Hamza Shehata

Who was Hamza Shehata?

Hamza Shehata was a philosopher, poet and civic leader from the Hejaz in the western part of modern Saudi Arabia. The eccentric Hejazi genius was born in Mecca and raised in Jeddah. He studied at the Al-Falah School, then moved to India where he worked at the Zainal trading house for a number of years. Upon his return, he joined the Jeddah Council of Commerce.

Shehata is regarded as a Saudi pioneer, a leading poet and thinker, and an influential figure in the cultural modernism movement that occurred in the Hejaz in the early 20th century. Along with another Hejazi poet Mohammed Hassan Awwad, he was among the first to compose and publish Arabic poems in modern format, starting in the 1920s.

He is also well known for his writings on ethical issues and social philosophy. In 1940 he gave a famous speech in Mecca addressing complex ethical concerns and advocating social and religious reform. His bold ideas and political activism led to his exile in 1931, along with other Hejazi leaders and youth, in Al-Massmak fort in Riyadh, sent there by King Abdul Aziz. Just after he was pardoned, he left Hejaz for Cairo, opposing the way things were run in his country.