al-Islam wa Muwajahat al-Madhahib al-Haddama
- Author died
- 1402 AH
- Editions
- Maktabat Wahba
al-Islam wa Muwajahat al-Madhahib al-Haddama (Islam and Confronting Destructive Doctrines) is an ideological and apologetic treatise by the Egyptian scholar and philosopher Muhammad al-Bahi (d. 1402 AH / 1982 CE), analyzing Western and Eastern intellectual movements that challenge Islamic society and outlining strategies for ideological confrontation.
Publication and Overview
The work was published as a single forty-page volume by Maktabat Wahba in Cairo, with its first edition appearing in Rajab 1401 AH / May 1981 CE. In the book, al-Bahi argues that the ideologies termed "destructive doctrines" are not genuine, disinterested philosophical schools, but rather political and economic instruments designed by dominant world powers to justify hegemony, exploit raw materials and human resources, and dismantle the spiritual and social unity of Muslim communities. He categorizes these doctrines into six primary currents:
- Secularism (العلمانية)
- Freemasonry (الماسونية)
- International Crusadism (الصليبية الدولية)
- Orientalism (الاستشراق)
- Marxist Scientific Atheism (الإلحاد العلمي)
- The Contrived Conflict between Science and Religion (العلم والدين)
Al-Bahi contends that four of these movements—secularism, Freemasonry, Crusadism, and Marxist atheism—seek to dissolve Muslim identity into a generic "universalism" (العالمية) dominated by foreign powers, whereas Orientalism and the science-versus-religion debate aim to instill skepticism toward divine revelation and Islamic values.
Analysis of Destructive Currents
Al-Bahi examines the conceptual underpinnings and practical manifestations of each current:
- Secularism: Al-Bahi contrasts Western secularism—born out of historical conflict and power-sharing between church and state—with colonial secularism imposed on the Islamic world by European powers such as Britain, France, Portugal, and the Netherlands. In Muslim societies, secularization unfolded through the creation of dual educational systems and parallel civil courts, culminating in the abolition of Sharia courts, as carried out in Egypt under Minister of Justice Ahmad Husni, as well as in Tunisia. He notes that secularist pressures also targeted family law under the banner of "women's liberation" and population control.
- Freemasonry: Characterized as a clandestine network aimed at neutralizing religious and national attachments under universalist slogans, operating to advance specific financial and political interests while placing co-opted figures into influential cultural and economic positions.
- International Crusadism: Represented in modern diplomacy, interfaith convergence schemes, and institutions such as Rotary Clubs, which al-Bahi describes as mechanisms designed to incorporate national elites into foreign-directed cultural orbits. He cites the 1953 conference on Islamic thought held at Princeton University and the Library of Congress as an example of intelligence agencies evaluating Muslim intellectuals.
- Marxist Scientific Atheism: Examined as a materialist doctrine that attacks religion as an opiate of the masses, enforces ideological censorship over media and literature, and incites violent class conflict under the guise of social justice.
- Orientalism: Traced from missionary origins to modern academic institutions, including reference works like the Encyclopaedia of Islam. Al-Bahi asserts that Orientalist scholarship rehashes early polemical doubts against the Prophet ﷺ and influences Muslim graduate students sent to Western universities, citing the academic trajectory and conversion of Pakistani scholar Daud Rahbar under Arthur John Arberry as a case study.
- Science and Religion: Al-Bahi critiques the reduction of certainty (yaqin) strictly to sensory and empirical experimentation, pointing out that mathematical sciences possess certainty without empirical observation. He maintains that while ecclesiastical doctrines clashed with empirical inquiry in the West, Islamic revelation contains no inherent conflict with scientific knowledge.
Method of Confrontation
Al-Bahi maintains that because these currents are deeply intertwined and often supported through tacit agreement between major geopolitical powers, piecemeal resistance is ineffective. He outlines a comprehensive response resting on three foundational tasks:
- Rigorous, documented Islamic media engagement that methodically deconstructs and refutes hostile ideological claims.
- Presenting Islamic principles as a practical framework aligned with innate human nature.
- Integrating foundational Islamic character education (al-tarbiya al-asasiyya) alongside specialized vocational training (al-tarbiya al-naw'iyya) across all tiers of schooling, especially in teacher training faculties, to cultivate internal accountability and God-consciousness.
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