RECONSTRUCTING THE HUMAN BEFORE THE STATE: MALEK BENNABI’S CONCEPT OF ACTIVE HUMAN “AL-INSĀN AL-FĀʿIL” AS A FRAMEWORK FOR POST-WAR EDUCATIONAL RECONSTRUCTION IN SYRIA

Abstract

Syria endured a war (2011-2024) that not only destroyed its cities and institutions but also fractured the social and moral foundations through which agency and collective purpose are formed. Following this devastation, reconstruction efforts have gradually begun to emerge. However, these initiatives largely prioritize restoring infrastructure, while the more challenging task of rehabilitating the human element remains a marginal aim. This thesis redefines reconstruction as a fundamentally educational endeavor, where education is understood not merely as knowledge transmission but as the revitalization of human agency and the renewal of moral and civic capacities. It therefore places education at the center of Syria’s long-term recovery. To develop this argument, the thesis draws on the work of Malek Bennabi (1905–1973), whose insights on civilizational decline, cultural stagnation, and human passivity resonate with post-war contexts where physical destruction is intertwined with the erosion of will, purpose, and collective action. In this regard, the question posed is: how can Bennabi’s concept of the active human (al-insān al-fāʿil) be translated into an educational framework capable of restoring agency and civilizational purpose in post-conflict Syria? It answers by operationalizing orientation (tawjīh) as the mechanism through which education directs values, habits, and social energy toward disciplined collective action. In epistemological terms, the thesis adopts an interpretive approach, arguing that the reconstruction of meaning and agency cannot be adequately captured through numerical indicators alone. Methodologically, it therefore employs hermeneutic textual analysis in order to derive a conceptual model of education as a civilizational act of renewal in Syria.

Date of Award	2026
Original language	American English
Awarding Institution	HBKU College of Islamic Studies