Great Arab Modernist Thinkers of the 20th Century: The Case of Ṭāhā Ḥusayn

Major themes of thought in Egypt at the beginning of the 20th century were the compatibility of civilization with Islam, education as the path towards modernism, the relationship between modern statehood and the caliphate, the idea of an Egyptian umma instead or alongside the Arab or Islamic umma, and Arab and Islamic identity. A quite comprehensive reflection of all that is found in the life and ideas of Ṭāhā Ḥusayn, the topic of this paper.