al-Ikha al-Dini wa Majma al-Adyan wa Mawqif al-Islam
- Author died
- 1402 AH
- Editions
- Maktabat Wahbah
al-Ikha al-Dini wa Majma al-Adyan wa Mawqif al-Islam (Religious Brotherhood, the Complex of Religions, and the Position of Islam) is a treatise by the Egyptian scholar and former minister Muhammad al-Bahi (d. 1402 AH / 1982 CE) that critically evaluates contemporary interfaith initiatives in Egypt and examines their theological and political implications from an Islamic perspective.
Publication and Background
The treatise was first published in Rajab 1401 AH (May 1981 CE) by Maktabat Wahba in Cairo and printed by Dar al-Tadamun, spanning twenty-three pages in a single volume.
Al-Bahi wrote the work in response to two specific contemporary developments:
- Jama'at al-Ikha al-Dini (The Religious Brotherhood Group), a joint Muslim–Christian committee operating out of the headquarters of the Young Men's Muslim Association in Cairo, which counted among its participants scholars from al-Azhar and Christian clergymen.
- Majma' al-Adyan (The Complex of Religions), a proposed project in Wadi al-Raha in the Sinai peninsula intended to house adjacent places of worship for Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
Content and Arguments
Al-Bahi frames the two initiatives as non-Islamic political maneuvers rather than genuine scholarly or religious dialogues. The book presents its critique through theological, historical, and geopolitical arguments:
Theological Critique of Interfaith Equivalence
Al-Bahi argues that true religious brotherhood cannot exist without shared doctrinal foundations. He emphasizes that Islamic creed strictly upholds the absolute oneness of God and the human servanthood of Jesus, as expressed in the Quran: إِنَّ مَثَلَ عِيسَى عِنْدَ اللَّهِ كَمَثَلِ آدَمَ خَلَقَهُ مِنْ تُرَابٍ ثُمَّ قَالَ لَهُ كُنْ فَيَكُونُ ("Indeed, the example of Jesus to Allah is like that of Adam; He created him from dust, then said to him, 'Be,' and he was") [Al 'Imran: 59]. He contends that as long as Christian interlocutors maintain beliefs in the Trinity and the divinity of Christ, a genuine faith-based unity between the two sides is doctrinally untenable.
Furthermore, he asserts that the Quran holds the authoritative position of criterion and corrector over previous scriptures, arguing that existing Torah and Gospel texts have suffered human alterations and omissions, which renders any attempt to place them on equal footing with the Quran unacceptable in Islamic doctrine.
Geopolitical and Cold War Context
Analyzing the origins of such dialogue movements, al-Bahi draws parallels between the Religious Brotherhood group and the earlier Muslim–Christian Friendship Society established in Bhamdoun, Lebanon, during the 1950s by the American Protestant missionary Garland Evans Hopkins under the direction of the Central Intelligence Agency. He argues that such organizations were politically designed during the Cold War to mobilize Muslim demographics against Soviet communism and Marxist atheism in service of Western and American strategic interests, without curbing hostile Orientalist portrayals of Islam. He expresses regret that the headquarters of the Young Men's Muslim Association, founded by Dr. Abd al-Hamid Sa'id, came to host such activities, comparing their influence to that of Rotary clubs.
Critique of the Sinai Complex and Jerusalem
Regarding the proposed Complex of Religions in Wadi al-Raha, al-Bahi questions whether the project was devised to create a synthetic alternative to Jerusalem (al-Quds) and al-Aqsa Mosque. He cites the prophetic narration: لا تُشَدُّ الرِّحَالُ إِلا إِلَى ثَلاثَةِ مَسَاجِدَ: مَسْجِدِي هَذَا، وَالمَسْجِدِ الحَرَامِ، وَالمَسْجِدِ الأَقْصَى ("Journeys are not undertaken [for worship] except to three mosques: this mosque of mine, the Sacred Mosque, and al-Aqsa Mosque"), arguing that no site can replace al-Aqsa's historical and spiritual primacy connected to the Night Journey (al-Isra'). He concludes that establishing such a complex in Sinai, alongside secularism and interfaith slogans, serves to facilitate the normalization of Egyptian–Israeli relations under the peace treaty at the expense of Islamic commitments and the sanctity of Jerusalem.
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