Sharjah: Aladdin Mahmoud

The writing project of His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, rises on several levers, and relies on various fields of knowledge that His Highness engages in with the power of idea, careful investigation, and relying on documents that have not been touched by forgery or manipulation, in order to reach the facts.

Among the most important literary creations and styles that His Highness addressed, history, narrative, theatre, and thought stand out, and historical material is the regulating thread in all the works that His Highness presented over the years, with effort, determination, and perseverance in moving between all of these styles, as the meaning emerges in each work. His Highness’s works, whether literary or historical, through which he presents his position and vision about reality and history.

In his writings, His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi does not only move between different forms, but he also moves between the past and the present, to monitor the errors on which false facts that have become a given were based, and to judge the historical event in order to interrogate and dialogue with it in a way that benefits the present, and works to push Slander, purifying history from impurities, and correcting information related to the facts.

Impact of information

There is no doubt that His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah is well aware of the impact of false information and misleading false history on the current human, social and political relations, especially at the level of relations between the East, especially the Arab and Islamic world, and the West, and how that misleading history has painted a false and stereotypical picture. About the personality of the Arab and the Muslim in the minds of Westerners.

Through these writings, His Highness is working to excavate to reveal the truth and modify the stereotypical image that has been established in the West about Islam and Arabism, and all Arabs and Muslims. There is no doubt that linking the image of the Arab and the Muslim in our current era with isolation and extremism has something to do with that past and those false historical facts. Therefore, His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah worked to expose these visions and perceptions through diligent knowledge work, using all means and tools of research, and even through visits to many sites where the events took place, museums and international centers in search of information.

Great results

His Highness made a strenuous and great effort, the results of which were also great, and there is no doubt that its impact will be seen over the years, as the word of truth that it carries would change many of the false perceptions that were treated as facts, and shake up the assumptions and theses that were based on fragile historical narratives.

Because relations between peoples, and dialogue between civilizations, must be based on those desired truths, and not on lies, we see His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah, in these lavish writings, condemning, judging, and negotiating, for the sake of a better future for humanity, in light of tolerance that is based on knowledge. The past and its secrets, and peace that is based on sound foundations. The truth is what liberates everyone.

Just as the texts of His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah were full of information, proofs, and proofs, they did not neglect the aesthetics of narration through several techniques, at the level of novel and theatrical writing, just as His Highness did not neglect in that great project to criticize the Arab reality itself, as confronting oneself first is the best way to confront it. The other.

Narrative

His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah employed narration and novel writing based on historical facts, in the service of the truth and the search for it. All of his novels celebrate the idea, and do not lack brilliance, beauty and suspense, in a simple style and language that works to engage the reader and take him towards the past, where the facts he wants lie. His Highness wants to dismantle them, analyze them, and surround them in order to correct them, and thus correct the visions that deal with them. These are the essences of the meanings inherent in His Highness’s narratives. He presents them in an enjoyable manner so that the recipient understands the purposes of the work, the meanings inherent in it, and the visions and perceptions that it carries.

Since the particular novel delves deeply into the events of history, relying on many rare and unavailable documents, references, and manuscripts, we see in a single narrative work a crowd of information in front of the reader, in an easy way, and this is among the techniques that pass on the weight of history, and make the novel rich. With pleasure, it also carries respect for the reader, as it makes him think, contemplate, and analyze the historical events to which His Highness brings back attendance, so that they are not enveloped in oblivion. Therefore, the process of wandering through these narrative works by the reader involves real pleasure, and a journey of exploration into many unknowns in the world. Reality, history.

Topics

There are many themes and narrative purposes in the narrative experience of His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah, and they are based on different visions, points of view and positions on many of the concepts and perceptions that prevailed, especially in relations between the Arab and Islamic world, and between the West, and we glimpse in these novels a call for relations between peoples, based On new foundations based on real facts, it makes history present against oblivion, and His Highness works in many of his novels to restore respect to historical figures whose biography has been subjected to injustice and distortion, as the narrative works to sift through events and facts to arrive at the correct information that must replace that information. Pseudo, therefore, the fictional texts of His Highness, serve as references for every seeker of truth.

struggle

The novel “The Buried Hatred” (2004) is considered one of the narrative texts that carries a different historical vision from the one that prevailed. The events and details of the work took place at a historical stage in Sharjah, where the reader learns the story of a great struggle waged by Al-Qawasim against Portuguese colonialism led by Alfonso de Albuquerque, who was described with extreme hatred. The novel monitors the hostile spirit that characterized the Portuguese campaigns in the countries of the East, and the malevolent purposes of that leader appear more and more in the events of the novel, when he heads to the cities of the Arabian coast of the Arabian Peninsula, then Hormuz on the Arabian Gulf, bombing and destroying the cities, and killing people.

Stereotype

In the novel “The Rule of Qaraqosh… A Study of the Rule of History,” His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah works to dispel the stereotypical image that has been established in the minds of an important personality, Saeed Qaraqosh bin Abdullah Al-Asadi, as the narration corrects the facts and defeats the falsehood about that personality. Lies were woven around it in a way that made Qaraqosh appear as a cruel and crazy oppressor, and thus the book works by responding to the distorted historical image.

One of the most important narrative works of His Highness is the novel “Bibi Fatima and the King’s Sons”, as it is an example of a tight narrative with all its aesthetics and artistic methods. It tells about the history of the Kingdom of Hormuz, starting from the year 1588 until 1622 with the end of the Portuguese occupation and its defeat by the British. It raises many issues and reveals chapters. The five novels are about the advanced stages of the escalation of the narrative, relying on successive events, and what is noteworthy in this work of fiction is the strength of the description of social life in Hormuz, in all its aspects, which makes the reader as if he is living those important historical moments.

Proper documentation

There is also the novel “The Bold,” which is full of lessons, lessons, and facts, in the face of forgery. Its events revolve around the story of its heroine, Mary Betty, nicknamed The Bold, and her relationship with the diplomatic mission to Persia. Perhaps the important note in this narration is the word with which he describes the events of the novel: “It is a true, well-documented story.”

There are many narrative works by His Highness, including the novel “The Rebel Prince,” which deals with an important aspect of the biography of Prince Muhanna bin Nasser bin Hamad Al Zaabi, the brave man who rejected worldliness and humiliation, and also the novel “The Head of Prince Muqrin,” which calls for a deep analytical vision and penetrating insights. The story of Muqrin bin Zamil Al-Jabri Al-Khalidi, the ruler of the eastern Arabian Peninsula, in addition to the novel “Biography of the Sultans of Kilwa”, which presents real events in the biography of the Sultans of Kilwa, in which the reader learns about the reason for the migration of these Arab sultans to the island of Kilwa in East Africa, and the events that happened to them. , along with many other narrative works.

Visit

Every time His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah records a visit to history, whether recent or distant, there is always a new position and statement, with the lever of analysis, interpretation, monitoring and taking note of the facts, and based on verified references. There are many important and precise historical studies and writings, which have provided It houses His Highness the International Library, as many of them have been translated into various languages ​​of the world.

Perhaps one of the most important historical works of His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah is the book “I Condemn”, which is a book that confronts the false official history written by the Spanish, as it deals with the tragedy of the Morisco Muslims after the fall of Granada, on April 2, 1492, and its last king was “ Abu Abdullah Period.

Among the books that carried condemnation and investigation as well is the book “The Inquisition…an investigation of twenty-three files of cases against Muslims in Andalusia,” which is divided into two parts, and deals with secret courts that practice execution and burning, and many matters against Muslims in Andalusia, and is crowded with manuscripts that carry within them history. Tragic, and confirms the horror of these crimes.

There is also the book “Khor Fakkan’s Resistance to the Portuguese Invasion,” in which His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah provides a very important overview of the history of the region, and there is the book “Nazm al-Fawaid fi Biography of Ibn Majid,” which is the achievement in which His Highness continues his research effort in correcting Arab and Islamic history, in particular Regarding the biography of the Arab sailor Ahmed bin Majid.

There are also books: “Under the Flag of Occupation,” “A Very Important Journey,” “The Struggle of Powers and Trade in the Gulf 1620-1820 AD,” “Zenobia, Queen of Palmyra,” “The Correspondence of the Sultans of Zanzibar,” and “Al-Qawasim and British Aggression (1797 – 1820), and other valuable historical works, in which His Highness proved the fact that history is not written by whims and force.

Role and function

His Highness, the Ruler of Sharjah, took a great and special interest in theatre, both sponsorship and writing, to the point that he was called the first man of theatre, as theatrical writing according to His Highness is like a stage that narrates and judges history, and there is no doubt that theater possesses tremendous tools as a sublime creativity, as it is deservedly considered “the father of Arts,” in which all forms and types of other creative practices come together, and perhaps that large sentence in its meaning, “We as human beings are fleeting, and theater remains as long as life remains,” represents the most beautiful thing that can be described about theater and its role in life.

The play “The Return of Hulagu” was the first publication by His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah, in 1998, and it was presented at the Sharjah National Theater in 1999. What is striking about that text is the introduction written by His Highness, in which he says: “From my reading of the history of the Arab nation, I found that what What happened to the Abbasid state before its fall is similar to what is happening now on the Arab scene, as if history is repeating itself, so this play was written from a historical perspective of a painful reality. Thus, the work looks at the events of the past in order to interpret and understand reality.

One of the theatrical releases of high artistic and intellectual value is the play “The Case,” released in 2000. It is one of the works that provides a deep dive into historical events in order to address the nation’s current issues.

Against despair

In the play “Reality is a Mirror Image,” which was released in 2001, His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah continues the act of exploring the facts of the Arab and Islamic past, through this work, which confirms that the momentous events that the Arab nation is going through at the present time have roots in history, Therefore, His Highness says in the introduction to the text: “The Islamic nation has gone through harsher periods than we are in, so let this play be a reality against despair and an incentive towards unification and struggle.”

While His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah puts us before the power struggle in the past and the present time, through his play “Alexander the Great,” which was published in 2006, and the introduction to the play carries an illuminating word from His Highness, in which he says: “After reading the greatest things written in history about Alexander the Great, I concluded… This play; To be a vivid picture of the power struggle, ancient and modern, wherever it may be.”

The play talks about the leader Alexander the Great, this young leader whose ambition for glory and control of the world reached great heights. He invaded Persia, India and Egypt, approached the coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and occupied Babylon, where he fell ill there and from there he was transferred to Egypt to die in his bed.

facts

In his play “Samson the Mighty”, which was released in 2008, His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah presents a work packed with knowledge and information, as the play discovers established facts and refutes the falsification of history. His Highness deals with that legendary character “Samson the Mighty”, as His Highness used that story In an innovative way full of psychological situations that depict conflict.

The theatrical creative tide continues in the writings of His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah, until it reaches its peak in the play “Nimrod,” published in 2008, which deals with tyranny and injustice in past eras, in what resembles an investigation of its historical roots, and the factors and causes that formed it.

Investigation and trial

His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah practices fact-finding in the play “Turgut,” released in 2011, which sheds light on the failures and shortcomings, provides lessons and lessons, and takes us to the bitter present to confront him. It talks about “Turgut,” the leader who succeeded in redeeming… Arab ports and regions in North Africa from the grip of the colonialists, turning into a legendary hero whose biography was transmitted in many Arab novels and folk tales.

There are a number of theatrical works that served as a trial against extremism, and other works that open up to the Arab heritage. There is the play “The Black Stone,” which was released in 2012, and deals with the most serious issues that have faced the Arab nation recently, and also the play “Alia and Essam,” 2015, It is of a poetic nature and tells the story of a Bedouin Arab tribe called “Rula”, in the desert between Hama and the Levant, and the play “ISIS and Al-Ghabra” 2016.

In addition to theatrical works, His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah has provided the library with studies and writings that examine the history of theater, such as his book “History on the French Stage,” in 2019, “Words in the Theater,” and “Sharjah Theatrical Days.”

Walks and places

His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah also has various writings of a humanitarian nature that celebrate place, history, and biography, such as: the book “Biography of a City,” which celebrates Sharjah, the smiling Emirate, and there is the book “Narrative of the Self,” which combines in its style the aesthetics of narration, And historical facts, and intellectual enlightenments, and there is also the book “Hadith of Memory,” in which His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah wanders, through its three parts, between the homeland, the Emirate of Sharjah, the Arab world, and many intellectual visions that prevailed in different historical stages.