al-Tansir abr al-Khadamat al-Tafauliyya li-Shabakat al-Malumat al-Alamiyya
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- al-Tansir abr al-Khadamat al-Tafauliyya li-Shabakat al-Malumat al-Alamiyya
al-Tansir abr al-Khadamat al-Tafauliyya li-Shabakat al-Malumat al-Alamiyya: Dirasa Aqadiyya (Christian Proselytization via Interactive Services on the World Wide Web: A Creedal Study) is an academic study by Muhammad ibn Musa al-Majmami investigating Christian missionary activities on interactive internet platforms, the doubts they raise concerning Islam, and Muslim counter-responses.
Background and Methodology
The work was originally prepared as a Master's thesis in Islamic creed within the Department of Islamic Culture at the College of Education at King Saud University, under the supervision of Abd Allah ibn Umar al-Abd al-Karim during the academic year 1432–1433 AH (2011–2012 CE).
The author formulated the study in response to the growing prominence of Web 2.0 interactive technologies and their utilization in Christian missionary campaigns targeting Muslims. The study employs a content analysis method (manhaj tahlil al-madmun), surveying Arabic-language missionary content across interactive web services, classifying their operational methods, analyzing the primary polemical objections they direct at Islam, and evaluating Muslim responses.
Structure and Contents
The book is organized into an introduction (tamhid), three main chapters, and a conclusion:
- Preliminary Section: Defines the concepts of proselytization (tansir) and the internet, and documents missionary interest in using the World Wide Web.
- Chapter One (Methods of Proselytization via Interactive Services): Examines missionary strategies across five specific interactive mediums: discussion forums, mailing groups, chat applications (such as Paltalk), social networking platforms (such as Facebook and Twitter), and video-sharing sites (such as YouTube). It outlines how these platforms are used to present Christian theology, invite conversions, and attack Islamic beliefs.
- Chapter Two (Prominent Missionary Objections and Their Refutations): Analyzes the primary doubts spread by missionaries on these interactive channels across four core domains—the Quran, the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, the Sunnah, and Islamic legislation—addressing three prominent allegations in each domain. The author couples foundational theological clarification (ta'sil) with direct refutation (daf'), drawing upon rational arguments as well as scriptural citations accepted within Christian doctrine.
- Chapter Three (The Reality of Confronting Proselytization via Interactive Services): Surveys Muslim counter-efforts and apologetics across each of the five aforementioned interactive mediums, assessing their effectiveness, strengths, and deficiencies.
Findings and Recommendations
The work concludes that Christian missionary efforts on interactive platforms follow coordinated strategies backed by institutional support, relying on emotional appeals, selective media editing, identity concealment, and the dissemination of polemical doubts prior to direct conversion attempts. It presents several recommendations, including urging specialized Islamic scholars to participate in interactive online spaces, training callers (du'at) in modern media engagement, encouraging academic research on digital proselytization, and developing free multilingual software and encyclopedias to refute polemics against Islam.
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