For Arab lovers, the planets have magic, imagination and madness, and the movements of the planets, their sizes and dimensions, according to their scientists, have secrets that they succeeded in deciphering in the past, until names such as “Ibn Al-Haytham” and “Al-Khwarizmi” became an integral part of the “history” of the universe, while the sessions of “Ibn Rushd” were transformed. to surf the sky to seminars in which his students and disciples meet in the Moroccan city of “Marrakesh” to learn the secrets of “the sky in the time of darkness”; Ibn Rushd presented to the world and the West what can be described as “the first primitive and scientifically close explanations for the shapes of sunspots.”
The Moroccan “Marrakesh” was the launching pad for “Averroes”, who left our world 824 years ago at a time when Europe was still reeling in search of “salvation” from the “dark ages”, the dream of “Averroes”, watching the burning of his books in The heart of Andalusia, that his “scientific” journey continue, and he chose among his students who would carry – on his back – copies of his books in search of safe places – among them Egypt – to avoid the fires of ignorance and the darkness of backwardness, believing that “ideas have wings that no one can prevent from reach people.
Reality imitates imagination
Ibn Rushd’s dreams branched out and spread across the land of Marrakesh, but at that time she did not even think that a day would come when asteroids would be called the name of an Arab scientist from his country, which was long thought to be the “sunset site”, which became a reality thanks to Hasna El-Shennawy Oujhan, a Moroccan scientist specializing in meteorites, planetary sciences and geochemistry, and professor of geology at the Faculty of Sciences Ain Chek, one of the most important Moroccan university institutions affiliated with Hassan II University in Casablanca, which was the first woman to hold a doctorate in meteorites in Morocco and the Arab countries; She obtained her first doctorate from the University of Pierre and Marie Curie (University of Paris 6) in France in the geochemistry of rare gases in 1992.
“Hasnaa” tells the story of giving her name to an asteroid, in statements to Al-Alam, saying: I am very proud to name this asteroid after my family (the Al-Shenawy asteroid). French astronomer “Michel Ory”, who wanted to honor me by giving my name to the asteroid he discovered.
“Hasnaa” aimed to give Moroccan place names to all meteorites that were observed to have occurred in Morocco
What the French scientist did may have seemed modest in the face of Hasna’s efforts, which introduced the study of meteorites and meteorite craters to Morocco and the Arab countries, and designed a unit to study geochemistry and cosmic chemistry in Morocco. A panel of 12 international experts, which co-founded an initiative to promote planetary and meteorite sciences in Africa; To transfer the Moroccan experience in this field to all countries of the brown continent, as well as its efforts to name Moroccan places on all meteorites whose fall in Morocco was observed.
Hasna says: Morocco is a reservoir of meteorites, and my goal was to give the names of Moroccan places to all the meteorites that were observed to have occurred in Morocco to give a Moroccan identity to these exceptional rocks; They are used in research work all over the world, but are often given names that refer to northwest Africa followed by a number, I didn’t like these designations that erase the origin of the rocks, so I’ve struggled since 2000 for every meteorite found in Morocco to be recorded with a Moroccan name relative to the area in which it was found.
Hasna’s interest in the science of meteorites was not accidental, due to the study of geology; Her interest in meteorites began in 2000.
Hasna says: My teacher, Albert Jambaum in Paris, suggested to me to work on the rocks, many of which began to be collected in the Moroccan desert. Elements, chemical compounds, metals, and all the chemical processes that lead to the formation of various cosmic bodies, and it took me 6 years to prepare this doctorate and gain the necessary experience in this field.
She continues: I received great support from my family, which played a prominent role in shaping my personality and professional life. My parents did not prevent me from choosing a “male” job like geology, especially in a conservative Muslim country. They trusted my choice and strongly supported this choice. I knew nothing about geology when I was young and wanted to become a teacher or a doctor. I loved reading stories, not science books. I was inspired by my mum who was a primary school principal at the time, my mum had her own car and she used to drive it herself, it was really unusual in Morocco in the 1960s, there is also an important role my husband and kids played in my career, they are very supportive and understand the time and energy which my research needs.
The French astronomer, Michel Orie, named an asteroid he discovered in honor of “Hasnaa”.
The support of Hasnaa’s family was only a step on the path to success, one of the fruits of which was her obtaining the “Hypatia International Prize” for the year 2021, an award that “Hasnaa” expresses her pride in, adding: Receiving this award does not concern me alone, but it All Moroccan researchers, especially women who could do a good job with limited funding.
In response to a question by Al-Alam magazine about her assessment of the role that Arab women play in the field of science, Hasnaa said: There are a large number of Arab women researchers who are recognized around the world, and they give a positive view of their countries, and they can encourage women in our Arab countries. – especially girls- to choose and shape their scientific education, but we still need more scientists in Arab countries and more women in different fields of science.
She adds: On the official and governmental side, young Arab female scientists should be helped to develop their performance to ensure that they obtain a prominent position in various fields of science at the global and international levels, and we should provide more opportunities for young researchers, both women and men, to improve their research capabilities by obtaining More funding and giving them more opportunities to move around in Western countries to gain experience and ease of access to technical support. Al Kawakeb”, a non-governmental organization that we established in April of 2019.
“Hasnaa” seeks to provide Arab researchers with expertise through the “Al-Tariq Foundation for Meteorology and Planetary Sciences”
In a report published in the journal Nature, Hasna stresses the importance of developing partnerships between scientific institutions in African countries, stressing that “cooperation within the African continent is rare, despite the existence of initiatives to create more opportunities for cooperation and partnership between African countries, each other.”
Belle’s words ended, leaving behind the echo of Shakespeare’s phrase in Hamlet: There are more things, Horatio, between heaven and earth than the dream of your philosophy.