Remembering Saad Zaghloul, one of Egypt's most influential leadershttps://en.majalla.com/node/298021/documents-memoirs/remembering-saad-zaghloul-one-egypts-most-influential-leaders
Remembering Saad Zaghloul, one of Egypt's most influential leaders
Al Majalla sets the record straight on the Egyptian premier's final words as he held his wife's hand on his deathbed
AFP
An undated picture from the early 1920s shows Saad Zaghloul (L), the leader of Egypt's 1919 revolution against the British occupation, attending a parliament session.
Remembering Saad Zaghloul, one of Egypt's most influential leaders
Popular lore says that on his deathbed, legendary Egyptian prime minister Saad Zaghloul Pasha took a long hard look at the sad state of affairs in the Arab world before turning to his wife and saying: “It’s just no use Safiyya. Cover me!”
These words are commonly attributed to Zaghloul, just before his passing on 23 August 1927. It’s a nice story no doubt, but it's historically inaccurate, like many oral anecdotes that are passed down from one generation to the next in the Arab world.
A more accurate version was relayed by Egyptian journalist Karim Thabet, who visited Zaghloul’s house – also known as Bayt al-Umma al-Masriyya – in August 1929, exactly two years after the pasha’s passing. He interviewed first hand-witnesses who had surrounded Zaghloul in his final hour, which were subsequently published in a book called Saad Fi Hayatihi al-Khasa (Saad in his Personal Life).
Thabet would later become a chief adviser to King Farouk. Writing about Zaghloul’s last encounter with his wife, he says that the pasha began worrying that his temperature would rise at exactly 1:00 AM, just like it did the previous night.
And when it came close to midnight, the "Mother of Egyptians" (Safiyya Zaghloul) feared that his situation would worsen and that this would affect his morale, so she swiftly took his watch and turned it to 3:00 AM. At exactly 1:00 AM, the great leader’s health worsened and his temperature rose, so he looked at his watch and said: “I still control my senses and there’s no way that it's 3:00 AM now.”
Saad realised the truth and began to mutter: “I am leaving.” Safiyya Hanim turned to him and said: “Do you want me to come with you?” He looked at her, held her hand, and said: “No, you stay here.”
Saad Zaghloul was undoubtedly one of the great leaders of contemporary Egypt. In his own lifetime, he shaped the cornerstone of Egyptian nationalism during the first half of the 20th century.
Ties to Mohammad Abdo and the Urabi Revolt of 1882
Saad Zaghloul was undoubtedly one of the great leaders of contemporary Egypt. In his own lifetime, he shaped the cornerstone of Egyptian nationalism during the first half of the 20th century.
Born in 1858 in the village of Ibyana on the western banks of the Nile (the governorate of Kafar al-Sheikh today), he was the son of Ibrahim — a local notable who owned vast tracts of agricultural land.
Zaghloul studied at religious schools, known as kuttab, and moved to the nearby town of Dassouk to complete his Quranic studies before heading to Cairo in 1873, where he studied law and enrolled at al-Azhar for an Islamic education.
And it was in Cairo that he met Sheikh Jamal al-Din al-Afghani — one of the leading religious reformers of the 19th century, who introduced him to his disciple, Sheikh Mohammad Abdo, who was a legend in his own right.
At the time, Abdo was editing the Egyptian newspaper al-Waqa'i al-Masriyya and hired Zaghloul to work with him. Mohammad Abdo had a profound influence on Saad Zaghloul, who was mesmerised by his eloquence and would sign off his letters to him either as "your son" or "your follower."
In fact, so influenced was he by Abdo that he decided to cut short his religious studies and drop out of at al-Azhar, satisfying himself by simply spending quality time with Abdo and learning from him.
Zaghloul then joined the civil service, rising to become assistant to the Egyptian minister of interior. He was fired from his job, however, for supporting the revolt of Ahmad Urabi Pasha against Khedive Tewfiq, at the direct urging of Mohammad Abdo.
That uprising would famously lead to the complete occupation of Egypt by the British in 1882. Zaghloul, at the time, was at the relatively young age of 24, and he demanded nothing less than complete independence, in addition to a democratic government and liberating Egypt from British tutelage, whether economic, political or military.
Mohammad Abdo was subsequently exiled to Beirut, and his newspaper was closed down by the British. Saad would eventually find employment in Egyptian justice, becoming court president and deputy judge in 1892.
His new job elevated his status both financially and socially, enabling him to marry into Egyptian notability in 1895. His wife, Safiyya Hanim, was the daughter of Egyptian Prime Minister Mustapha Fihmi Pasha.
Egypt, 1926, Russian sculptor Serge Yourievich works on a statue of Egyptian nationalist leader Saad Zaghloul Pacha.
Zaghloul becomes minister
He was eventually arrested, however, over ties to a secret cell accused of seeking vengeance for those killed by the British during the Urabi Revolt.
Upon release, he returned to his job, rising the ranks of the political hierarchy to become minister of education under Khedive Abbas Hilmi II in 1906. In 1910 he was named minister of justice and three years later, deputy president of the Legislative Assembly, to which he was elected as an MP for Cairo, rather than the Egyptian countryside.
That legislative chamber was short-lived, however, due to the outbreak of World War I in 1914. The British had the assembly suspended, imposing martial law on Egypt for the remainder of the Great War.
At the early age of 24, Zaghloul demanded nothing less than complete independence, in addition to a democratic government and liberating Egypt from British tutelage.
Founding of the Wafd Party
When World War I ended, Zaghloul headed a seven-man delegation that met with the British High Commissioner on 13 November 1918, seeking permission to attend the Paris Peace Conference that was scheduled for January 1919.
This delegation (wafd in Arabic) created the nucleus of what came to be known as the Wafd Party, and they made their demand after making sure that Syria would be represented at the Paris Peace Conference, through its new post-Ottoman ruler, Emir Faisal Ibn al-Hussein.
The British responded by having him arrested on 8 March 1919, exiling him to its colony in Malta first, and then to Seychelles. That triggered a violent response from the people of Egypt, which came to be known as the Revolution of 1919.
The Egyptian Revolt
Young Egyptians raised the slogan "Long live Saad, down with the British," and on 18 March, they ambushed a British convoy on its way from Aswan to Cairo, killing eight people — two being British officers, five soldiers, and the inspector of British prisons in Egypt.
British military installations were attacked, and so were police stations. The British responded with sheer force, especially in the countryside, torching entire villages.
The Revolution of 1919 was treated as an extension of the Urabi Revolt, with its bridge being Saad Zaghloul, showing just how popular the man had become. He rallied the masses around him, regardless of religion and socio-economic background, and its end result was a unilateral decision by Great Britain to recognise Egyptian independence on 28 February 1922.
In 1923, Egypt was granted its first constitution, months before Zaghloul was allowed to return to a hero's welcome in Cairo. He was escorted shoulder-high to his residence – Bayt al-Umma al-Masriyya – and was universally recognised as the uncrowned leader of Egypt.
The first and last Zaghloul government (January – November 1924)
Under his direct command, the Wafd Party contested parliamentary elections in January 1924, winning 195 out of 214 seats in the Chamber of Deputies.
Egyptians welcome newly elected ministers of the Wafd Party, as they arrive at the Winter Palace Hotel on the bank of the Nile in Luxor, Egypt, 1924. They are carrying a portrait of the new Prime Minister, Saad Zaghloul.
In its capacity as the strongest party in Egypt, and commander of the largest parliamentary bloc, the Wafd nominated Saad Zaghloul for the premiership and he created his first government on 26 January 1924.
He was the first prime minister of rural background and would lead the nation until 24 December 1924, residing over a 10-man cabinet in which he also assumed the portfolio of interior. His cabinet demanded the withdrawal of British troops from Egypt, granting Egypt the right to "protect" the Suez Canal, and formulate its foreign policy, without reporting to London.
The assassination of Lee Stack
What hastened Zaghloul's fall was the assassination of Major General Lee Stack, governor of Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, on 19 November 1924.
He was shot while driving to Cairo and in response, the British demanded the withdrawal of Egyptian troops from the Sudan and formulated a law to protect foreigners in Egypt. In his capacity as premier, Zaghloul issued a statement condemning the murder:
"I deeply regret this terrible crime, and I don't know to what purpose the perpetrators were thrown, nor to which class of the nation they belong, nor to which political body or political party. In any case, however, I believe that those who committed this terrible sin only aimed at disturbing the security and comfort of this country."
Zaghloul's carefully worded statement did not satisfy the British, who demanded an official apology and that he take full responsibility for what happened, in addition to arresting the perpetrators and banning anti-British demonstrations throughout Egypt.
What hastened Zaghloul's fall was the assassination of Major General Lee Stack, governor of Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, on 19 November 1924. The British demanded an official apology and that Zaghloul take full responsibility for what happened.
Zaghloul responded to their first demand, withdrawing Egyptian troops from Egypt, but decided that he was morally incapable of going any further. He decided to step down, penning a resignation letter to King Ahmad Fouad II that November.
Cars circle the roundabout showing a statue of late Egyptian independence leader Saad Zaghloul outside the Cairo Opera House in the Egyptian capital Cairo's central Zamalek district on September 21, 2019.
The pasha's memoirs
Saad Zaghloul was many things for Egypt: a resistance leader, a statesman, and a gifted orator, but also, one of the very few politicians to leave behind a written memoir.
He wrote his memoirs for personal use, either to jog his memory or return to them for a specific event or date, but not to be published or read by a wide audience. And that is what makes his memoirs so unique: they are remarkably frank, honest, and brave.
In them, Zaghloul explains the costs of maintaining his household and speaks about his gain and loss on the Cairo Bourse. But more outstandingly, he admits that he was an avid gambler and loved to play poker with friends, saying: "I saw myself gambling recklessly, and a time came when that was everything I did, and everything I thought about."
In his will, Saad Zaghloul mentions those memoirs, which were written in 53 notebooks, saying that they ought to go either to his nephew, or his successor at the Wafd Party, Mustapha al-Nahhas Pasha.
They would eventually settle at Nahhas Pasha's office until the Egyptian Revolution of 1952 when they became the property of the Egyptian government and were published in stages starting in 1987.
