Appendix: Memorial Address by Dr. As'ad Homad, for the Family

At the memorial ceremony for his brother, the late Dr. AbdulWahab Homad

Our distinguished professors have spoken about AbdulWahab Homad from what they knew of him at close quarters, and they are the best able to do him justice and give him the place he deserves.

I will speak, on behalf of the family, about some aspects of his private and public life that we knew: his life among his family, his household, his relatives and his friends, and his life in some areas of public work, so that other sides of his character may come to light.

His life among his family and household was easy and gentle, ruled by love, affection and respect, and free of domination and of imposing one's opinions. He was kind, affectionate, compassionate and loyal; he would tire himself and toil so that others might be happy and at ease, and stay awake so that others might be calm and sleep in peace. That was how he was in days of plenty and ease, and that was his way in days of hardship and want, always showing contentment with whatever God granted him.

He hated high-handedness in matters of opinion and shrank from those who try to impose their views on others, counting it a flaw in the character of whoever does so.

He listened well to whoever was speaking to him, so as to grasp what they meant, lest he be accused, when he discussed their views with them, of answering what he had not understood. He worked constantly, without tiring or flagging, and never complained of the pressure of work.

His Studies

His schooling began at al-Sultani in Aleppo (then the only secondary school in the city). At the start of the 1930-1931 school year he entered the Teachers' College. Our revered teacher Sheikh Badr al-Din al-Na'sani, God rest his soul, taught literature and Arabic to the upper classes of the secondary school and of the Teachers' College. He was an able and outstanding teacher who commanded his students' respect and used that respect to push them to work. He advised his students to memorize as much as they could of the Quran and of good poetry, which refines the soul and supplies it with what it needs for sound writing and for composing good verse. So AbdulWahab memorized what he could of the Quran, and a great deal of poetry. His good memory made memorizing easy for him, and the quickness of wit that distinguished him helped him to quote what he had memorized. Knowing so much poetry by heart also helped him to compose verse; he wrote good poetry, though not much of it.

His Work in Teaching

After graduating from the Teachers' College he was appointed a teacher at an elementary school in al-Jazira, then transferred to Deir ez-Zor and from there to the town of al-Bab.

At the start of the 1937-1938 school year he was transferred as an assistant teacher to al-Sultani in Aleppo.

His Journey to France

At the end of 1938 the Ministry of Education announced a competition to select candidates to be sent to study in France. He entered the competition for the study of Arabic literature, passed it and traveled to France.

Studying Law Alongside Literature

In France he found that the study of literature did not take up all his time, so he enrolled at the Institute of Law, and he succeeded in obtaining a licence in literature and a licence in law. As the war dragged on, he decided to prepare a doctorate in law, and he obtained it in 1943.

New Political Outlooks

During the years when France ruled Syria (1920-1945), there were not many educated Syrians who had visited France, come to know the condition of its people in France itself and seen the political struggle among its various parties, especially between the parties of the right and the left. People in Syria therefore believed that the men of French colonial rule in Syria were the true representatives of the French people, and that these colonial officials stood for the democracy the French people practiced at home. So people came to hate French democracy, as they hated the whole French nation. Nazi and Fascist propaganda began to influence them, and many of them came to hope that these two totalitarian regimes would defeat the Western democracies, so that our nation might be freed from the yoke of British and French colonialism.

But once the Syrian students sent abroad came to know the condition of the French people and of the democracy they practiced at home, some of them began to change their views. They came to believe in democracy as the system of political life for nations that want to enjoy a decent life, to advance on the road of civilization and to free themselves from oppression. AbdulWahab was one of those influenced by democratic thought; he came to believe that it was best for the weaker peoples, and he held to that conviction until his last days.

His Work at the Faculty of Law

After returning from France with his companions in August 1945, AbdulWahab was appointed teacher of Arabic literature at al-Sultani in Aleppo. In 1946 Mr. Sati' al-Husri, wishing to reform the institutions of education, and especially those of the university, chose a number of those returning from France to teach in the university's faculties. AbdulWahab was among those chosen, to teach criminal law at the Faculty of Law, and at the beginning of the 1946-1947 academic year he moved to Damascus and took up his post at the Faculty of Law. He threw himself into the work with great energy, hoping that the students would answer his effort in kind. AbdulWahab had a gift for oratory, and he delivered most of his lessons to the students extempore, in fine classical Arabic, which added to the students' admiration and esteem for him. A student's confidence in his teacher's ability draws him to that teacher and pushes him to work hard to stand out in his eyes.

He did not leave the university until Adib al-Shishakli required civil servants to swear an oath of loyalty to the state and to refrain from political work for as long as they were in government service; he would not agree to bind himself to give up political work.

In the days of the union he was chosen as Minister of Justice in the first government formed after the union was achieved, and was later named Minister of Finance. Instructions were then issued by the central government in Cairo that ministers should not combine their ministerial work with work at the universities, so he left the university a second time.

In 1964 the University of Rabat chose him to teach criminal law at its Faculty of Law, and he continued working there until 1983.

His Books and Scholarly Works

During his university career in Damascus, Rabat and Kuwait he wrote a series of works on criminal law, seven in number. He had earlier written a book in French on political crime, for which he was awarded the title of doctor of law.

He wrote many articles and studies on scholarly, legal and political subjects, published in Arab and Syrian newspapers and magazines. And he set down his memoirs in some three thousand pages.

His Work in Politics

In 1947 a rift opened in the ranks of the National Bloc, and some young educated men broke away from it: Rushdi al-Kikhya and Nazim al-Qudsi in Aleppo, Ali Bouzo and Rashad Jabri in Damascus, and Ratib al-Husami in Homs. Rushdi al-Kikhya entered the elections of 1947 with a list of young candidates in Aleppo that included, besides himself, Nazim al-Qudsi, Maarouf al-Dawalibi, AbdulWahab Homad and Ahmad Qanbar. The result of the elections was that the young educated men from among the people won many seats in parliament, and so the first opposition group appeared in parliament. Then the opposition turned into a party, which was named the People's Party.

After al-Hinnawi's coup against Husni al-Za'im, the transitional government resolved to draw up a new constitution for the country, and AbdulWahab was chosen as rapporteur of the constitutional committee. The government awarded him the Order of Merit of the Excellent Class in recognition of his outstanding work in preparing and drafting the constitution.

His Work for the Union

Arab unity was always a dream dear to the hearts of the people of Syria; no wish of theirs came before its fulfillment, because in it lay national dignity and freedom from all the ills our nation has suffered and still suffers.

In 1958 the first union in modern Arab history was achieved, between Egypt and Syria, and the people rejoiced in it greatly. But this union was a thorn in the side of the enemies of Arabism, Arabs and others alike, and conspiracies were woven against it in secret and in the open, until its enemies achieved their aim and the secession took place in 1961.

When AbdulWahab returned from Egypt after the secession, he held to his unionist positions, and with a group of companions who believed in the union he formed a working group to strive for the restoration of the union between Egypt and Syria. He and his companions suffered much harm: his car was blown up, and he was imprisoned along with some of them. But they remained faithful to what they believed in.

Some of What He Is Remembered For

He took part in the worthy efforts to bring water from the Euphrates to Aleppo, which drank its fill after a long thirst.

He took an active part in making education compulsory and free.

He was the first to establish the principle of allocating study missions abroad by governorate. This ended the injustice the remote governorates had complained of, whose students had no able teachers to bring them up to the level of their peers in the great cities. It was a just measure that treated everyone fairly and pleased them greatly.

Finally, I thank the President of the Arabic Language Academy and his distinguished colleagues, who kindly sponsored this evening, and I thank the distinguished professors who kindly joined us and gave their addresses, expressing their sincere affection for our dear departed. And I thank all our brothers who kindly attended. May God prolong all their lives and spare them the loss of anyone dear to them.