Arabs in Syria and Lebanon, whose communities had closer ties to the West than more traditional Arab societies, played a leading role, together with Muslim Arabs, in leading the earlier anti-colonialist struggle against the Turks and later the French and the British. A parallel nationalist movement developed in Egypt, and much intellectual cross-fertilization transpired between Beirut/Damascus and Cairo-based Arab intellectuals. In general, they expressed admiration for Western letters, political philosophy, economic progress and technological superiority. As Egyptian nationalist and newspaper editor Lufti al-Sayyid said in 1912: "the dominant civilization of today is European, and the only possible foundation for our progress in Egypt is the transmission of the principles of that civilization" (Ahmad 97). The movement included many Muslims, who endeavored to modernize Islamic thought to make it more relevant to the contemporary world. According to Hourani, Egyptian writer Khalid Khalil asserted that "the Islam of the 'priesthood' was a religion of reaction, attacking the freedom of the human intellect, supporting the interests of the powerful and rich, and justifying poverty" (397-398). Nevertheless, not all strains of Arab nationalism were pro-Western and anti-traditional. Ajami in reference to Egypt in the interwar period noted "a struggle . . . that erupted in the nation's universities, literary salons, and streets between modernists and religious reactionaries" (224).
Hawi's Early Thought and Evolution of Arab Nationalism
Throughout his life, Hawi was "an Arab nationalist obsessed with . . . reform of the Arab political world, the terms of the encounter with the West, the struggle [with] the weight of custom and tradition, and the yearning for political and cultural change" (Ajami 27). In his youth, Hawi was a follower of Syrian Christian Arab Anton Saabah who led a secular movement dedicated primarily to the liberation of ...