20 Facts About Suleiman Mousa

Suleiman Mousa was a Jordanian author and historian born in Al-Rafeed, a small village north of the city of Irbid.

Suleiman Mousa wrote up to fifty books of which most prominent are Biography of Sharif Hussein Bin Ali, Jordan in the 1948 War, Great Arab Revolt, History of Jordan in the 20th century, and was the first and only Arab author to write about Lawrence of Arabia and show the Arab perspective.

The early death of his father, an unwealthy man with a passion for reading and writing, came as a shock to him, his mother and sister while Mousa was just six years old.

Suleiman Mousa gradually learnt English using dictionaries, and published many articles in Palestinian newspapers as well as several short stories in 1938.

Suleiman Mousa returned in 1939 to Al Rafeed where he continued working in the field of education before becoming an employee in the Iraq Petroleum Company in Mafraq.

Suleiman Mousa spent fifteen years in Mafraq and his publications were put close to a halt due to the inappropriate and illiterate environment he went through although he managed to publish a few short stories, articles and translations.

Later on, Suleiman Mousa spent more than four years as a cultural adviser in the Greater Amman Municipality, from 1984 to 1988.

Suleiman Mousa's first book Al Hussein Bin Ali and the Great Arab Revolt was published in 1957 where it was written when the author had been resident of Jaffa, Palestine in early 1939, when he was a mere nineteen years of age.

One of the most prominent works of Suleiman Mousa is T E Lawrence: An Arab View, which has been translated into English, French and Japanese.

Suleiman Mousa showed the Arab's point of view about battles and events of The Great Arab Revolt, and came in response to the British book written by Lawrence himself, who did not give the Arabs their right to the full extent.

Suleiman Mousa was visited by senior Western writers, including professors Colin Wilson and Jeremy Wilson.

Suleiman Mousa drew the attention of Western readers when he published his famous book 'T.

Suleiman Mousa, in addition to being a recognized researcher who achieved a breakthrough intellectually and in the Arab World, was a local 'people's' author.

Suleiman Mousa wrote in four major themes: Biographies, history of Jordan, history of Arab revolution and writings in literature and short stories, in addition to the translations of Arabic and several simplified books written for young people.

Suleiman Mousa relied on many diverse Arab, British and foreign sources.

Suleiman Mousa went to the Public Record Office in the United Kingdom in 1974 and spent four months researching documents relating to Jordan.

Suleiman Mousa won many awards in recognition of his contributions to Jordanian and Arab history including: The Order of Independence in 1971, King Abdullah I Award for research in Islamic civilization in 1988, the State Incentive prize in 1990, the Order of Al Hussein distinguished first class in 2007 and Medal of the Arab Author after his death in 2008.

Suleiman Mousa died on 9 June 2008, in Amman, Jordan two days prior of his eighty-ninth birthday.

Suleiman Mousa was awarded The Arab Author Medal in 2008 after his death.

On 11 November 2009, a library dedicated for the history of Jordan under the name of Suleiman Mousa, located at Al Hussein Cultural Center of the GAM, was inaugurated on behalf of the former Mayor of Amman, Omar Maani.