Symbol of Modernity Ali Sarhan Al-Qurashi Passes Away

Dr. Ali Sarhan Al-Qurashi
Dr. Ali Sarhan Al-Qurashi
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Symbol of Modernity Ali Sarhan Al-Qurashi Passes Away

Dr. Ali Sarhan Al-Qurashi
Dr. Ali Sarhan Al-Qurashi

The Saudi cultural, literary and academic scene lost Dr. Ali Sarhan Al-Qurashi, one of the most prominent figures of the literary and critical movement in the Kingdom, and a symbol of literary modernization, who was known for his critical studies and academic work at the local and Arab levels.

Dr. Al-Qurashi was a modernist intellectual, who faced the pressures of the extremist movements that were influential in universities in the mid-1980s. He was seen as a defender of modernity and an icon of its literary symbols.

Alike his generation of Saudi intellectuals, who were exposed to the pressures of a religious movement that fought modernity, Al-Qurashi confronted challenges that had prevented him from obtaining a doctorate from Umm Al-Qura University, until 1990, when he successfully presented his dissertation, entitled, “The Poetic Image in the Poetry of Bishr bin Abi Khazim Al-Asadi.”

Al-Qurashi spoke about this period, which also saw the deprivation of another academic, Saeed Al-Sarihi, from obtaining an academic degree. He said that he was forced to “disavow modernity” in a letter he wrote to the university administration, as the only way to convince the professors to move forward with discussing his thesis.

Al-Qurashi enriched the literary and cultural arena with many critical studies, in addition to narrative and poetic works. He worked as professor of literature and criticism at Taif University, and established many literary forums.

His most prominent works include: “Exaggeration in Arabic Rhetoric,” “You and Language,” “Energies of Creativity,” “The Human Vision in the Movement of Language,” published in the Riyadh Book Series in 1997, and “The Poetic Personality of Taif.”

Other important contributions include: “The Journey of the Self in the Space of the Ancient Poetic Text,” “The Woman’s Text,” and “The Story of Language and the Text of Writing,” published by the Riyadh Book Series in 2003.



Mosul’s Renowned Minaret Restored from Ravages of ISIS

A view of the Al-Hadba Minaret in the Great Mosque of al-Nuri, which was rebuilt after it was blown up by ISIS militants, in Mosul, Iraq, February 5, 2025. REUTERS/Khalid al-Mousily/File Photo
A view of the Al-Hadba Minaret in the Great Mosque of al-Nuri, which was rebuilt after it was blown up by ISIS militants, in Mosul, Iraq, February 5, 2025. REUTERS/Khalid al-Mousily/File Photo
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Mosul’s Renowned Minaret Restored from Ravages of ISIS

A view of the Al-Hadba Minaret in the Great Mosque of al-Nuri, which was rebuilt after it was blown up by ISIS militants, in Mosul, Iraq, February 5, 2025. REUTERS/Khalid al-Mousily/File Photo
A view of the Al-Hadba Minaret in the Great Mosque of al-Nuri, which was rebuilt after it was blown up by ISIS militants, in Mosul, Iraq, February 5, 2025. REUTERS/Khalid al-Mousily/File Photo

Mosul’s Grand al-Nuri Mosque, known for its eight-century-old leaning minaret, destroyed by ISIS militants in 2017, has been renovated in a boost for Iraq's second city as it rebuilds after long years of war.

From the pulpit of this medieval mosque on July 4, 2014, ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared a self-styled ‘caliphate’ spanning parts of Syria and Iraq.

Three years later, the ultra hardline group demolished the mosque in the final weeks of a US-backed Iraqi campaign that ousted the militants from Mosul, their de facto capital in Iraq.

Protracted and fierce urban warfare largely reduced the historic landmarks of Iraq's second city to rubble.

Mahmoud Thannon, 70, a tailor who lives near the mosque and runs a tailor shop overlooking the mosque’s minaret, said his two sons were killed before the al-Hadba minaret was demolished.

"When I saw it collapse, I felt even sadder than when I lost my sons," he said. "Watching the Hadba minaret rise again is a joyous day. I feel our pride soaring high as well.”

“My dear martyred sons would be proud to see the minaret rebuilt if they were alive.” said Thannon, speaking inside his shop with images of his two sons hanging behind him.

He broke into tears as he recalled their deaths by shelling in May and June 2017 in the war against ISIS.

Reconstruction and restoration of the mosque and minaret were carried out in partnership with the UN cultural agency UNESCO, the European Union (EU) and the Iraqi State Board of Antiquities and Heritage.

UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay said over $115 million were mobilized from no less than 15 partners.

“The fact to have it (the minaret) here behind me is like history coming back; is like the identity of this city coming back,” said Azoulay in a speech delivered on February 5 near the mosque to celebrate the completion of the rebuilding work.

The Iraqis called the 150-foot (45-meter) leaning minaret Al-Hadba, or "the hunchback."

The mosque was named after Nuruddin al-Zanki, a noble who fought the early crusaders from a fiefdom that covered territory in modern-day Türkiye, Syria and Iraq. It was built in 1172-73, shortly before his death, and housed an Islamic school.

The Old City's stone buildings, where the mosque is located, date mostly from the medieval period. They include market stalls, a few mosques and churches, and small houses built and rebuilt on top of each other over the ages.