al-Mustashriqun wa al-Mubashshirun fi al-Alam al-Arabi wa al-Islami

al-Mustashriqun wa al-Mubashshirun fi al-Alam al-Arabi wa al-Islami (The Orientalists and Missionaries in the Arab and Islamic World) is an Arabic treatise by the Egyptian author and former Christian priest Ibrahim Khalil Ahmad, published in Cairo in 1384 AH / 1964 CE al-Gharah al-Tansiriyyah …+1. The work presents a critical examination of Western Orientalist research and Christian missionary enterprises, analyzing their mutual coordination and shared ties with Western colonial objectives in the Arab and Muslim worlds Mawsuat al-Milal wa al-Ad…+1.

Background and Author Context

The book draws substantially on the personal background of its author, who was formerly an evangelical pastor and educator known as Ibrahim Khalil Philibus before converting to Islam in December 1959 Munazara bayn al-Islam wa…+1. Having been trained in missionary institutes and served in pastoral and evangelical missions in Upper Egypt and Aswan, Ahmad utilized his firsthand knowledge of missionary administration, methods, and strategic plans to expose their internal workings and ideological underpinnings Munazara bayn al-Islam wa…+1.

Content and Core Themes

The work discusses the structural interdependence of Orientalism, missionary outreach, and colonialism, arguing that they operate according to a unified agenda aimed at eroding Islamic identity and facilitating political and cultural hegemony Mawsuat al-Milal wa al-Ad…+1. Ahmad outlines a functional division of roles between the two movements:

• Orientalism: Assigned to academic and intellectual arenas, presenting itself under the guise of high scientific inquiry. Its practitioners operated through writing, university professorships, scholarly conferences, and learned societies, seeking to cast doubt on Islamic texts, history, and classical Arabic Ajnihat al-Makr al-Thalat…+1.
• Missionary activity (al-Tabshir): Focused on popular outreach suited to the broader public. Its methods relied on establishing educational institutions (from nurseries and kindergartens to secondary schools), printing and press campaigns, and social welfare institutions such as hospitals, dispensaries, guest houses, and orphanages Ajnihat al-Makr al-Thalat…+1.

The book also highlights the role of foreign privileges and financial backing that enabled American and European missions to establish widespread networks across Asia and Africa Mawsuat al-Milal wa al-Ad…+1. Ahmad argues that early Orientalism originated within church and monastic circles before allying closely with colonial administrations, which provided legal protection, funds, and institutional power al-Mustashriqun wa al-Mub….

Publication and Reception

The book was issued in a single volume in Cairo by Maktabat al-Wa'y al-Arabi (also named Dar al-Wa'y al-Arabi) in 1964 CE (1384 AH) al-Gharah al-Tansiriyyah …+1. Following its release, it drew the attention of Egyptian scholar and minister Dr. Muhammad al-Bahi, who sought out the author al-Mustashriqun wa al-Mub…. The text has frequently been cited as an insider testimony in later Islamic polemical and historical literature addressing Orientalism and Christian missions, including Abd al-Rahman Habannakah al-Maydani's Ajnihat al-Makr al-Thalathah Mawsuat al-Milal wa al-Ad…+1.