From Al-Ahsa, he set out to manage education facilities in the eastern region of his country and give them the juice of his experience and thought. His image and name were imprinted in the minds of an entire generation of students of knowledge, but he was not satisfied with that, as he had fingerprints and achievements in other fields related to science and culture. And on the occasion of the anniversary of his passing, which falls on this month of 2012, we will try to follow the biography of the educator Abdullah bin Muhammad Abunahiya, who distinguished himself in his work with an administrative philosophy centered around “not making any decision except after making sure of its advantages and completeness in all aspects,” highlighting the different aspects of his life since his years The early years, based on some of what was mentioned in the book “Abdullah Abunahiya…Pages of His Life 1929-2012,” which was published by his eldest son Osama, in addition to various press sources, and the testimonies of some of his companions and contemporaries.
I was one of the lucky ones who completed the primary and intermediate stages of education in the first two schools built by the Aramco oil company in the city of Khobar, specifically during the time of their educator, Abdullah bin Abdul Rahman Abunahiya. At that time, we learned, through the newspapers that were reaching the school library, that there is another educational official who bears the name “Abdullah bin Muhammad Abunahiya” and works in the General Administration of Education in the Eastern Province. We heard the man's name without seeing him or getting to know him, so an image formed in our minds of him similar to that of his cousin, the headmaster of our school, who was known for his firmness and severity in punishing lazy and rioting students. Days pass and coincidences happen, and I am in the middle of the university stage to meet him face to face in a library in Dammam in the seventies of the last century, to find that he is different from the image that we formed of him, meaning that he was not frightened in his appearance, as was the case of my teachers and educators at that time, or dry in his dealings. I found him to be a small person of short stature, with a low voice, a cheerful face, and gentle expressions, and a willingness to meet his reviewers and solve their complaints without distinguishing between young and old, or rich and poor.
The reason for my visit to him was that a person had resorted to me to help him enroll his child in primary school because one of the schools near his house refused to accept him on the pretext that he did not have an ID, and that was because of his illiterate father’s laziness in registering him in the Nufus book (affiliation), and when I put the matter in the hands of Abunahiya and it became clear to him The picture, he quickly wrote a letter addressed to the principal of that school to accept the child immediately, and he says: “This is absurd.. There is a law that prevents the child from being deprived of education, and allows him to join the school, and the issue of identity can wait until it is extracted without the innocent child paying the price for his future.” scholastic ». This is how the man acted with a sense of responsibility entrusted with the future of the young, not hesitating to solve any problem that impeded their education or caused them to be deprived of a basic right of their rights.
Born in Hofuf
Abunahiya was born in the Al-Naathel neighborhood of Hofuf in 1928 to a well-known family whose roots trace back to the city of Diriyah. Its children contributed to the establishment of the Saudi state, including the grandfather of our great friend (Abdullah Abunahiya), who was the second to carry the Saudi banner during the siege of Ibrahim Pasha’s forces of Diriyah in 1818 AD, and among them was also Muhammad bin Abdulaziz Abu Nahiyyah (died in 1236 AH), the author of the well-known poems about al-Diriyah, who was the commander of the artillery at the time of the two imams Saud bin Abdulaziz and Abdullah bin Saud.
Colleague Abdulaziz Al-Badr says in an extensive article on the educator Abdullah Muhammad Abunahiya in Al-Iqtisad magazine (10/4/2016) that because of the Turkish forces’ invasion of Ad-Diriyah and demolishing the homes of its people and chasing them, the Abunahiya family decided in the second decade of the 19th century to migrate to Al-Ahsa, like other Najdi families, seeking For safety, Hofuf settled. However, the Al-Ahsa historian and writer Muhammad bin Abd al-Rahman Al Ismail informed us in an article he wrote before that in Al-Jazirah newspaper (6/7/2012) with some additional information, including that the Abunihiya family were among the dignitaries and dignitaries of Diriyah, and Ibn Bishr mentioned them in his book “Al-Majd fi Tarekh Najd” And Sheikh Abdullah bin Khamis in the “Dictionary of Al-Yamamah”, and that their grandfather Ibrahim was killed by the army of Ibrahim Pasha when he entered Diriyah, and that the family moved after that to Al-Ahsa, so they first lived in the town of Al-Mubarraz, where they built a mosque for themselves that is still standing, before they moved to Al-Naathel neighborhood in Hofuf. Because of the family’s honorable role in Saudi history, its name was given to two streets, the first of which is “Abu Nahia Street” in the Al-Khalidiya neighborhood in Al-Diriyah, and the second is “Muhammad Abou Nahia Street” in the Al-Suwaidi neighborhood in Riyadh. In Al-Hofuf, the family re-emerged and owned the largest houses in which the weddings of the people of Al-Naathel neighborhood were held. This house witnessed the birth of the educator, Abdullah Abunahiya, in 1928.
He grew up among the palm trees of Al-Ahsa
Abunahiya grew up in the house of his well-to-do, well-educated family, in the midst of the palm trees and greenery of Al-Ahsa. When he reached the age of enrollment in schools, his father introduced him to the traditional books, from which he moved to Al-Najah School, then to the “Al-Hofuf Al-Amiri School”, which is the first regular school in the entire eastern region during the Saudi era (it opened in the year 1356 AH under the management of the educator Muhammad bin Ali Al-Nahhas, and took From the Al-Hamidiyah building next to the Al-Qaisariya market, which was a house for the municipality at the time of the Turks, its headquarters, and the first group of students graduated in the year 1362 AH, and it was preceded by many private schools during the Turkish era, which were founded by the efforts of the people and dignitaries).
Abunahiya graduated from the Amiriya School within the second cohort of graduates in the year 1363 AH, and his rank was first in the kingdom, which indicates that he was a diligent, diligent and keen student, otherwise he would not have achieved that result in that time period in which students used to walk to their schools. They walk in the middle of the mud roads and reminisce about their lessons in the light of the Turks, and they return to their homes hungry and exhausted. During his school years, Abunahiya demonstrated great ingenuity and skill in calligraphy and drawing, so he was entrusted with writing welcome signs on the occasions when his school received guests. Because of his passion for calligraphy and drawing, he became one of those who mastered the fine art of writing on small things such as grains of rice and eggs.
In his separate press interviews, Abonhia listed the names of some of his classmates at the Amiriya School, so he mentioned Abdullah Al-Zahid, Abdullah Al-Baz, Abdul Rahman Al-Hawas, Dr. Abdullah Al-Omran, and Dr. Abdullah Al-Mubarak. He also enumerated the names of some of those who received knowledge from their hands, so he mentioned Abdullah Al-Mulla, Abdullah Al-Khayal, Youssef bin Rashid Al-Mubarak, Abdul-Latif bin Abdulaziz Al-Mubarak, Abdullah bin Abdul-Rahman Al-Mubarak, Abdul Mohsen Al-Manqour, and Abdulaziz Al-Turki. In addition, Abunahiya mentioned the names of a few students whom he taught, including: Prince Khaled Al-Faisal, Governor of Makkah Al-Mukarramah Region, his brother Prince Saad Al-Faisal, Muhammad Al-Abd Al-Hadi, the former Assistant Director General of Education in the Eastern Region, Muhammad Al-Ali, Director of Protocol in the Principality of the Eastern Province previously, Suleiman Al-Mutlaq, Saleh Al-Hafiz and Sheikh Saleh Al-Salem. Former Emir of Taif.
Brilliant educator
His professional life witnessed many fluctuations in terms of the jobs he occupied and their locations, but it did not depart from the scope of education in the eastern region, so he was described as “one of the brightest and most prominent contributors to the educational renaissance in eastern Saudi Arabia.” He entered the field of work early when he was not more than eighteen, when he was appointed in the year 1365 AH as a teacher at the Amiriya Primary School, so he continued to occupy that position for five years until he was promoted to an administrative position in the same school, and its name had changed at that time from « Al-Amiri School” to “Al-Hofuf First School.” After a short period of time, he received another promotion, which was to be appointed as the school principal.
In the year 1374 AH (approximately 1955 AD), Abunahiya, due to his administrative competence and the experience he had gathered from his previous jobs, was on a date with another promotion. In it, a decision was issued to transfer him to Dammam to occupy the position of administrative inspector in the Directorate of Education of the Eastern Region, but his residence in Dammam did not exceed two years. In the year 1376 AH, he was returned to Al-Ahsa to inaugurate the Education Department there and head it, so he stayed there, performing his duties to the fullest extent until the year 1382 AH, when he moved again to Dammam to work as an assistant to the Director of Education for the Eastern Region at the time, Sheikh Abdulaziz Al-Turki (an educational figure who had worked in Al-Ahsa and taught Abunahiya in the Amiri School before they committed themselves in the administrative work at the first Hofuf School). And when a decision was issued in the year 1387 AH to transfer Sheikh Al-Turki to London to occupy the position of cultural attache at the Saudi embassy there, his previous job devolved to Abunahiya, who became general director of education in the eastern region from then until 1397 AH.
In the year 1397 AH (around 1977 AD) he submitted a request to retire from his job, and before that he had submitted two similar requests without being answered for the need for education due to his experience. However, this time the approval came because of a new policy approved by the Saudi Ministry of Education at the time, which included appointing general directors of education in Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam from PhD holders. Thus, Abonhia left his educational job, after a career that spanned 32 years, to his successor, Saeed Attia Abu Ali Al-Ghamdi, but without leaving government work. As he was seconded by the Ministry of Education to the Oversight and Investigation Authority for a period of two years, and after the expiry of these two years, the Authority contracted with him again for a period of 3 years, which ended with him leaving his job to devote himself to his private life.
Al Taawun Cultural Library
Abunahiya did not confine his efforts to advancing education only, but also had contributions in other fields, and attempts to engage in experiences far from education, and he also practiced a number of hobbies that he liked from a young age. The man who kept reading as a hobby accompanies him since childhood sought to spread it among his compatriots, so he, with the participation of three of his friends (Abdul Mohsen Al-Manqur, Abdullah Al-Mulla and Ibrahim Al-Husseini), established the first cultural library in the eastern region in Al-Qaisariya Market in Al-Hofuf under the name “The Cultural Cooperation Library”, in the year 1367 AH. However, the concerns of life separated the founders and distracted them from managing the library, with the exception of Abdullah Al-Mulla, who devoted himself entirely to the project and continued to take care of it. And if the library project was the first commercial business that our friend undertook, then after that, while he was at the head of his educational work, he tried to go through other commercial experiences over a period of 3 years, without achieving much success, which made him say that “it is difficult for an educator to turn into a merchant.” And coexist with the business community ».
Journalist and one of the founders of "Al-Youm"
However, the major imprint left by Abonhia, outside the scope of his educational imprints, was represented by his contribution to the establishment of the Today Press House in Dammam, whose idea was adopted by a group of men and notables from the Eastern Province shortly after the issuance of a royal decree on January 13, 1964 to establish press institutions as a substitute for individual journalism, where he was Among the group that applied for the establishment of a press institution in the eastern region, similar to its counterparts in the west and center of the country, which included, in addition to him, Sheikh Hamad bin Ali Al-Mubarak, Sheikh Abdulaziz Al-Turki, Director of Education in the Eastern Region, Dr. The Municipality of Al-Khobar Sheikh Abdul Rahman Al-Shawan, the businessman Abdul Karim Al-Khuraiji, Sheikh Ali Al-Hudaib, the Emir of Al-Khobar Abdulaziz bin Madi, the notable Muhammad Abdulaziz Al-Khazim, Mr. Fahmy Youssef Al-Basrawi, chief announcer of Aramco TV, and the writer Hussein Abdul Rahman Khazindar. And when the approval came from the official authorities in 1965, the General Assembly was convened, and Al-Mubarak was elected as Chairman of the Board of Directors, and Abu Nahia as his deputy.
Abunahiya held the position of Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of Al-Youm Foundation for many years, and when Al-Mubarak died, he was elected to replace him, but he preferred to resign after a while while retaining his position as a member of the Council. Thus, we see that the man experienced the difficult beginnings of the birth of the first newspapers in the Eastern Province during the era of institutions, and witnessed the throes of its transformation from a weekly newspaper with few pages and materials to a semi-weekly newspaper, to a rich daily newspaper comparable to other Saudi newspapers in form and content.
Writer Khalil Ibrahim Al-Fazia, former head of the Eastern Province Literary Club and one of those who took over the editorship of “Al-Youm,” said in an article he wrote in Al-Youm newspaper (31/3/2012) that Abonhia was one of the newspaper’s first writers, and that he formed with Hamad Al-Mubarak and Musaed Al-Khuraisi a rescue triangle. It was close to collapse due to its financial stumbling, and it almost declared bankruptcy and closed its doors at the end of the seventies of the twentieth century, had it not been for the wisdom and determination of these men. In the same article, the writer talked about his memories with Abunahiya, and said that he enjoyed nobility and generosity of morals, calmness and wisdom in dealing with matters, in addition to a broad heritage culture.
On March 29, 2012, Abunahiya passed away to his Lord, leaving behind a fragrant biography full of struggle and giving, a history of educational and journalistic achievements, and three sons and five daughters. On the occasion of his death, his loved ones, friends and students competed in lamenting him as befitting his person. It is beautiful what I read about him a speech published by the writer Mutlaq Al-Enezi in Al-Youm newspaper (9/11/2015) in which he said (with an adaptation): “May God have mercy on Abunahiya. Our time, and he witnessed the beginning of a time that he had in mind to witness, he does not reconcile with it and it is not appropriate. I remember his speech is low, you do not hear in his tongue nor blasphemy nor defamation or exposure, as if he were alone, has nothing to do with our hustle and bustle, our anger and our sharp, crisis and motivated psyches.
Written by: Dr. Abdullah Al-Madani @abu_taymour