices, policies or actions. ... Sometimes referred to as the Jazz Age or primarily in North America as the Roaring Twenties. // Events and trends Technology John T. Thompson invents Thompson submachine gun, also known as Tommy gun John Logie Baird invents the first working television system (1925) Charles Lindbergh becomes the first person to fly... // Events and trends The 1930s were spent struggling for a solution to the global depression. ...

See also

• Emir Shakib Arslan biography at ASSP
• Our Decline: Its Causes and Remedies at MuslimBookstore.com
• The Arab Nation of Shakib Arslan by Martin Kramer
• Swiss Exile: The European Muslim Congress, 1935, an event organized by Shakib Arslan, by Martin Kramer