Jawad al-Ramadan

Jawad Hussain Mohammed al-Ramadan (1936 - July 11, 2018) was a writer, author, and historian from al-Ahsa Governorate in the Eastern Province of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. He quit working in sewing cloaks (Mishlah) to devote himself to writing and researching the history of the scholars and writers of al-Ahsa, al-Qatif, and Bahrain. He received his education at al-Kuttab and traveled between al-Ahsa, Bahrain, Iraq, and Syria to seek knowledge and research books, periodicals, and manuscripts. He collected many publications and manuscripts. It is estimated that he possesses about a thousand manuscripts, the first manuscript he obtained was the book entitled Maqamat al-Hariri, written by a man from al-Ahsa during the nineteenth century.

Jawad al-Ramadan was born in 1936 in al-Hufuf City, in al-Ahsa, among five male siblings. His father passed away in 1944. He took his first trip to Bahrain in 1950, thanks to the help of his family and its breadwinner, his older brother, Mohammed al-Ramadan, the poet who wrote Ma'idat Ramadan, the first poetry collection versed by a poet from al-Ahsa. The collection was published in 1965 by Karam Printing Press in Damascus. Jawad al-Ramadan learned to sew cloaks in 1950, and he grew fond of embroidering cloaks, a skill he inherited from his father. He was also keen on acquiring knowledge. He enrolled in al-Amer School in Manama and memorized the Noble Quran. In 1971, al-Ramadan decided to join an evening community school for literacy. However, he did not spend much time at the school, as he soon left to ensure better knowledge acquisition.

At the library of his brother, poet Mohammed al-Ramadan, Jawad's relationship with books grew. As such, he was able to get hold of the book entitled Shafaq al-Ahlam, a poetry collection written by the poet Mohammed Saeed al-Muslim al-Qutaifi, who also wrote the book entitled Sahel al-Zahab al-Aswad. He then left the country for Bahrain, before relocating to Iraq. A few months later, in 1959, he went to Syria on a ten-year journey.

Jawad al-Ramadan kept on making cloaks for three decades, before quitting in 1980, focusing on another field, documenting history. Throughout the year, many researchers and academics leveraged the manuscripts he collected, which amounted to more than one thousand manuscripts, to prepare their theses, conduct their research, or write their books. Al-Ramadan has a series of publications, including "Matlaa al-Badrain fi Tarajim Oulama' wa-Oudaba' al-Ahsa wa al-Qatif wa al-Bahrain," "Maajam Aalam al-Ahsa fi al-Ilm wal Adab," "Maajam Aalam Ansab al-Ahsa'iyin," "Qala'id al-Jaman fi Tarajim Oulama' wa Oudaba' Al Ramadan," "Esnad al-Maghanem fi Tarajim Aalam Al Abi al-Makarem," "Kashkoul Nuzhat al-Nazer wa Salwat al-Khater," published in four volumes, "Nafa'is al-Athar fi Tarikh Hajar," and "Diwan al-Ahsa'iyat."