Abstract
The purpose of this article is to examine Adīb Isḥāq (1856–1884)’s interpretation of freedom and despotism. According to him, the population has already been deprived of its natural rights through social customs and manners, such as compulsory right-handedness in Europe and foot-binding in China. If so, it is evident that civil and political freedom is not guaranteed by the authoritarian tradition. The despotic state does not repress the people in the name of “repression” but creates, by giving the public the illusion of freedom, a triangular system of fear, jealousy, and mutual suspicion, as Montesquieu framed it. Additionally, the autocratic Khedival regime in Egypt at that time was strengthened by European colonialism.
Under these circumstances, Isḥāq admitted the difficulty of banishing foreign powers by force of arms. He instead suggested gradual reforms, including the establishment of public education. According to him, compulsory education would be the only way to teach the public the value of freedom and isolating the cycle of authoritarianism – from the dictatorship of the state to the patriarchy of the family.
His idea differed greatly from the conventional way of thinking of political thinkers of the time: the idea of the just despot. In short, Ishāq’s original, meticulous analysis of despotic power systems was an important contribution to the development of Arab political thought.
