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Overview

The writer, the occasion and type of the text, and his literary school, which joined authenticity to renewal.
The seven ideas of the essay how Islam treated poverty, why the Arabian Peninsula was chosen, the two cures, and the fruit of solidarity.
Vocabulary, rhetorical images and ornaments, the traits of al-Zayyat’s style, and the values drawn from the text.

"Social Solidarity in Islam" (al-Zayyat)
├── The writer (Dakahliyah 1885 · Al-Azhar with Taha Hussein · the French law school · magazine "al-Risalah")
├── Type: a social essay written in literary style — conservative-renewing current
├── His school: profit from Western thought + return to the eloquence of the ancients
├── Idea 1: poverty treated as the root of every evil (proof by counting verses)
├── Idea 2: why the poorest land was chosen — to defeat poverty in its strongest fortress
├── Idea 3: corruption in Arabia before Islam
├── Idea 4: the Qur'an joined the bleeding fragments into one firm body
├── Idea 5: zakat — a known right of the poor, a pillar, not a volunteer gift
├── Idea 6: disciplining desire, ambition and greed
├── Idea 7: the fruit — peace, harmony, the hungry belly stilled, the rich man's fear gone
└── Vocabulary · imagery · style · values · traps

Lesson 1: Social Solidarity in Islam by Ahmed Hassan al-Zayyat · 1 / 16

First: the author

Ahmed Hassan al-Zayyat: born in Daqahliyah governorate in 1885 he memorised the Qur’an and studied at Al-Azhar for several years as the companion of Taha Hussein.
He joined the National University (al-Jami’a al-Ahliyyah) after it was founded, then the French School of Law, and took his licence in law.
He founded the magazine “al-Risalah (The Message)” and was elected a member of the Arabic Language Academy.
He received the State Prize for Literature, and died in 1968.
His essays — the ones he used to open “al-Risalah” with — were collected in the book “The Inspiration of al-Risalah (Wahy al-Risalah)”.

Lesson 1: Social Solidarity in Islam by Ahmed Hassan al-Zayyat · 2 / 16

Second: the occasion of the text and its type

The essay was published under the title “How did Islam treat poverty?”, and this text is transferred from it with adaptations.
Its type a social essay (maqāl ijtimā’i) written in a literary style.
It represents the current of the conservative renewers (al-Muhāfilūn al-Mujaddidūn) in prose — those who kept the soundness and strength of expression, revived heritage, and were influenced by the styles of the ancients.
Al-Zayyat counts among this current, alongside Taha Hussein, al-Aqqad and al-Mazini.

Lesson 1: Social Solidarity in Islam by Ahmed Hassan al-Zayyat · 3 / 16

Third: the writer’s literary school

Al-Zayyat represents a new literary position built on two pillars.
The first profiting from the works of Western thought.
The second: returning to the eloquence of the ancients in expression which is the eloquence of conciseness, the weight and shortness of the clause-ends (fawāsil), the beauty of the word and the impact of its music.
Thus he joined authenticity (asālah) to renewal (tajdīd).

Lesson 1: Social Solidarity in Islam by Ahmed Hassan al-Zayyat · 4 / 16

Fourth: idea one — Islam’s treatment of poverty and the importance of that treatment

Islam treated poverty with the treatment of one who knows it is the root of every disease and the source of every evil.
That treatment came almost next after the oneness of God in rank among the pillars of Islam, most often mentioned among its commands, and most cared for among its purposes.

The verses of fasting are four.
The verses of the pilgrimage are a dozen or so.
The verses of prayer do not reach thirty.
The verses of alms and charity (zakāt and sadaqāt) exceed fifty.
The writer argues by this that saving humanity from the evils of poverty and the crimes of hunger is among the noblest aims of the Message.

Lesson 1: Social Solidarity in Islam by Ahmed Hassan al-Zayyat · 5 / 16

Fifth: idea two — why did God choose the Arabian Peninsula to fight poverty?

It is as though God chose, for the struggle against poverty, the niggardliest land by nature and the poorest of nations.
The reason so that He might throw poverty down in its strongest fortresses and its widest arenas.
If poverty were defeated in the empty tracts of the Hijaz, its defeat in the farmland of Egypt and the black soil of Iraq would be quicker and easier.

God chose His Messenger poor, so that this would make his strength more evident.
And chose him unlettered, so that his proof would be the more convincing.

Lesson 1: Social Solidarity in Islam by Ahmed Hassan al-Zayyat · 6 / 16

Sixth: idea three — poverty in the Arabian Peninsula before Islam

At the time of the Mission the Peninsula was a sad example of what poverty harvests from human beings.

Comparison aspect	Main idea	Keywords
Inciting the instincts and tearing the bonds (ties) apart
Enduring raiding and suffering deprivation
•	Killing children the outrage of usury eating illicit wealth and shortening the measure	Killingchildrenoutrageusury
•	The violence of the notables the selfishness of the rich and the loss of security	violencenotablesselfishnessrich
The degradation of a man to the lowest level of animal life

Lesson 1: Social Solidarity in Islam by Ahmed Hassan al-Zayyat · 7 / 16

Seventh: idea four — the first signs of divine reform

God sent His Messenger with guidance and the religion of truth, and his greatest miracle was the Noble Qur’an.
The Qur’an turned these bleeding fragments into a body whose weave is firm and whose force is furious, and abrogated the corrupt order with a solid constitution of enduring wisdom.

It trimmed the nails of poverty, healed the wounds of the poor, and curbed the crimes of misery.
It reconciled hearts, made people brothers and made races equal.
It protected souls from unlawful killing and purified wealth from outrageous usury.

Lesson 1: Social Solidarity in Islam by Ahmed Hassan al-Zayyat · 8 / 16

Eighth: idea five — the first cure: alms (zakāt) and the poor man’s right

Islam treated the ancient disease with something that, if the reformers took hold of it, would have spared them the evils of wars and the errors of doctrines that pulled down the building of society.
Mediation between the rich and the poor it means recognising the right of ownership and freedom of disposal — the owner is not pushed away from what he owns, nor is a free person fought over his will.
A known right was made for the poor in the wealth of the rich, and the rich man’s religion is not complete until he pays it.
That right is the third of the five pillars of Islam — so it is neither a branch, nor a supererogatory act, nor a leftover.

Lesson 1: Social Solidarity in Islam by Ahmed Hassan al-Zayyat · 9 / 16

Ninth: idea six — the second cure: disciplining the self

Besides alms and charity, Islam treated poverty by disciplining desire, ambition and greed.
Breaking the sharpness of desire, holding back the fury of ambition, and lowering the reach of greed.
It encouraged the rich to asceticism, ordered the possessor to contentment, and praised the poor for restraint (ta’an-nuf).

Lesson 1: Social Solidarity in Islam by Ahmed Hassan al-Zayyat · 10 / 16

Tenth: idea seven — the fruit of solidarity

If every person paid God’s right in his wealth and then answered the generosity of his own self — giving from the surplus of his wealth, sharing out of what he has enough of, and preferring others despite his own need — then that would:
Settle peace on earth and spread harmony among people .
Calm the ribs of the one who nursed resentment and dry the tears of the wretched.
Still the belly of the poor and take away the fear of the rich .
Let people taste, in the shades of prosperity, the happiness of this world and the delight of the next.

Lesson 1: Social Solidarity in Islam by Ahmed Hassan al-Zayyat · 11 / 16

Eleventh: vocabulary and its meanings

Word (transliterated)	Meaning
ghawā’il	Plural of ghā’ilah: evil and corruption
jarā’ir	Plural of jarīrah: a crime and a sin
tarbu ‘alayhā	It exceeds them, it grows more than
ashichch	Most miserly — here: the least good in its produce
qifār	Plural of qafar: the empty, waterless desert
tadhriyah	Incitement, spurring on (of the instincts)
al-‘alā’iq	Bonds and ties of kinship and society
‘unah	Roughness, tyranny, making things hard
‘athrah	Preferring oneself over others, selfishness
naskh	Removing and annulling (a ruling or an order)
āsā	He healed and treated (the wounds)
kulūm	Plural of kalm: wounds, gashes
al-sifārah	Intercession mediation and setting things right between two parties
tarqa’	It dries up and stops (of tears)

Lesson 1: Social Solidarity in Islam by Ahmed Hassan al-Zayyat · 12 / 16

Twelfth: rhetorical images and ornaments

Comparison aspect	Main idea	Keywords
Concise simile (tashbīh balīgh)	“Islam treated poverty with the treatment of one who knows it is the root of every disease” — it contains personification and suggests Islam’s full grasp of the danger of poverty	Islamtreatedpovertytreatment
“The evils of poverty and the crimes of hunger”	poverty is depicted as a harm with bad consequences	depictedharmconsequences
Kināyah	“the highest of the pillars of Islam in rank after the oneness of God” — a figure for the importance of treating poverty with the meaning intended alongside its literal sense	highestpillarsIslamrank
•	Hidden borrowed image (mustakniyah makniyyah) in “the pillars of Islam”: Islam is likened to a great building with supports — and it carries embodiment (tajsim)	Hiddenborrowedimagemustakniyah
The same figure runs through the treatment of poverty	“to throw it down in its strongest fortresses” “if it were defeated” “trim the nails of poverty” “what poverty harvests from human beings” — poverty is an enemy at war with nails and fortresses	throwdownstrongestfortresses
Pairing (izdawaj) and unstressed rhyme (saj’)	“inciting the instincts and tearing the bonds” “enduring raiding and suffering deprivation” “reconciled hearts made brothers of people equalised races”	incitinginstinctstearingbonds
Jinās (paronomasia)	appears in the writer’s close-ranged words without strain	appearswritercloseranged
Elative forms	for emphasis: higher more amplest niggardliest severest (arafu akthar afwar ashichch ashadd)	emphasishigheramplestniggardliest

Lesson 1: Social Solidarity in Islam by Ahmed Hassan al-Zayyat · 13 / 16

Thirteenth: the traits of al-Zayyat’s style

A clear, lofty idea, made convincing by evidence .
A tendency to expansion (iatināb) and the full working-out of the idea.
Reliance on imagery to bring ideas forward, with inventive similes.
Arrangement and balance of sentences a word answers a word and a sentence follows a sentence on one pattern, which adds beauty to the rhythm.
Linking causes to their effects “so that He might throw it down”, “so that his strength would be more evident”, “so that his proof would be more convincing”.
He puts each word in its place, so it radiates suggestions that reveal his idea and his feelings.
He reflects himself and his emotions in his writing.
A private style that is neither unbound prose nor tied rhymed prose (saj’).
His phrases are sound, refined Arabic, with words chosen precisely.

Lesson 1: Social Solidarity in Islam by Ahmed Hassan al-Zayyat · 14 / 16

Fourteenth: the values drawn from the text

Comparison aspect	Main idea	Keywords
Social solidarity is among the greatest purposes of Islam
•	Alms (zakāt) are a known right of the poor and a pillar of the religion	Almszakātknownright
Contentment, restraint and asceticism discipline the self
Standing by the poor preserves the security and peace of society
The writer’s pride in the comprehensiveness of Islam	in dealing with social problems	dealingsocialproblems

Lesson 1: Social Solidarity in Islam by Ahmed Hassan al-Zayyat · 15 / 16

Exam traps and key takeaways

Comparison aspect	Main idea	Keywords
Type of text	a social essay written in a literary style — not a purely scientific article and not a story. It was published under the title “How did Islam treat poverty?” and the prescribed text is quoted from it with adaptations	socialessaywrittenliterary
•	The essay comes from the collection “Wahy al-Risalah” gathered from the opening essays of the magazine “al-Risalah” which al-Zayyat founded — do not attribute the magazine to someone else	essaycomescollectionWahy
Biography dates to hold	born 1885 in Daqahliyah died 1968 Al-Azhar companion of Taha Hussein then the National University and the French School of Law (licence in law) member of the Arabic Language Academy winner of the State Prize for Literature	born1885Daqahliyahdied
His school = two pillars	profit from Western thought + return to the eloquence of the ancients and the outcome is joining authenticity to renewal. The ancients’ eloquence is defined as conciseness weighty and short clause-ends beauty of word effect of music	profitWesternthoughtreturn
•	He belongs to the conservative-renewing current in prose with Taha Hussein al-Aqqad and al-Mazini — the wrong option usually puts him with the Romantics	belongsconservativerenewingcurrent
The proof by counting, exactly	fasting 4 · pilgrimage about a dozen · prayer under 30 · zakāt and charity over 50. The conclusion is about rank: next after the oneness of God	fastingpilgrimagedozenprayer
•	Why the Peninsula? Because God chose the poorest land to defeat poverty in its strongest fortress and widest arena — the logic is if it falls in the Hijaz it falls faster in Egypt’s farmland and Iraq’s black soil	PeninsulaBecausechosepoorest
The two choices about the Messenger	poor → so his strength would be more evident unlettered → so his proof would be more convincing. Swapping the purposes is the classic trap	poorstrengthwouldevident
•	Zakāt is the third pillar and the text stresses it is not a branch not supererogatory not a surplus — and it keeps the owner’s right of ownership and freedom of disposal (mediation not confiscation)	Zakātthirdpillartext
The second cure is inside the person	disciplining desire ambition and greed with its three pairings — asceticism for the rich contentment for the possessor restraint for the poor	discipliningdesireambitiongreed
Imagery	the poverty passage is one continuous figure — poverty as an enemy with fortresses nails and harvests “the pillars of Islam” is a hidden borrowed image with embodiment (the religion as a building)	povertypassagecontinuousfigure
Style	balanced clauses cause-and-effect linking unstressed saj’ and pairing and a personal style that is neither loose prose nor bound rhymed prose he prefers expansion and full development of the idea — not brevity	balancedclausescauseeffect

Lesson 1: Social Solidarity in Islam by Ahmed Hassan al-Zayyat · 16 / 16

Curriculum

Arabic Language

Unit 1

Unit 2

Unit 3

Unit 4

Lesson 1: Social Solidarity in Islam by Ahmed Hassan al-Zayyat