al-Mubashshirun wal-Mustashriqun fi Mawqifihim min al-Islam
- Author died
- 1402 AH
- Editions
- Matba'at al-Azhar
al-Mubashshirun wal-Mustashriqun fi Mawqifihim min al-Islam (Christian Missionaries and Orientalists in Their Stance Toward Islam) is a treatise by the Egyptian scholar and former Minister of Awqaf and al-Azhar Affairs, Dr. Muhammad al-Bahi (d. 1402 AH / 1982 CE), analyzing Western missionary and Orientalist activities in the Islamic world and outlining strategic responses to them .
Background and Publication
The work was published in a single volume in Cairo by Matba'at al-Azhar under its General Administration of Culture . It was also incorporated as the sixth part and supplementary section of al-Bahi's broader study, al-Fikr al-Islami al-Hadith wa-Silatuhu bil-Isti'mar al-Gharbi (Modern Islamic Thought and Its Connection to Western Colonialism) .
Central Thesis and Core Themes
The book posits that Christian missionary work (tabshir) and Orientalism (istishraq) serve as complementary pillars of Western colonialism in Egypt and the wider Muslim world . While both share the underlying objective of diminishing Islamic values and disrupting communal unity among Muslim peoples, they operate through distinct modalities:
- Orientalism adopts an academic framework, utilizing scholarly books, academic journals, university professorships, and international conferences to advance its critiques .
- Missionary activity works primarily on the grassroots and institutional levels through educational institutions (ranging from nurseries and kindergartens to primary and secondary schools), charitable outfits, hospitals, orphanages, shelters, and popular printing presses .
Al-Bahi categorizes the principal narratives propagated by these movements into specific areas:
- Theological polemics: Denying the divine origin of the Quran by claiming it was transcribed from Jewish and Christian sources, and depicting Islam as a purely materialistic creed devoid of spirituality .
- Linguistic and cultural displacement: Asserting that Arabic philosophy was merely Greek thought in Arabic script, arguing that Classical Arabic is obsolete for modern times, advocating for colloquial dialects and the adoption of the Latin alphabet, and prioritizing Aryan languages like Persian over Semitic Arabic .
- Fragmentation through regionalism: Reviving localized pre-Islamic identities, such as Pharaonism in Egypt, Assyrianism in Iraq, Phoenicianism along the Levantine coast, and Berberism in North Africa .
Survey of Institutions and Figures
The author surveys key educational and cultural bodies active in the region. Among the prominent institutions highlighted are Saint Joseph University and the American University of Beirut in Lebanon, the American University in Cairo, Robert College in Istanbul, and the French College in Lahore . In Cairo, he identifies specialized French and Catholic-affiliated research centers, such as the Dominican Institute (al-Ma'had al-Sharqi) and the French Institute in al-Munira, highlighting the influence of French Orientalist Louis Massignon .
The book includes analytical tables classifying contemporary Western Orientalists and assessing their publications, including A. J. Arberry, Alfred Guillaume, Baron Carra de Vaux, Charles C. Adams, and Edwin Calverley .
Proposed Solutions
Al-Bahi critiques traditional Islamic institutions for not mounting an adequate, modernized response . He outlines actionable initiatives for Muslim educational and cultural bodies, specifically the Islamic Congress (al-Mu'tamar al-Islami) and al-Azhar:
- Compiling a comprehensive Islamic encyclopedia written by qualified Muslim scholars to replace foreign reference works .
- Publishing authorized, scholarly translations of the Quran in world languages .
- Constructing a specialized dictionary of Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh) to standardize terminology across the various schools of law .
- Launching an academic journal dedicated to monitoring and reviewing Orientalist publications and periodicals worldwide .
Answer updated