THE FOUNDATION
The Kawaakibi Foundation is an accelerator for thinkers and doers, with a focus on the future of liberty in Muslim communities and in the Arab world. We do original research and collaborate with experts, then amplify knowledge and produce media to make it accessible to a broad audience.
We envision a world free from tyranny, terrorism, and foreign intervention; one in which society trumps the state, extremism and illiberalism have no appeal, and individual rights are sacrosanct.
The events of 2011 represented an important historical juncture, but we do not see the Arab Spring as a binary political event – rather, we see it as a new era, and the coming of age of a generation that believes in an inclusive, tolerant and democratic Arab world.
The Team
WHO WAS KAWAAKIBI?
Abdulrahman al-Kawaakibi (1855-1902), was a leading Syrian Muslim intellectual of the Arab renaissance of the 19th century. He was exiled for his fierce advocacy of liberty, constitutionalism and free speech. His influential book “The Nature of Tyranny” continues to inspire over a century after it was published.
"The state of living under tyranny is unnatural and runs counter to God’s intent for humanity"
"Tyranny of the majority is worse than the tyranny of the few, for it has a semblance of legitimacy"
-Abdulrahman al-Kawaakibi (1855-1902)