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myself have had direction during which
period the great majority of our pupils have
been Moslems. The French school just
across the way from our residence have
at the present time Moslem children. Neither
is Beirut destitute of Christian schools
with Moslem pupils. Notably there is
Miss Taylor's, a school of excellent record
exclusively for Moslems and Druzes.
Our Egyptian schools have multitudes
of Moslem pupils.
I made the point in conversation
with the predecessor of the present Valy, who
is now the Valy of Beirut, that in as much
as our schools are official and regular
and the word Moslem not being in
the school Code of the Empire, it
would be unfair for us to deny Moslems
the excellent advantages of our schools;
that for us to do so would give just
ground of complaint; and if properly
interpreted and emploted would render
us liable to legal process for making an
invidious distinction against them.
The Valy admitted the justice of my
Notes and Questions
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Very interesting this aligns with some of the histories I've seen of Lebanon and Beirut when I was there in 2015. Despite the heavy impacts of the civil war in Lebanon many of the historic Islamic sites remained intact despite some damage like the Mohammad Al Amin Mosque. The history of Muslims in Beirut has been ongoing since the early 600s, with Sultans in the Middle East having brought Islam here from the Arabian Peninsula. Trade was a very major part of Islam in Beirut at the time, which was strategically positioned as a port with access to both the east and west Mediterranean, and Turkic peninsula. Ships oftened used sailcloths made of hemp fibres which were extremely strong and durable to transport their wares across the seas and trade with Greece, Turkey and Egypt for many centuries. Some of the biggest exports out of Beirut were (and continue to be) pearls and precious stones which were often acquired from further inland in the middle east - Arabian pearls had a huge and burgeoning trade throughout the 600s and later which helped establish Beirut as a key port for high end wares and gems.