al-Tahdhir min Wasail al-Tansir
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- al-Tahdhir min Wasail al-Tansir
al-Tahdhir min Wasa'il al-Tansir (Warning Against the Means of Christian Proselytization) is an official Islamic treatise and statement issued by the Permanent Committee for Scholarly Research and Ifta in Saudi Arabia, warning against the strategies and channels of Christian missionary activity targeting Muslim societies .
Background and Context
The treatise was issued as Statement No. 20096, dated 22 Dhu al-Hijjah 1418 AH (19 April 1998 CE) . Its publication was prompted by numerous inquiries and reports submitted to the Permanent Committee regarding promotional mailings dispatched by the "Institute of the People of the Book in South Africa" to post office boxes of individuals, institutions, and associations across the Arabian Peninsula . These mailings offered free correspondence courses and complimentary subscription cards for copies of the Torah, Psalms (Zabur), and the Gospel (Injil), featuring excerpts from these texts on the reverse . The statement was also appended to the second edition of Bakr Abu Zayd's work al-Ibtal li-Nazariyyat al-Khalt bayna Din al-Islam wa-Ghayrih min al-Adyan (Refutation of the Theory of Blending Islam with Other Religions) .
Contents and Themes
Methods of Proselytization
The text surveys the principal direct and indirect avenues utilized in missionary campaigns:
- Direct missionary missions and publications: Organizing regional and global conferences, dispatching delegations to Muslim countries, and distributing printed books, leaflets, Gospel translations, and literature aimed at raising doubts about Islam .
- Medical care and healthcare: Providing medical treatment in vulnerable environments affected by disease and shortages of Muslim physicians, using healthcare provision as an indirect avenue of influence .
- Education: Establishing explicitly Christian schools and universities or operating institutions with an ostensibly neutral academic facade, thereby attracting Muslim youth seeking foreign languages or specialized subjects .
- Mass media: Utilizing directed radio stations, satellite television channels, and print media to promote Christianity, raise theological doubts regarding Islamic beliefs and rituals, and circulate content that erodes moral restraint .
Duties and Countermeasures
The Committee outlines eight collective and individual measures required to counter these efforts:
- Grounding Islamic creed (ta'sil al-'aqidah) in educational curricula and upbringing, with emphasis on youth in formal and private schooling .
- Spreading correct religious awareness and fostering religious vigilance across society .
- Preventing the entry of missionary publications, films, and magazines through border points and enforcing deterring penalties against violations .
- Educating the public about missionary methods and dangers .
- Developing vital sectors within the Muslim world, especially healthcare and education, to eliminate dependence on foreign missionary institutions .
- Maintaining personal adherence to Islamic creed and practice, ensuring households are fortified against external influences .
- Avoiding unnecessary travel to non-Muslim countries except for pressing needs, such as unavailable medical treatment or essential education, while maintaining readiness to refute theological doubts .
- Revitalizing mutual social solidarity (al-takaful al-ijtima'i) and charitable assistance from affluent Muslims to fulfill the needs of the poor and prevent economic exploitation .
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