Radd al-Tu'un al-Warida fi al-Mawsua al-Ibriyya an al-Islam wa Rasulihi
- Author died
- -
- Editions
- Majmaʻ al-Malik Fahd li-Ṭibāʻat al-Muṣḥaf al-Sharīf
Radd al-Tu'un al-Warida fi al-Mawsu'a al-Ibriyya 'an al-Islam wa-Rasulihi (Refutation of the Allegations Made in the Hebrew Encyclopedia Against Islam and Its Messenger) is a contemporary apologetic work by Musa al-Basit, dedicated to critiquing and refuting the portrayal of Islam, the Quran, and the Prophet Muhammad in the Hebrew Encyclopedia .
Background and Scope
The book originated from the author's examination of the entry on "Islam" in the fourth volume of the Hebrew Encyclopedia, where he identified numerous historical and doctrinal misrepresentations . In preparing his critique, al-Basit drew directly upon volumes 4, 22, and 26 of the encyclopedia, as well as a specialized study memorandum containing compiled excerpts of distorted depictions of Islam, which was taught for critical review at the Faculty of Sharia in Baqa al-Gharbiyya and the College of Da'wa and Islamic Sciences in Umm al-Fahm .
The author notes that the encyclopedia's treatment of Islam—authored by scholars such as J. Lassner and Samuel M. Stern—relies heavily on mainstream Orientalist literature, including works by S. D. Goitein, J. J. Rivlin, Hava Lazarus-Yafeh, and Ignaz Goldziher .
Structure and Main Themes
The work opens with an overview of Orientalism, tracing its ideological roots and examining the methodology Western researchers apply to Islamic studies . It then proceeds to systematically address and refute key claims raised by the encyclopedia's contributors, including:
- The Origin of Islam and Monotheism: Refuting the claim that Islam emerged merely as an offshoot of Judaism or that the Prophet Muhammad formulated his message solely through interactions with Jewish, Christian, and pagan contemporaries .
- Revelation and the Quran: Countering arguments—such as those advanced by Carl Brockelmann and Richard Bell—that view the Quran as the human literary output of Muhammad or attribute its narratives to borrowings from biblical lore and the monk Bahira .
- Prophethood and Infallibility: Rebutting allegations that reduce divine prophecy to psychological states or suggest that prophets were motivated by competition for social status, affirming the Islamic consensus on the infallibility ('ismah) of the messengers in receiving and delivering revelation .
Methodology
Al-Basit emphasizes a detached, academic refutation free from polemical emotionalism . He integrates textual evidence from the Quran and Sunnah alongside classical commentaries and legal works, as well as modern scholarship—such as the critical writings of Muhammad 'Abd Allah Draz—to demonstrate inconsistencies in Orientalist assumptions regarding divine revelation and early Islamic history .
Answer updated