The House of Rifaa al-Tahtawi in Upper Egypt: A Journey Through Enlightenment Memory

SadaNews - At a pivotal moment in modern Egyptian history, with the start of Muhammad Ali Pasha's project to build the state, the first educational mission to France was launched in 1826, comprising 44 students, among them a young Al-Azhar scholar who was not sent to learn but to be an imam and religious guide for the delegates.

However, the sheikh quickly became its intellectual figurehead; this was Rifaa Rafie al-Tahtawi, who had just turned twenty-four when he left for Paris on the recommendation of his teacher Hassan al-Attar, the later Sheikh of Al-Azhar, for this mission.

There, al-Tahtawi did not confine himself to the role of imam, but immersed himself in the atmosphere of European thought; he learned French, read philosophy, science, and literature, and began to view Western civilization with a comparative rather than a imitative eye, extracting what served his nation without abandoning his identity. He returned to Egypt in 1831, carrying an enlightening vision that formed the nucleus of the scientific and cultural renaissance in the country.

To serve as a bridge between East and West, al-Tahtawi founded the School of Languages in 1835 and contributed to the Arabization of sciences and the establishment of modern colleges. In 1842, he took over the editorial leadership of Al-Waqai' Al-Misriyya (The Egyptian Events), recontextualizing its content and developing it to become a pioneer of modern Arabic journalism. In 1870, he collaborated with Ali Pasha Mubarak to establish the magazine Rawdat al-Madaris, which blended literature, science, and politics.

Openness to Modern Sciences

Rifaa Rafie al-Tahtawi was born on October 15, 1801, in the city of Tahta in Upper Egypt, to a family of nobility. He memorized the Quran and learned language and grammar from a young age. After the death of his father, he joined Al-Azhar at the age of sixteen, where he studied under Sheikh Hassan, who later guided him to embrace modern sciences.

He was not merely a translator but a thinker and architect of a national project, seeing in science a path to salvation, and in women, a partner in knowledge, as he advocated for their education in his book "The Reliable Guide for Girls and Boys." He is also noted for his progressive stance when, in his marriage contract in 1840, he stipulated he would not take another wife or own a concubine, tying her chastity to this condition.

Al-Tahtawi was among the first to call for the necessity of preserving Egyptian antiquities and safeguarding them from looting and destruction, recognizing their civilizational and historical value. He wrote warnings against neglecting or selling them to foreigners, asserting that antiquities are not silent stones but testimonies to the nation's identity and roots, calling for their collection and organization in national museums.

The House of Al-Tahtawi: An Intellectual Memory

Far from the usual lines written about al-Tahtawi’s life, his works, and his translations that have filled tomes and biographies, we pause the pen for a moment and return to where it all began… to Tahta, the serene city in southern Egypt, where the pioneer of the scientific, educational, and cultural renaissance was born.

The house known as the House of Rifaa al-Tahtawi was not built by the sheikh himself but was constructed long after his death by his grandson Muhammad Badawi Pasha Rifaa al-Tahtawi, to serve as a family home and a continuation of his memory. It was later opened and renovated to become a family home and a cultural library bearing his name, preserving some of his intellectual and material legacy.

Omar Fathi Muhammad Badawi Rifaa al-Tahtawi, one of his grandchildren, stated in exclusive remarks to Al Jazeera Net: "My grandfather Muhammad Badawi Pasha built the house over 100 years ago in memory of Rifaa, to be the family home and a living testament to his ideas." He added, "The backyard features palm trees, jasmine, and basil, as if their fragrance still carries the enlightened spirit of my grandfather."

He added that the house is located on the main Port Said Street, covering an area of about 2,000 square meters, and consists of two floors with three corners, adorned with ancient wooden mashrabiyas (decorative windows), which give it a unique architectural character.

Omar confirms that the house was a constant destination for foreign missions and ambassadors, especially French visitors to Tahta, in acknowledgment of the deep ties between France and al-Tahtawi since his first mission. Behind the main door stand two lions made of Italian marble, a gift from the King of Italy to one of his grandchildren, Ali Pasha Rifaa.

Artifacts That Tell the Story

The grandson of al-Tahtawi adds that one of the rooms contains a famous and rare picture of al-Tahtawi, of which the Louvre Museum holds the original version, along with a European safe from 1855 that contained rare documents, including his marriage certificate from 1840. There is also an ancient French console over 170 years old and a wall clock from the 19th century, its hands stopped as if to pause in awe of the house's owner.

He noted that many rare pictures are displayed on the walls of some rooms, including a famous image of Rifaa with his companions in the Egyptian mission to Paris, affirming the spark of the first renaissance. On May 29, 1958, his grandson Fathi Rifaa inaugurated a library named after him inside the house to commemorate the 85th anniversary of his death, which includes thousands of books and manuscripts, before it was later transferred to the Rifaa Library in Suhag.

Commemorating the Name and Symbol

In Suhag Governorate, numerous symbols commemorate Rifaa, including a library and a square that bear his name in the city of Suhag, two schools, and a street named after him in Tahta, in addition to four statues of him: one in front of the old University of Suhag and three in Tahta at the train station square and the city entrances.

The memory of Rifaa al-Tahtawi remains alive in the conscience of Upper Egypt and all of Egypt, not just as a translator or an employee in Muhammad Ali's state, but as the pioneer of enlightenment who connected East and West with ink and thought, proving that renaissance begins in the mind and that knowledge alone is the bridge that nations cross toward the future.

Rifaa al-Tahtawi passed away in Cairo on May 27, 1873, at the age of 72, leaving behind an invaluable intellectual and cultural legacy. He was not just a translator or a scholar but an engineer of an early renaissance vision, through which he sought to build bridges between Islamic civilization and European modernity.