Muhammad Jaber Al Safa

Muhammad Jaber Āl Safa (also spelled Jabir Al Safa) (1875–1945) was a historian, writer and politician from Jabal Amel (in modern-day Lebanon), known for his founding role in the anti-colonialist Arab nationalist movement in the turn-of-the-century Levant.

Biography Jaber Āl Safa was born in Nabatiye into an illustrious family of scholars descended from the Safavids. His ancestor, Ismail Mirza, a son of Hamza Mirza - the eldest son and designated heir of Shah Mohammad Khodabanda - had travelled from Isfahan to Nabatiye to escape persecution by his uncle Shah Abbas I.

Jaber Āl Safa studied language and history under renowned scholars Hassan Yusuf al-Makki and Muhammad Ibrahim al-Husseini. Jaber Al Safa and his companions Sheikh Ahmad Reda (also his father-in-law) and Sheikh Sulaiman Daher, having formed an intellectual gathering known as "the Ameli Three", also known as the "Amili Trio" or "Nabatieh Trio", played a principal role in forming Jabal Amel's political and cultural history, and were also the first in that region to speak of an Arab nation and of an Arab state.

Because of the group's strong opposition to the Ottoman rule, they were arrested in 1915, along with other Arab nationalist leaders such as Rida Al Solh and his son Riad, and imprisoned in Aley's military prison. They were liberated as the Ottomans left the country during the First World War.

He was a major supporter of King Faisal's rule in the region of Syria following the Arab Revolt, having been a leading nationalist since before the outbreak of the First World War. Nationalists, prior to the revolt, were not secessionists. Rather, they called for decentralization and discussed nationalist ideas, while still positioning themselves within the Ottoman entity. Jaber Al Safa credited the Ottoman state with losing people's support because of the harsh measures it implemented regarding conscription and, before that, its suppression of Arabic as an official and administrative language and related Turkification policies brought forth by the Committee of Union and Progress.

Jaber, as part of the "Amili Trio", lobbied for Lebanon's union with Syria and opposed the French Mandate in Lebanon (he was briefly arrested by the French authorities but was released following widespread protests in Nabatiye in his support), remaining a supporter of pan-Arab unity until his death in 1945.

He wrote "Tārīkh Jabal `Amil", or "The History of Jabal `Amil", which is used as a main reference on the history of the Levant and Lebanon, and Jabal Amel in particular.

Ancestry

1st Imam Ali ibn Abu Talib, 601–661 3nd Imam Husayn ibn Ali, 626–680 4rd Imam Ali ibn Husayn Zayn al-Abidin, 659–713 5th Imam Muhammad al-Baqir, 677–733 6th Imam Jafar al-Sadiq, ca. 702–765 7th Imam Musa ibn Jafar, ca. 745-ca. 799 Abul-Qasim Hamza ibn Musa Qasim ibn Hamza Ahmad ibn Qasim Muhammad ibn Ahmad Ismail ibn Muhammad Muhammad ibn Ismail Jaafar ibn Muhammad Ibrahim ibn Jaafar Muhammad ibn Ibrahim Hasan ibn Muhammad Muhammad ibn Hasan Sharaf-Shah ibn Muhammad Muhammad ibn Sharaf-Shah Firuz-Shah Zarrin-Kolah Awadh ibn Firuz-Shah Muhammad al-Hafiz ibn Awadh Salih ibn Muhammad al-Hafiz Qutb al-Din ibn Salih Sheikh Amin al-Din Jibril ibn Qutbuddin Sheikh Safi al-Din Ishaq Sheikh Sadr al-Din Musa Sheikh Khoja Ala al-Din Ali Sheikh Ibrahim Shah Sheikh Junayd Sheikh Haydar Shah Ismail Shah Tahmasp Shah Mohammad Khodabanda Hamza Mirza Ismail Mirza Hijazi ibn Ismail Muhammad ibn Hijazi Jaber ibn Muhammad Muhammad ibn Jaber Taleb ibn Muhammad Muhammad ibn Taleb Jaber Al Safa