Al Arabi Magazine: Who Will Protect It?!

Al-Arabi magazine traversed the Arab world, from its gulfs to its oceans, transcending borders, cultures, and dialects. It entered Arab homes without a passport or visa, eventually becoming the beloved publication of successive generations of readers. Personally, I have witnessed Al-Arabi since the 1960s, when it was rare for a household in Kuwait to lack a collection of its monthly issues. Each issue was read and then passed from hand to hand, and many families would gather the year’s issues and have them bound, giving them a place in the home library alongside books and encyclopedias. For those who may not know, the first issue of Al-Arabi was published in Kuwait in December 1958, with the renowned Egyptian scholar and thinker Dr. Ahmed Zaki serving as its first editor-in-chief. From its inception, the magazine was not presented as a Kuwaiti publication addressing only the Kuwaiti reader, but rather as a pan-Arab cultural project funded by Kuwait and open to writers, thinkers, and readers from across the Arab world. Al-Arabi was not merely a literary magazine publishing articles and poetry; it was a window through which Arabs could discover their vast homeland. Its photo essays took readers to cities, villages, and archaeological sites they might never have heard of, introducing them to the lives, customs, architecture, and arts of the people. In an era without the internet, satellite TV, or smartphones, its color photographs constituted a monthly journey eagerly anticipated by readers.

My reflection on the magazine was triggered by a story that began in a completely different context. Architect Dalal Al-Hassan is currently compiling and editing a documentary book about the Al-Othman Mosque in Al-Naqra, relying on the family archive, which contains approximately 1.5 million pages, documents, and plans, alongside a broad historical documentary research project that includes testimonies from those who witnessed the mosque’s history, as well as references to the archives of the Ministry of Information and the National Council for Culture, Arts and Letters. During her research, she discovered two old issues of Al-Arabi magazine that featured photo essays on the Al-Othman Mosque. The first was published in September 1964 and contained important images and information about the mosque, its minaret, dome, doors, decorations, and interior architecture. The magazine’s editor-in-chief, Mr. Ibrahim Al-Mulifi, kindly gifted me an original copy of that issue. The second issue, No. 225, published in August 1977, brought an even more delightful surprise: the cover featured an image of the Al-Othman Mosque, and the issue included a photo essay detailing the mosque’s architectural features. After some research, and praise be to God, I managed to obtain an original copy of this issue via eBay. As I flipped through the pages of these two issues, I saw not just images of the Al-Othman Mosque, but a glimpse of Kuwait’s history preserved in words and pictures. Details that may have faded from memory, or others that have changed over time, remain alive within the pages of a magazine published more than half a century ago.

Here arises a paradox, along with a question: If Al-Arabi has preserved our memory for all these decades, who preserves it today? The print version of the magazine has disappeared from newsstands for some time, although its electronic presence continues. The National Council for Culture, Arts and Letters has stated that the suspension of print distribution is linked to completing certain legal procedures and developing the distribution channel. But is it conceivable that a magazine with such history and such cultural and documentary value should be halted due to a distribution contract or administrative procedures? Especially since its editorial staff remains intact, with an editor-in-chief, writers, an archive, and a website. I do not diminish the importance of electronic publishing, which is a necessity imposed by the times; however, it should not serve as a complete substitute for the print version, particularly for a magazine like Al-Arabi. The print issue is not merely a means to read an article; it is a document that remains in libraries and homes, and may be consulted by a researcher fifty or sixty years from now, just as we returned to the 1964 and 1977 issues to document the history of the Al-Othman Mosque. If those materials had been published on an old website that later malfunctioned or changed, would we still have found them today? Websites change, links disappear, and platforms close. Paper, if well-preserved, remains a witness that requires no password or software update!

Al-Arabi was one of Kuwait’s most successful cultural messages to the Arab world, contributing to presenting an image of a country small in area but great in ambition and cultural role. Therefore, its continuation is not merely an administrative matter for a government entity, nor a question of profit and loss or number of copies sold; it is about preserving a part of Kuwait’s history and its soft power. I do not believe that a country which established a magazine of such scale in 1958, when its resources were limited, would be unable today, with its considerable resources and modern technologies, to print it and deliver it to its readers. The requirement is not just to restore Al-Arabi as it was, but to develop it, market it, and link its print version to its digital platforms, so that it reaches a new generation that reads differently but is no less curious than previous generations.

Thanks to Mr. Ibrahim Al-Mulifi for his rare gift, and to everyone who has preserved Al-Arabi’s archive. But thanks alone is not enough. The magazine that preserved our memory deserves for us to preserve its present, secure its future, and return it to its natural place in Kuwait’s libraries and Arab homes. Yours, Adnan Abdullah Al-Othman