Manhaj Dirasat al-Adyan bayn al-Shaykh Rahmat Allah al-Hindi wa al-Qiss Fandar

Manhaj Dirasat al-Adyan bayn al-Shaykh Rahmat Allah al-Hindi wa al-Qiss Fandar (Methodology of the Study of Religions Between Sheikh Rahmat Allah al-Hindi and Pastor Pfander) is an academic treatise in comparative religion and Islamic philosophy by the Egyptian researcher Sharif Mus'ad Fayyad 'Abd al-Fattah Manhaj Dirasat al-Adyan b…+1. It examines and compares the critical, dialectical, and textual methodologies employed in interfaith polemics and scripture criticism by the Indian Muslim scholar Rahmat Allah al-Hindi (d. 1891 CE) and the German Protestant missionary pastor Carl Gottlieb Pfander (d. 1865 CE) Manhaj Dirasat al-Adyan b…+1.

Background and Purpose

The study originated as a master's thesis submitted in 1437 AH / 2016 CE to the Department of Islamic Philosophy at the Faculty of Dar al-Ulum, Cairo University, under the supervision of Mustafa Hilmi Manhaj Dirasat al-Adyan b…. Fayyad aimed to fill a gap in modern comparative religious scholarship by moving beyond mere historical narration or one-sided theological expositions of the famous 1854 debate in Agra Manhaj Dirasat al-Adyan b…+1. Instead, the author conducted a comparative analysis of the argumentative and procedural mechanisms utilized by both al-Hindi and Pfander in their published writings and public disputations, evaluating how their methods relate to logic, scripture criticism, and debate conventions Manhaj Dirasat al-Adyan b…+1.

Structure and Scope

The work is organized into an introduction, four main chapters, and a conclusion containing findings and recommendations Manhaj Dirasat al-Adyan b…+1:

• Introduction: Outlines the subject's significance, research objectives, hypotheses, literature review, and the comparative analytical method Manhaj Dirasat al-Adyan b…+1.
• Chapter One: Profiles the religious and political conditions of nineteenth-century India under British colonial rule, the history of Christian missionary societies and debates in the subcontinent, biographical accounts of al-Hindi and Pfander, Western assessments of Pfander, and al-Hindi's contemporaries, predecessors, and successors Manhaj Dirasat al-Adyan b…+1.
• Chapter Two: Examines Pfander's methodology in studying religions and his apologetic works, offering a chapter-by-chapter analysis of Mizan al-Haqq (The Balance of Truth), alongside his other writings such as Miftah al-Asrar (The Key of Mysteries), Tariq al-Hayat (The Way of Life), and Mulahazat Muhammadiyyah (Muhammadan Remarks), addressing themes such as the Trinity, the Crucifixion, and Redemption Manhaj Dirasat al-Adyan b….
• Chapter Three: Investigates al-Hindi's methodology in studying religions, surveying his debate strategies, his theological foundations, and his key works—including Izalat al-Awham (The Removal of Delusions), Izalat al-Shukuk (The Dispelling of Doubts), and his principal work Izhar al-Haqq (The Truth Revealed)—and analyzing his approach to biblical textual criticism and Protestant commentaries Manhaj Dirasat al-Adyan b…+2.
• Chapter Four: Presents a comparative evaluation of the two approaches across five core disputed issues: textual corruption (tahrif), abrogation (naskh), the Trinity (tathlith), the authenticity of the Quran, and the prophecy of Muhammad ﷺ, followed by an assessment of the logical and procedural rules governing interfaith polemics Manhaj Dirasat al-Adyan b…+2.

Methodological Findings

The book concludes that al-Hindi combined and developed the critical methods of earlier Muslim polemicists, notably Ibn Hazm and Ibn Taymiyyah, uniting internal textual critique of the Bible with external historical evaluation of manuscript transmission and chains of authority Manhaj Dirasat al-Adyan b…+1. Al-Hindi, assisted in the debates by Muhammad Wazir Khan, directly cited Western biblical scholarship and Protestant commentaries to establish contradictions and variations within biblical texts Manhaj Dirasat al-Adyan b…+1. Fayyad notes that al-Hindi strictly adhered to defined logical premises and binding argumentation (al-manhaj al-ilzami), whereas Pfander struggled to maintain logical consistency during the Agra debates, leading to his procedural retreat Manhaj Dirasat al-Adyan b…+2. The author suggests modern guidelines for interfaith debates and highlights al-Hindi's enduring influence on later Muslim polemicists, including Ahmed Deedat Manhaj Dirasat al-Adyan b…+1.