Al-Hayat

This article is about a London-based pan-Arab and Saudi newspaper. Not to be confused with the Islamic State's "Al-Hayat Media Center".

Al Hayat
الحياة
TypeDaily newspaper
FormatBroadsheet
Owner(s)
EditorSaud Al Rayes
Founded1946
Ceased publicationMarch 2020 (2020-03)
HeadquartersLondon
Circulation150,000 (as of 2009)[2]
ISSN0967-5590
Websitealhayat.com archived
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Al-Hayat (Arabic: الحياة Life) was an Arabic newspaper based in Beirut from its founding 28 January 1946 to 1976 and in London after its refounding in 1988. It was a pan-Arab newspaper owned by Saudi Prince Khalid bin Sultan, that had a circulation estimated over 200,000.[1][3] It was the newspaper of record for the Arab diaspora and the preferred venue for liberal intellectuals who wished to express themselves to a large public. Founded in 1946, the paper closed in March 2020 after years of financial problems.[4][5]

Though rather pro-West and pro-Saudi with respect to articles concerning the Arabian Peninsula, it was quite open to various opinions concerning other regional questions. Al-Hayat printed in London, New York, Frankfurt, Dubai, Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam, Beirut and Cairo.[6] The newspaper had offices in London, Paris, Washington, New York, Moscow, Riyadh, Jeddah, Beirut, Cairo, Baghdad, Dubai, Amman, and Damascus, among others.[citation needed]

The newspaper was "regarded as by far and away the best and most intensely read Arab newspaper", according to a 1997 article in The New York Times.[7] A 2005 article in the same paper described Al-Hayat as a "decidedly Arab nationalist paper".[8] The newspaper was distributed in most Arab countries, and most of its editors were from Lebanon, where Al-Hayat was very popular. It was more critical of the Saudi government than its main rival, Asharq Al-Awsat.[8]

The newspaper's motto was "Life is belief and struggle" (Arabic: إن الحياة عقيدة وجهاد), a line taken from a poem by Egyptian poet Ahmed Shawki.[9]

  1. ^ a b "Statistics on the Arab Media" (PDF). Arab Reform Bulletin. Carnegie Endowment. Archived (PDF) from the original on 28 December 2004. Retrieved 25 April 2011.
  2. ^ "Circulation" (PDF). Al Watani Group. Retrieved 1 May 2012.[permanent dead link‍]
  3. ^ England, Andrew (29 August 2007). "Saudi Arabia Continues Ban on Newspaper". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 11 December 2022. Retrieved 26 April 2011.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference mee20 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ "Will the Pandemic Kill Arab Print Journalism?". The Century Foundation. 26 May 2020. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
  6. ^ "none". Al Hayat. 10 April 2011.
  7. ^ Ibrahim, Youssef, M. (15 January 1997) "Al Hayat: A Journalistic Noah's Ark" The New York Times, Retrieved 26 March 2008
  8. ^ a b Fattah, Hassan, M. (6 February 2005). "Spreading the Word: Who's Who in the Arab Media" Retrieved 26 March 2008
  9. ^ Shawqi, Ahmed. "Life is Belief and Struggle (in Arabic)". Archived from the original on 26 December 2010. Retrieved 2 April 2011.