Attempts by Salama Moussa

"Attempts" by Salama Moussa: A Critical Analysis of Social and Psychological Structures

Context and Significance in Modern Arab Thought

Salama Moussa’s Attempts was published in 1953 as an intellectual project that reflected his reformist vision for examining Egyptian and Arab society through a critical, scientific lens.

Moussa framed the book as a series of “attempts” to expose the psychological wounds caused by oppression and intellectual stagnation. He sought to move public discourse away from traditional moralizing and literary sermonizing toward psychoanalytic and scientific critique.

Written during the turbulent postcolonial period, the book mirrors the spirit of the Arab Enlightenment—an era that grappled with reconciling heritage and modernity.

Shaped by Western Thought

Born in 1887 in the village of Behnbay near Zagazig, Moussa studied in France and England (1906–1910), where he absorbed the ideas of Marx, Darwin, and Voltaire. He joined the Fabian Society and became acquainted with George Bernard Shaw.

Upon returning to Egypt, he emerged as a leading voice for socialism and secularism, publishing over 40 books, including The Theory of Evolution and the Origin of Man and Woman Is Not a Toy. His works laid the intellectual groundwork for Egypt’s twentieth-century cultural renaissance.

Dissecting Society Through Modern Science

1. Social Critique: Repression and Moral Decline

Religion and authoritarianism: Moussa argued that certain religious practices had been weaponized to suppress freedoms, particularly around sexuality. He linked sexual repression to the rise of psychological disorders and social deviance.
Traditions that stifle progress: From the preference for male heirs to early marriage, he saw outdated customs as barriers to progress that bred psychological trauma and even criminality.

2. Psychoanalysis: The Roots of Social Ills

Childhood and personality: Drawing on Freud, Moussa explained how authoritarian parenting instilled fear of authority, stunting critical thinking and creativity.
The burden of superstition: Beliefs in curses or the “evil eye,” he argued, entrenched helplessness and delayed the adoption of scientific reasoning.

3. The Question of Women: Between Liberation and Marginalization

Advocating women’s emancipation: Moussa condemned the exclusion of women from public life as a waste of half of society’s potential. He called for co-education and economic empowerment, insisting that “woman is not a toy” in the hands of men.
Marriage as ownership: He criticized traditional marriage as a system of male dominance and proposed a partnership model—a radical idea that sparked controversy in the 1950s.

4. Language and Thought: The Battle for Renewal

Against linguistic rigidity: Moussa attacked the dominance of classical Arabic, advocating instead for simplification to spread scientific knowledge. He argued that clinging to rigid forms alienated the masses.
Language and stagnation: By prioritizing ornate style over content, he claimed, writers fostered intellectual emptiness and avoided confronting political or cultural taboos.

5. Art and Literature: Tools for Social Change

Music as therapy: For Moussa, music was not mere entertainment but a form of emotional development and psychological relief.
The short story as critique: He praised writers like Yahya Haqqi and Tawfiq al-Hakim, who used fiction to expose social contradictions.

Between Science and Literature

Psychoanalytic analysis: Moussa bridged academic theory and lived reality, blending Darwinian science with vivid examples from Egyptian society.
Literary style: His accessible prose, rich with metaphors such as “psychological wounds,” rendered complex ideas understandable to a wide audience.

A Controversial Legacy

Influence on reformist movements: Attempts became a touchstone for socialist and secular thought in Egypt, inspiring figures like Nobel laureate Naguib Mahfouz.

Criticism included:

Accusations of “Western dependency” for adopting Freud and Darwin without sufficient adaptation to Arab contexts.
Neglect of religious particularities, especially in discussing practices like circumcision, which many saw as spiritually significant.
Views on women that were considered radical for the time, such as his support for unrestricted co-education.

Enduring Relevance

Many of Moussa’s debates remain unsettled:

Sex and religion: The ongoing struggle over the boundaries between faith and sexual freedom.
Language and education: Tensions between formal Arabic and vernacular dialects in schools.
Women’s rights: The unfinished battle for equality.

Critics like Hisham Bustani argue that, despite certain limits in his analysis, Moussa remains a symbol of resistance to “epistemic authoritarianism.”

Attempts That Opened Doors

Attempts is not a sacred text but a bold intellectual project by a thinker determined to break the taboos of his time.

Even where his arguments—such as his overemphasis on sexual repression—may feel outdated today, his courage in diagnosing society’s “ailments” remains invaluable.

The book urges us not to accept his ideas wholesale, but to continue the work of critique and renewal. As Moussa himself wrote, every “attempt” may succeed or fail, but the act of trying is indispensable for progress.

Appendix: Additional Information

Aspect	Details
First Edition	1953; reissued in 2012 by Hindawi Foundation as a free public-domain edition.
Related Works	Woman Is Not a Toy; The Theory of Evolution and the Origin of Man.
Notable Quote	“Life is a picture we paint, not numbers we simply add up.”

For the original summary in Arabic