Michel 'Aflaq

Michel 'Aflaq (1910-1989) was the founder and spiritual leader of the Arab Socialist Resurrection party, called the Ba'th party, for more than 25 years. He lived in Syria until 1966, and after being forced into exile, he assumed power within the Ba'th party in Iraq.

Michel 'Aflaq was born in 1910 in the Midan Quarter of Damascus, Syria, to a Greek Orthodox family of five children. His father was a local wheat dealer. 'Aflaq was educated in Greek Orthodox schools in Damascus and won a scholarship to study at the Sorbonne in Paris. He graduated from the Sorbonne with honors in history in 1936 and returned to Damascus to teach at the Tahjiz secondary school. 'Aflaq quit teaching in 1944 to concentrate full time on political activities.

While in France 'Aflaq was close to many Communists and wrote articles for several French Communist publications. In the late 1930s he became disenchanted with the Communists and the Syrian Communist party, and in 1940 he founded the Arab Resurrection party, known as the Ba'th party. He also in 1946 founded the party newspaper, al-Ba'th, which became a principal vehicle for his prolific writings.

Michel 'Aflaq was a dedicated Arab nationalist and a firm believer in socialism. A philosopher and visionary more than a practical politician, he had a strong personality and was highly intelligent. His long political career ultimately left him with influence in various parts of the Arab world outside his native land. In the 1940s and 1950s 'Aflaq organized political meetings and rallies in Syria and motivated party workers by providing long-range political analysis. He would often rely on his long-time friend, close companion since childhood, and party co-founder Salah al-Din al-Bitar to put these theories into policies.

'Aflaq's long political career took many turns. In 1947, and again in 1949, he ran unsuccessfully for the Syrian Parliament. But in between, in August 1949, he served as minister of education in a Hashim al-Atasi cabinet. In 1954 the party he and al-Bitar founded merged with the Socialist party of Akram al-Hawrani under the new name Arab Socialist Resurrectionist party. Al-Hawrani was a populist from the northern Syrian city of Hama. The new party also made the decision in 1954 to expand operations into neighboring Arab countries, and party leaders were present at several international socialist conferences in the mid-1950s.

Between 1958 and 1963, when the Ba'th party took power in both Syria and Iraq, 'Aflaq was engaged in considerable political maneuvering. He and his party initially supported the 1958 union of Egypt and Syria, but only 18 months later 'Aflaq fled to Beirut, Lebanon, disillusioned. He returned to Syria in September 1961 when the union with Egypt was dissolved and immediately tried to reassert his authority, which al-Hawrani had in the meantime tried to usurp. A May 1962 party national congress expelled al-Hawrani, but factionalism continued to plague the party as some in the party wanted to reestablish links with Egypt.

In February 1963 the Ba'th party took power in Iraq. The party also seized power in Syria the following month. But the party's rise to power only intensified party factionalism in Syria and Iraq, and the process undermined 'Aflaq's leadership of the Ba'th party movement. Over the years 'Aflaq had been unable to develop strong ties with the young military members in the Syrian Ba'th party who paid little attention to the older civilian leaders of the party. In 1965 'Aflaq lost his position as secretary general of the party, a position he had held for 25 years, but was given the honorary title of founder-leader.

Although he was in exile from Syria after February 1966, this was not the first time he had trouble or had to leave his country. During the 1940s and 1950s he was jailed frequently. He went into exile briefly in 1953, in 1959, and in 1964. In November 1966 the young military leaders of the Ba'th party in Syria threw 'Aflaq out of the party. However, he went on to become a leader of an international branch of the party from a base in Baghdad. Branches of the Ba'th party existed in most Arab countries, and 'Aflaq was the visionary for many of their leaders.

From the party's beginning 'Aflaq was the chief author of its ideology. The basic doctrine of the Ba'th party was summarized by its slogan: "Unity, liberation, socialism: One Arab nation having an immortal mission." This Arab nation was a permanent entity in history, and Arabism was defined as the feeling and consciousness of being Arab. For 'Aflaq and his supporters, the Arab nation comprised the entire area between the Sahara desert and the Atlantic and the Persian Gulf. The party proposed to make this Arab nation modern and secular, with full rights of citizenship for women. Islam would be secularized and made part of Arab culture, and all religious, communal, regional, racial, or tribal divisions would be subsumed into one Arab nation.

The overriding priority of the party was given to Arab unity, but the party did not develop a clear strategy for achieving unity. Liberation, the second Ba'th goal, was exceedingly popular with the post-World War II Arab generation, which wanted to be done with all forms of foreign domination. The third part of 'Aflaq's triad, socialism, in the early years of the party played a secondary role to concerns about Arab nationalism and unity and liberation. The form of socialism envisaged then was mild and allowed for private enterprise. Despite 'Aflaq's close ties in the early 1930s to Communism, the party constitution did not show any strong ties to Marxism.

The role of the party in 'Aflaq's conception was to be the vanguard of the people, and this vanguard represented the new Arab generation which would bring the people out of decades of neglect and backwardness into a new nation. Ba'th means resurrection. While the elitist role of the party was evident, in the early, formative years the system of government which the party espoused was not clear. The Ba'th party did use the electoral process to gain access to power in Syria, but abandoned that process in 1957 when the opportunity of unity with Egypt emerged.

'Aflaq clearly captured the imagination of politically aware Arabs in many countries, especially in the period 1946 to 1956. This was a time of incredible expansion of his party in Syria and elsewhere. The stress on nationalism, unity, and liberation won many hearts and minds. In the late 1960s and 1970s, however, when these parties obtained power in Syria and Iraq, practical considerations of policies and running governments divided the Ba'th party elites, and a new generation with different views emerged, leaving 'Aflaq with vastly diminished status in his movement in his later years.

'Aflaq lived his last years with the title of Pan-Arab General Secretary of the Iraqi Ba'th party, a position which ceremonially placed him above Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, though 'Aflaq's contributions to politics were minimal. He lived in Baghdad in virtual isolation until his deteriorating health necessitated a move to Paris to seek treatment. On June 10, 1989, 'Aflaq underwent heart surgery but never left the hospital, dying two weeks later. At the time of his death, a statement was issued by the Ba'th party leaders, stating 'Aflaq "led Arab masses for decades in their struggle against imperialism and for Arab unity." The statement also claimed that 'Aflaq had converted from Christianity to Islam during his life, but did not want this information to be interpreted politically, so he didn't make this announcement during his lifetime.

Further Reading

Michel 'Aflaq and the Ba'th Party are discussed prominently in several good books written about postindependence Syria. Among the better books are: Political Leaders of the Contemporary Middle East and North Africa, edited by Bernard Reich (1990); The Struggle for Syria: Study of Postwar Arab Politics, 1945-1958, by Patrick Seale (1965); The Ba'th Party: A History from Its Origins to 1966, by John F. Devlin (1976); Syria, by Tabitha Petran (1972); The Arab Ba'th Socialist Party History, Ideology, and Organization, by Kamel S. Abu Jaber (1966); The Struggle for Power in Syria, by Nikolaos van Dam (1979); and Syria Under the Ba'th, 1963-1966, by Itamar Rabinovich (1972).

For more information on Michel 'Aflaq, visit Britannica.com.

1910 - 1989

Syrian Christian pan-Arab nationalist; intellectual, teacher, journalist, and politician; one of the founders of the Baʿth party.

Michel (also Mishayl) Aflaq was born the son of a Greek Orthodox grain merchant in the Maydan quarter of Damascus. During the French mandate over Syria, he began his secondary education in the Greek Orthodox lyceneum in Damascus (1922 - 1926), but after long-standing disagreements with students and teachers, he transferred in his final year to the Damascus state secondary school (altajhiz). He studied at the University of Paris (1928 - 1934), where he took the licentiate in law. After returning to Damascus, he taught history in the state secondary school and in the French lay secondary school. He participated in Arab nationalism in Damascus and Paris, but after returning to Damascus devoted himself to literary activities, writing short stories, a novel, and a play. Social reform was his preoccupation in his earliest political action - articles published in al-Tali, a weekly that he and Salah al-Din al-Bitar, a fellow student and friend in Paris, and others published for six months in 1935 to 1936. Aflaq and Bitar were attracted by Marxism and were friendly with communists in Paris and in Syria, but they never joined the party. The French author André Gide (1869 - 1951) was their greatest influence; the two friends became disillusioned by communist support for the 1936 Franco - Syrian treaty and the denunciation of the communists by intellectuals such as Gide.

With the start of World War II, Aflaq and Bitar organized a group of pan-Arab students, but the group's principal activity before 1943 was the distribution of occasional handbills. These circulars were identified simply as from al-Ihya al-Arabi (the Arab Awakening) or, from the later half of 1941 on, al-Baʿth al-Arabi (the Arab Resurrection), a term that Zaki al-Arsuzi had used to designate a similar group of students formed by him in 1940. Meanwhile, in May 1941, Aflaq and Bitar organized a group to send arms and volunteers to assist Rashid Ali al-Kaylani against the British.

Aflaq's literary activity won him a substantial reputation, and his teaching had a great impact on some students. Aflaq and Bitar were of middle economic status, but their families were considered notable and aristocratic. Nevertheless, with fewer than ten members in 1943, growth was slow and organization weak until two better positioned notables, Jalal al-Sayyid of Dayr al-Zawr and Midhat al-Bitar of Damascus, joined the leadership during 1942 to 1943. Thereafter, the undefined group without a fixed name became in 1943 the movement (haraka), in 1944 the party of the Arab Resurrection (al-Baʿth al-Arabi), with a permanent office, and in 1946 a newspaper. The followers of Arsuzi - now led by Wahib Ghanim - then joined, and a congress of 247 members met in Damascus to adopt a constitution on 4 April 1947.

Aflaq was elected the first amid (dean) and thereafter held, at least nominally, the leading position in the Baʿth party, as well as the editorship of the newspaper. Yet he was soon the focus of unending controversy. The most detailed information is provided by self-interested sources other than Aflaq, but these are consistent with each other and the public actions of the party. Aflaq possessed both ambition and envy. He ran without success for the Syrian parliament in 1943 and 1947. He was minister of education during the Hinnawi period but resigned when he failed to be elected to the constituent assembly; then when al-Sayyid was offered a place in the cabinet, Aflaq and Bitar foreclosed the appointment by demanding two positions. Unlike alSayyid, Aflaq had no power base of his own. Consequently, he was neither willing nor able to prevent the appropriation of the party by Akram alHawrani (also spelled Hurani, Hourani). Although party rules forbade membership by the military, Aflaq cooperated with Hawrani, whose greatest strength was a following in the officers corps. Despite the opposition of al-Sayyid, the Baʿth and Hawrani's Arab Socialist party cooperated and merged in November 1952 to form the Arab Socialist Baʿth party. Aflaq and Hawrani became political exiles from January to October of 1953, but in 1954 their party numbered 2,500, in contrast to the 500 of premerger Baʿth in 1952. Hawrani's military friends and his political strength and skill kept the party at the center of power until Syria's union with Egypt in 1958 - the formation of the United Arab Republic (UAR). Aflaq and Hawrani had been instrumental in this, but they defected at the end of 1959 and moved to Beirut (Lebanon). The party organization had been amended in 1954 to reflect its pan-Arab character, which was based on its growth outside Syria. Aflaq had been reelected secretary general and a member of the National Command (the executive body composed of representatives from the various regions [countries]), and he had retained these positions even though the party had been dissolved in Syria. As a strong pan-Arab, he broke with Hawrani, who took a Syrianist line, especially after Syria's secession from the UAR in 1961.

Aflaq's position in the party enabled him to take an active part in both Iraqi and Syrian politics after their Baʿthist coups in early 1963, but as the military Baʿthists gained control in Syria, Aflaq's influence waned until finally, following the coup of 23 February 1966, he fled Syria and was expelled from the party. During the rivalry between the Syria Baʿth and the Iraqi Baʿth, which came to power in 1968, the Iraqis continued to recognize Aflaq as secretary general of the party. In Syria, he was sentenced to death in absentia in 1971, and Arsuzi was accorded the honor of being the true founder of the Baʿth. Aflaq moved to Baghdad around 1980 and died there in 1989. At his death the Iraqi Baʿth announced that he had long been a secret convert to Islam.

Aflaq's version of Arabism is idealistic and metaphysical; it presents the ideology that became standard by the 1930s - Islamic modernism is combined with the historical vision of the Arab nation that holds that from the time of the earliest-known Arabs, the ancient Semitic peoples, they have been in perpetual conflict with aggressive neighbors - notably the Aryans - including the Europeans. Periods of Arab power and glory have been followed by corruption and disunion due to foreign influences and abasement by imperialism, from which the nation has recovered by returning to its true culture. The greatest of these awakenings was engendered by the gift of Islam, which, in Aflaq's version, was induced or earned by the prophet Muhammad's acting for the nation. To regain the lost greatness, according to Aflaq, every Arab must act as Muhammad did.

Amidst the chaos in Baghdad that accompanied the fall of the Baʿthist government in Iraq at the hands of invading U.S. troops in the spring of 2003, the tomb and mosque complex built over Aflaq's grave was looted (including by a Western journalist, who openly wrote about his act). The American-selected provisional government of Iraq later reportedly ordered the destruction of the tomb as part of the "de-Baʿthification" program in Iraq. Before this could occur, the tomb complex was found to conceal a secret Baʿth party archive containing over three million documents.

Bibliography

Aflaq, Michel. Fi sabil al-baʿth (In the path of resurrection). Beirut, 1959; 2d edition, 1963.

Aflaq, Michel. Maʿraka al-masir al-wahid (The battle of the sole destiny). Beirut, 1958; 2d edition, 1963.

Aflaq, Michel. Nuqtat al-bidaya: Ahadith baʿd al-khamis min haziran (The beginning point: Talks after the fifth of June). Beirut, 1971.

Devlin, John F. The Baʿth Party: A History from Its Origins to 1966. Stanford, CA: Hoover Institution Press, 1976.

Salem-Babikian, Norma. "A Partial Reconstruction of Michel Aflaq's Thought." Muslim World 67 (October 1977): 280 - 294.

— C. ERNEST DAWN

Michel Aflaq (Arabic: ميشيل عفلق Mīšīl `Aflāq, born 1910, died June 23, 1989) was the ideological founder of Ba’athism, a form of secular Arab nationalism. Born in Damascus to a middle class Greek Orthodox Christian family, Aflaq was first educated in the westernized schools of French mandate Syria, where he was considered a "brilliant student."^{[citation needed]} He then went to university at the Sorbonne in Paris, where he first developed his Arab nationalist ideals, eventually attempting to combine socialism with the vision of a Pan-Arab nation. In his political pursuits, Aflaq became committed to Arab unity and the freeing of the Middle East from Western colonialism.

Painting Of Michel Aflaq

Upon returning to the Middle East, Aflaq became a school teacher and was active in political circles. In September 1940, after France's defeat in World War II, Michel Aflaq and Salah al-Din al-Bitar set up the nucleus of what was later to become the Ba’ath Party. The first conference of the Ba’ath Party (in full, the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party), was to be in 1947.

In 1949, Aflaq served as Syria's education minister for a short period. In 1952, he left Syria, escaping from the new regime, returning two years later in 1954. Aflaq went on to play an important role in the achievement of the unity between Syria and Egypt in 1958.

It was reportedly at this time that Aflaq first came into contact with the young Iraqi Ba’thist Saddam Hussein who had fled to Syria after participating in a failed assassination attempt on Iraqi Prime Minister Abd al-Karim Qasim. Aflaq is said to have formed a close relationship with Hussein and to have assisted him in his promotion to full party member. Although Aflaq's later claimed that he did not meet Hussein until after 1963 ^[1].

Despite being co-founder of the Ba'ath party, Michel Aflaq had little connection to the government that took power in Syria under that name in 1963. Eventually, the government and he had a falling out and he was forced to flee to Iraq where another Ba’ath Party had taken power. While this party also failed to follow most of ‘Aflaq's teachings, he became a symbol for the regime of Saddam Hussein that Iraq was in fact the true Ba’athist country. In Iraq he was given a token position as head of the party and his objections to the regime were silenced and ignored.

In his writings Aflaq had been stridently in favor of free speech and other human rights and aid for the lower classes. He stated that the Arab nationalist state that would be created should be a democracy. These ideals were never put in place by the regimes that used his ideology. Most scholars see the Assad regime in Syria and Saddam's regime in Iraq to have only employed Aflaq's ideology as a pretense for dictatorship. John Devlin in his "The Baath Party: Rise and Metamorphosis" outlines how the parties became dominated by minority groups who came to dominate their society. Elizabeth Picard takes a somewhat different approach, arguing both Assad and Hussein used Ba’athism as a guise to set up what were in fact military dictatorships.

Upon his death in 1989 he was given a great funeral. The government of Iraq claimed that on his death he converted to Islam. A tomb was built for him in Baghdad designed by Chadagee and, according to propaganda that was part of the Iraqi dictator’s continuing policy of using Aflaq’s name to promote his own political purposes, paid for by Hussein personally^[1]. The tomb, widely regarded as a work of great artistic merit, was located on the western grounds of the Ba'ath Party Pan-Arab Headquarters, at the intersection of al-Kindi Street and the Qādisiyyah Expressway overpass. That area is today at the far western end of the grounds of US military Base Union III in Baghdad's Green Zone. Although there were rumors and accusations that his tomb was destroyed during the war, some say the burial chamber and building above it were left completely untouched. Its blue-tiled dome can be seen peeking above the concrete T-walls surrounding the Camp's perimeter.

Quotes

"A day will come when the nationalists will find themselves the only defenders of Islam. They will have to give a special meaning to it if they want the Arab nation to have a good reason for survival." (In memory of the Arab Prophet, 1 April, 1943)

"The connection of Islam to Arabism is not, therefore, similar to that of any religion to any nationalism. The Arab Christians, when their nationalism is fully awakened and when they restore their genuine character, will recognize that Islam for them is nationalist education in which they have to be absorbed in order to understand and love it to the extent that they become concerned about Islam as about the most precious thing in their Arabism. If the actual reality is still far from this wish, the new generation of Arab Christians has a task which it should perform with daring and detachment, sacrificing for it their pride and benefits, for there is nothing that equals Arabism and the honor of belonging to it." (In memory of the Arab Prophet -April, 1943)

References

• Al-Baath wal Watan Al-Arabi [Arabic, with French translation] ("The Baath and the Arab Homeland"), Qasim Sallam, Paris, EMA, 1980. ISBN 2-86584-003-4
• Al-Baath wa-Lubnân [Arabic only] ("The Baath and Lebanon"), NY Firzli, Beirut, Dar-al-Tali'a Books, 1973
• The Iraq-Iran Conflict, NY Firzli, Paris, EMA, 1981. ISBN 2-86584-002-6
• History of Syria Including Lebanon and Palestine, Vol. 2 Hitti Philip K. (2002) (ISBN 1-931956-61-8)

Footnotes

1. ^ ^{a b} Karsh, Efraim; Inari Rautsi [1991]. "The Making of a Ba’thist", in s: Saddam Hussein: A Political Biography (in English). New York: The Free Press: A Division of Macmillan, Inc., 18-19. 

External links

• Quotes from Michel Aflaq - English Translation

• Pictures of Aflaq's Tomb in Baghdad

• The five volumes of Michel Aflaq's "On The Way Of Resurrection" (Fi Sabil al Baath)in Arabic

• The (Iraqi) Baath party web site. It also include a section about the defence committee of Saddam Hussain in Arabic

• Online magazine (Sympathetic to the Goal of the Baath with sections about Saddam and the Baath) in Arabic, English and French

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