Academy of the Arabic Language in Cairo

In 1826, Muhammad Ali sent a scholarly mission from Egypt to France, including Rifa'a at-Tahtawi, who later proposed the establishment of Madrasat al-Alsun in 1836.[7][8] Dar al-Ulum, established in 1872, educated Azhari scholars in modern sciences.[7] The works of translation produced by institutions like these introduced some of the earliest modern problems for the Arabic language.[7]

Muhammad Ali established the Amiri Press or Bulaq Press, the first printing press in Egypt, in 1821.[7] It was followed by others, such as al-Matba'a al-Ahliya al-Qabtiya (المطبعة الأهلية القبطية) in 1860, Wadi an-Nil (مطبعة وادي النيل) in 1866, Gam'iyat al-Ma'arif (جمعية المعارف) in 1868, al-Ahram (الأهرام) in 1875, Sharikat Tab' al-Kutub al-'Arabiya (شركة طبع الكتب العربية) 1898.[7]

King Fuad I of Egypt—who wanted an institute in the image of his regime, in its regard toward modern science and its domestic and foreign interests—played a major role in the selection of the academy's members.[7] The ulama, scholars, and intellectuals he chose were modernists and politically loyalists, moderates, or neutral.[7] These included:

Political figures

• Muhammad Tawfiq Rif'at Pasha[7]
• Chaim Nahum[7]
• Fares Nimr[7]

Academics

• Mansur Fahmi[7]
• Ali al-Gārim[7]
• Ahmad al-'Awāmiri[7][9]

Azharis

• Ahmad al-Iskandari[7]
• Hussein Wali[7]
• Muḥammad al-Khiḍr Ḥusayn[7]
• Ibrahim Hamrush[7]

Eastern members

• Muhammad Kurd Ali[7]
• Abdulqadir al-Maghrebi[7]
• Isa Iskandar al-Ma'luf[7]
• Anastas Al-Karmali[7]
• Hassan Husni Abd al-Wahhab[7]

Orientalists

• H. A. R. Gibb[7]
• Louis Massignon[7]
• Carlo Alfonso Nallino[7]
• August Fischer[7]
• Enno Littmann[7]

At its inception, the Academy of the Arabic Language in Cairo was housed in the palace of Hussayn Riad at 1 Ibn Arhab Street in Giza, in front of the Egyptian University (now Cairo University).[7] It later moved to 110 El Qasr El Einy Street, a building that was then demolished to build a bank.[7] It finally moved to a villa at 26 Murad St in Giza.[7]

The Academy of the Arabic Language in Cairo was inaugurated by Muhammad Hilmi Isa Pasha on January 30, 1934 (14 Shawwal 1352 of the Hijra), with all of the academy's members in attendance with the exception of Hassan Husni Abd al-Wahhab.[7]

In 1936, the academy, prompted by issues arising in the transliteration of names in European scripts into Arabic, discussed the possibility of reforming Arabic script.[10] This discussion was further expanded in 1938 with regard to the technical difficulty of printing vowels in Arabic at the time.[10] The discussions were published to engage a wider audience, and in 1945 a competition with a £E1,000 prize was announced calling for proposals.[10] The discussions continued for a number of years but no plan for reform of Arabic script was endorsed.[10] These discussions did, however, lead to the definition of پ pe and ڤ ve to represent p and v.[10]

Muhammad Tawfiq Rafaat, Ahmed Lutfi el-Sayed, and Taha Hussein served as presidents.[3]

Wafaa' Kamil was the first woman to become a member of the Academy of the Arabic Language in Cairo.[11][12]