18 Facts About Constantin Zureiq

Constantin Zureiq was a prominent Syrian intellectual who was one of the first to pioneer and express the importance of Arab nationalism.

Constantin Zureiq stressed the urgent need to transform stagnant Arab society utilizing rational thought and radical modification of the methods of thinking and acting.

Constantin Zureiq was a strong proponent of the intellectual reformation of Arab society, emphasizing the need for rationalism and an ethical revolution.

Constantin Zureiq received his primary and secondary education in the Orthodox school systems and had an obsession with acquiring knowledge.

Constantin Zureiq continued his education at the American University of Beirut, and eventually received his PhD at Princeton University all by the age of twenty-one.

Constantin Zureiq immediately turned to teaching and became a professor of history at the American University of Beirut.

Constantin Zureiq's goal was to discover a means of radically and expeditiously transforming Arab society into a practical, rational, and scientific society.

Constantin Zureiq blamed the change in Arab personality as the reason for the weakened Arab civilization.

Constantin Zureiq called "for science and productivity," and warned that the advancement of Arab society is dependent on whether that notion became a part of Arabs' "feelings and thoughts and a source of their will".

Constantin Zureiq believed rationalism was the "prerequisite that encompassed all other prerequisites" for a future, modern Arab society.

Constantin Zureiq introduced what he called the "revolution of reason," where he called for a national Arab unity based on a "secular democracy in which diverse individuals and communities can fulfill themselves in a framework of tolerance and mutual respect".

Constantin Zureiq believed the doctrines to be "superimposed on human history rather than derived from its concrete givens".

Constantin Zureiq made clear, "true nationalism cannot in any way contradict true religion, for in its essence it is a spiritual movement which aims at resurrecting the inner forces of the nation and at realizing its intellectual and spiritual potentialities".

Constantin Zureiq reiterated the importance of cultural heritage in that it must not be forgotten to build a modern Arab society.

Constantin Zureiq was a man of conviction who put up with persecution and humiliation all for the sake of inspiring and transforming his fellow companions to broaden their horizons and access their potentials to build a new civilization.

Constantin Zureiq rejected the thin view of Arab history that limited it to Islamic history.

Constantin Zureiq firmly expressed that history should be judged with a mind completely free of dogma.

Constantin Zureiq called for a national Arab unity based on a "secular democracy in which diverse individuals and communities can fulfill themselves in a framework of tolerance and mutual respect".