التعريف بالكـتاب .. كتاب حمص

Introduction to the book

In the last fifty years, there has been a great development in the concept of history, and modern historians have begun to turn away from paying attention to political history, the history of the leaders and the pimps and their relationships with their friends - the history of their fierce battles, the treaties that resulted from them, the taboos that were imposed on the vanquished, and the consequences of all of that on the events that followed. Historians have tended to Those who talk about political history, and are interested in social and economic history, how people lived, what relationships organized their lives among themselves and with others, and what are their sources of livelihood, that is, everything related to the ordinary person who manufactures, cultivates, and builds according to inherited traditions, and customs that have the force of law. Rather, they are It is more established and has a far greater impact on society.

Thus, the history of the Levant, in modern times, is not Sultan Selim I, the Battle of Marj Dabiq, Janbard al-Ghazali, Khayir Bey, Fakhr al-Din al-Maani al-Awal, Zahir al-Omar, and Ahmad al-Jazzar. Rather, they are the people who produced the food and daily needs of the population and provided them with the necessities of their lives and means of livelihood. They cultivate the land, make clothes, weapons, and household utensils, and pay taxes to the rulers. Their motto is: Man is in thinking and God is in management! ! ! .

This is the modern concept of history now, and with this concept we began writing the history of Homs from (1840 - 1918) AD, that is, from the departure of the Egyptians from the Levant to the exit of the Ottoman Turks from it at the end of World War I and their defeat in it. The honorable reader may wonder: Why did we choose this particular era? Our answer is because the documents related to it were available to us: the decisions of the Sharia Court in Homs for this era, the lineage trees of some families, the permissions of the Sufi sheikhs for their disciples, the estates of the deceased, and the endowments of some people - their property over their descendants and the conditions they set for managing the endowment, and the form of benefit and its money. Some of the manuscripts whose authors have died have not been able to be printed yet - what has been found are recorded in the footnotes of the book, and most of these documents are in the possession of one of us, Naeem Al-Zahrawi, and they were passed down to him from his uncle, the late Abdul Hadi Al-Zahrawi, who worked as an expert in the courts in the city of Homs, the Endowments Department, and the real estate departments. He died in the seventies of this century.

The generous reader will not find in our book a history of Homs in the old style, but rather he will find in it answers to some questions that come to mind. Like from the Banu Homs?? What is the origin of its name? How did you grow up? We have created a historical introduction to answer such questions with a summary of its history from its inception until the beginning of the era that is the subject of the book.

Then we talked about the situation of Homs as it was in 1840 AD: its walls and gates, its neighborhoods and its streets. Then we discussed the issue of irrigation: whether Homs draws water and what are the sources of its water, and what were the customs and traditions of its people in their daily lives, in their joys and sorrows, and in their seasons and holidays, and we devoted The sixth chapter talks about Sufism and Sufi orders in Homs. It is a research published for the first time, and none of those who wrote about Homs, as far as you know, addressed it.

This is the content of the first part of our book, while the second part will include places of worship, and economic life such as agriculture, trade, industry, and land ownership. Relationships between land owners and workers. Then social life in terms of the demographic composition of the country and the origins of the population and families, and we hope that our lives will extend until we complete the second part, with God’s will and help.

At the end of this discussion, we cannot help but extend our sincere thanks to everyone who helped us to complete this book, and we especially thank the Brigadier General Abdul Karim Al Nabhan, who showed us some documents of the Sharia court in Hama, which contributed to illuminating some aspects of the research, and Hajj Abdul Ghani Al Salqini, He had an amazing memory, may God prolong his life, and the architect, Ms. Dima Itmaz Al-Sibai, who drew the plans for this part, Mr. Mustafa Khalouf, the expert in watering and irrigation affairs, Mr. Muhammad Ghazi bin Abdul Karim Hussein, the descendant of Sheikh Saad al-Din al-Jabbawi, who provided manuscripts, documents and some books, and Mr. Civil Engineer Hayan bin Abdul Hasib Madawar, who placed them at our disposal. A room from his engineering office, in the first stage of work on the book, and Mr. Engineer Mansour bin Najm al-Din Idris, who photographed many archaeological sites in Homs and some of its surroundings.

We also thank Mr. Engineer Muhammad Nihad al-Sufi, who presented some documents, and Haj Muti’ Shams al-Din, who also presented some. We also thank Mr. Abd al-Jawad al-Hosni, Director of the Endowments of Homs, for providing us with his approval for us to visit the mosques of Homs and its shrines in the city and the countryside, and to visit the Endowments Library and the Endowments Museum. And Mr. artist Farouk Kandakji, who designed the cover of the book. We also thank all the honorable people of Homs who enabled us to view their private documents.