It was not a coincident that that Tunisia and Egypt lead the Arab world in democratic transformation or the demand for it, at least. There are cultural and historical bases for this transformation which we can find in the recent history of those two countries, which were, and still are, pioneering in the Arab world. These cultural components of the two countries made the recent political transformation, which coincided in both countries, possible, peaceful and civilized. It has even surpassed what happened in Eastern Europe and Latin America during the change of regimes there over the last three decades, Iran after its 1979 revolution, and even France in the 18th century after its revolution of 1789. Both Tunisia and Egypt kept their national cohesion while the state remained strong and active even though there was no political stability and the government changed several times over a few months. Nothing of the sort of chaos that took place in Iraq after the change of regime in 2003, some of which is still taking place even today, fed by politicizing religion and absence of political maturity, has happened in these two countries. Real advancement began in Egypt with the reign of Muhammed Ali Pasha who took power in 1805. He arrived in Egypt as an Ottoman army commander to fight the French invaders. Muhammed Ali established a secular rule on the basis of total separation between religion and state, even though he was proclaimed as ruler by the clergy of Al Azher Mosque. He sought to establish educational, cultural, economic and managerial institutions on a modern scientific basis. He was the first Muslim ruler to resort to non-Muslim Europe for assistance to build a new kind of state. His ambition was for Egypt to become the fifth world power as far as economic and military power were concerned. As a result of this, a large-scale scientific, cultural and educational revolution took place in the country. Muhammed Ali established a western-style management apparatus and sent student missions abroad consisting of thousands of students, who came back a few years later to apply what they had learnt and teach it to others. Muhammed Ali laid down the pillars of the modern state through building factories, bridges, schools and institutions. He also encouraged learning and scientists and depended entirely on experts. As a result of this sea change, many modern educational institutions, such as the School of Tongues (Madrasat Al Alsun), House of Sciences (Darul Uloom), the Egyptian University (Al Jami'a Al Misriyya) and the School of Legal Jurisprudence (Madrasat Al Qadha Al Shar'i) as well as many other institutions, industrial and educational, were established. This is in addition to publishing numerous newspapers and magazines. Many influential scholars became prominent in that period, such as Rifa3a Rafi3 Al Tahtawi who translated the French constitution into Arabic and authored valuable books which contributed to the awareness of society. He also managed schools and successful institutions. Tahtawi was originally a cleric at Al Azher Mosque, and he accompanied one of the student missions to France as a religious guide. After he was exposed to western knowledge and science, his study of the French language and work in translation, he realised the necessity of the adoption of secularism for the building of a modern state. He began promoting it and explaining the similarities of it with the spirit of Islam. Although Muhammed Ali sought to modernize Egypt militarily and culturally, his rule remained absolute as he never adopted western democracy and this has made it possible for his experiment to stumble. His son Ibrahim followed in his father's foot steps in promoting education and development in Syria where he ruled, but the Muhammed Ali experiment didn't continue at the same pace after his death. His grandson, Abbas, who took power after him, returned Egypt to the Ottoman fold and liquidated most of the modernizing schools which his grandfather founded. He also exiled scholars and opinion-formers, the most prominent of whom was Tahtawi who was appointed as headmaster of an elementary school in Sudan! Had Muhammed Ali's experiment continued, Egypt would have certainly become one of the world's developed nations. But even with the stumbling, then total halting, of the Muhammed Ali experiment in Egypt, the basis that he founded being very strong, it took firm root, and the patriotic feeling that Tahtawi had inculcated, grew and expanded into the Arab world, and was transformed into a pan-Arab feeling that rallied all Arabs, not just Egyptians. In Tunisia too, and in a near-contemporary period, Bey Ahmed came to power, in 1837. He was very impressed by Muhammed Ali experiment's in Egypt, so he followed his example, establishing national institutions such as a national army, civic institutes, schools, factories and ports on a scientific basis. He also encouraged knowledge, learning and scholarship, founding a large library at the Zaytoona University. He also called upon the help of French experts to help lay the basis of these scientific institutions. Bey Ahmed was succeeded by Bey Muhammed who issued the ‘Security Convention' — an important document in human rights as it promised Tunisians that they were all equal before the law, regardless of their religion, colour, race or language. He also established courts to settle disputes between Tunisians and foreigners who were given for the first time the right to work and own properties. Although these reforms did not pass without opposition from the conservatives, the enlightened religious leadership of Sheikh Bayram the Forth approved them since it relied upon the Ottoman Order of Hamayun or (hatt-ı hümayun) issued by the Ottoman Sultan in 1939. The order decreed that all subjects of the empire were equal regardless of their religious differences. When Bey Muhammed Al Sadiq came to power, he issued what was called ‘the State's Law' in 1861, which represented a quality leap forward in the political system as it proclaimed the separation of powers and the establishment of an elected parliament (the Supreme Council) to which members of the governments were accountable. It even had the remit to hold the Bey himself accountable. That was the first time that a law of this kind was enacted in the Muslim World. Kharuddeen At-Tunisi, the thinker, politician and ruler, played an important role in those reforms witnessed in Tunisia since the era of Bey Ahmed, during whose reign the reforms began. Khairuddeen was appointed Minsiter of War, then Speaker of Parliament, then First Minister. He then moved to Istanbul where he was appointed Prime Minister (Grand Vizier), as Sultan Abdul Hamid was very impressed with his experiment in Tunisia. Khairuddeen was one of the most prominent enthusiasts for a democratic order and a welfare state, for which he laid the basis in his book ‘Best Paths in Knowing the States of the Kingdoms' (Aqwam Al Masalik fi Ma3rifet Ahwal Al Memalik'. Even at later times when the reforms were reversed, no repressive regimes like the ones seen in Iraq, Syria and Libya, ruled in either Tunisia or Egypt. This is due to the solid groundwork that Muhammed Ali and Khairuddeen laid in Egypt and Tunisia respectively. What we have seen earlier this year of a peaceful transfer of power in both countries, and what stability accompanied it during the process of change and the endurance of the national institutions' cohesion, were not a coincidence. It stemmed from the solid cultural infrastructure in both polities, which in contrast to other countries of the region, enjoyed modern governmental systems that had been built on a sound foundation — one that took into consideration the interests of the people and the future of the country. No other Arab country has enjoyed such a background conducive to stability and progress. This is why change has stumbled in other countries in the region, even when the political system was changed by military force such as in Iraq. Structural change needs a scientific basis, concerted efforts, well-thought out plans and, most importantly, a cultural cradle. It won't happen in the absence of these fundamental pillars.
