Charity and nationalism: the case of �Abd Allah al-Nadim�s Islamic Philanthropic Society

First, I would like to thank the students and professors at Cairo University-Department of Literature, English section for their taking me in for two years early on in my undergraduate studies. What I learned at Cairo University has stayed with me over the years and the experience is what made me want to come back and complete my Master's here in Cairo at the American University in Cairo. Secondly, I would like to thank one of my early mentors in Egyptian history and general theory Peter Gran who helped guide me in my studies and pushed me to apply to AUC. He is also where I first learned of â Abd Allah al-Nadim causing me to want to push deeper into the man and his charitable association. To Noha Azmy who gave me advice and helped me think deeper about the subject I owe you huge thanks. I have been humbled by my experience at AUC learning from some of the finest intellectuals in Middle East Studies and Egyptian History. I am indebted to the guidance that I received over the years on this project from Hanan Kholoussy who was always there when I needed her comments and feedback on early drafts and proposals. I am also thankful to Malak Rouchdy and Reem Saad for their critiques and thoughts on how to focus the project. Also, to Nelly Hanna, Sherene Seikaly, and Michael Reimer thank you for your help and advice over the past couple of years. I owe a special thanks to a Phd student from New York University, Ibrahim Kalkan, who introduced me to the Ottoman Archives helping me navigate the archives to find sources. To the staffs at the Egyptian National Archives and the National Archives in London I also owe a debt of gratitude for their patient help and assistance in finding sources. I must recognize my advisor Khaled Fahmy, who has carefully read and critiqued my work and whose conversations and advice I could not have done without. For his work to help me finish this thesis, especially in the revision and editing, I owe him a huge debt of gratitude. His ability to help clarify what I was trying to argue and to make it clearer and more succinct is something that I needed and will hopefully keep with me for years to come. To all my fellow graduate student friends and the group of fellows who encouraged, critiqued and listened over the years, a special thanks to you all. To the administrators at the Middle East Studies Center at AUC Lamis Makhlouf, Radwa Wassim and Hany Luke thanks for all the help and for putting up with my endless questions. To all my friends from Philadelphia who stuck by me and encouraged me along the way, I hope I can repay the favor. To my family, especially my mother and father, whose help I cannot repay, I will be indebted to them forever.