The Missionary Invasion of the Islamic World

"The Missionary Invasion

Europe began its invasion of the Islamic State in the name of science and it set aside huge budgets for that purpose. In fact the invasion was colonial, disguised as missionary work in the name of science and humanitarian aid. This invasion was designed to enable the departments of political intelligence and the departments of cultural colonisation to settle in Muslim countries until they became the heart and spearhead of the Western colonisation. Colonisation began when the Muslim world opened its gates to it and allowed it in through the guise of the missionary associations, which were mainly French, English and American. As a result of this both French and English influence infiltrated the Muslim world via these missions. They actually became the driving force behind the nationalist movements, encouraging Arab and Turkish nationalism, as well as in control of orientating the educated Muslims. There were two main intended objectives behind this, the first was to separate the Arabs from the Muslim ‘Uthmani State, which they named Turkey in order to stir up Turkish jingoism, so as to destroy the Islamic State; the second was to alienate the Muslims from the real bond of Islam, since they had no knowledge of any other bond. The missionary institutions managed to achieve the first stage of their scheme, but the second remained unfulfilled. It was left to the nationalist orientation of the Turks, Arabs, Persians and others to be the remaining wedge to split the unity of the Muslims and to blind them from their guiding principles. The missionary associations went through several phases and their effect was telling all over the Islamic world. The weakness and decline we suffer today is as a result of these associations. It was the colonialist powers who positioned the first brick of the barrage which they placed in the path of our advancement and which came between us and our ideology - the ideology of Islam.

What prompted the Europeans to establish missionary societies in the Islamic world was borne out of what they have faced of the strength of the Muslims and their patience in jihad, during the crusades. This was due to the steadfastness of the Muslims and their perseverance in jihad. When the crusaders clashed with the Muslims on the battlefield they were relying on two factors according to their own calculations and they held out high hopes on those two factors leading them on to exterminate Islam and the Muslims for good.

The first factor was their reliance on the Christians living in the Muslim world, those living in the Muslim countries especially in al-Sham numbered many. These Christians were very religious people and the Europeans regarded them as brothers in faith. They thought that they would conspire against the Muslims and spy for them under the pretext that they were waging a religious war.

The second factor was that the Europeans were relying on their huge numbers combined with their formidable strength, knowing all the while that the Muslims were divided and at odds with one another as the disintegration of their unity had already begun. The Europeans thought that once they had defeated the Muslims they would subjugate them for good and destroy them, then their deen would merely become a formality. However, their hopes were dashed and their predictions faltered. They were stunned and amazed when they saw the Arab Christians fighting alongside the Muslims on the battlefield unaffected by the propaganda launched by the Europeans. What the Europeans had not understood and had consequently overlooked was that Arab Christians lived alongside the Muslims in the Islamic homeland, enjoying the same rights as the Muslims and fulfilling the same duties towards the State. The Muslims would eat of their food, marry the Christian women and share in the day-to-day matters of life together with the Christians because it was Islam that safeguarded their rights. All the Khulafa’a and governors adhered to that rule and duly implemented it in the Islamic State. Al-Qurafi and Ibn Hazm stated,

"That it would be our duty to protect the people of the dhimma if aggressors attacked our land, and we should die protecting them if necessary. Any neglect of such a duty would be a breach of the rights of the dhimma."

Al-Qurafi also said,

"The Muslims’ duty towards the dhimmi’s would be to be gentle and lenient towards their weak, help their poor, feed their hungry, clothe them and talk to them gently. Muslims should accept and endure the harm of their neighbours even if they were able to repel the harm, this was as a mercy to them and not out of fear of or glorifying to them. They should give good advice in all matters, repel anyone harming them, protect their assets, families and honour and all their rights and interests, and do right by them like any generous and pious Muslim should do."

With this in mind it was only natural for the Christians to fight alongside the Muslims. The Europeans’ surprise was even greater when the second factor which they had relied on failed to materialise. They occupied al-Sham and defeated the Muslims comprehensively, committing the worst atrocities in the process. For example, they were the first to apply mass evacuation on the Muslims and this trend continued throughout their wars with the Muslims. They thought that everything had gone well for them and that the Muslims would never again stand against them. However, the Muslims remained determined to expel them from their land, and despite the fact that the crusaders occupied Muslim land for about two centuries, during which times they established kingdoms and principalities, the Muslims eventually managed to expel them from it.

The Europeans searched for the secret behind these turn of events and found that it lay in Islam, its ‘aqeedah being the source of the formidable power which the Muslims possessed and its rules, which safeguarded the rights of the non-Muslims, being the main reason behind the cohesion between the citizens of the Islamic State. In their time the colonialist disbelievers thought of new ways by which they could invade the Islamic world and deduced that the best way would be by way of a cultural invasion through missionary work, this was in order that they might gain the support of the Christians and initiate doubt among the Muslims vis-ˆ-vis their deen. This, it was hoped, would raise the doubts of the Muslims in their deen and shake their ‘aqeedah, with the aim of creating divisions between them and the other citizens of the Islamic State, thereby weakening the power of the Muslims. The colonialists managed to execute their plan. At the end of the 16th century they established a huge missionary centre in Malta and made it their headquarters from which they conducted their missionary onslaught on the Muslim world. To begin with, missions were sent out from there. After a while they saw the need to expand their activities and so they moved to al-Sham in 1625 and tried to establish missionary movements there as well. However, their activities remained very limited and they did not progress beyond establishing a few small schools and publishing a few religious books. In fact they suffered a great deal of persecution, opposition and hostility from everyone. They managed to last until 1773 when the missionary activities of the Jesuits were abolished and their institutions shut down, except for some insignificant missions like those of the ‘A’zaryyn’ missionaries which, despite their continuing presence, reduced the effect of the missionaries and their missionary work to a non-existent level. Their influence came to be confined to Malta until 1820 when the first missionary centre was established in Beirut and the missionary work began again in earnest. They faced great difficulties at first, but they persisted with their activities. Their first area of concern was religious preaching and religious culture, their education programme remained limited and weak. In 1834 the missionary expeditions spread out all over the region of al-Sham, a college was opened in the village of A’ntoura in Lebanon and the American mission transferred its print shop from Malta to Beirut in order to print and distribute its books. The noted American missionary Ely Smith was very active at this time, he had been working in Malta as a voluntary in charge of the mission press and he had arrived in Beirut in 1827. After one year there, fear and boredom drove him out and he returned to Malta. He next returned to Beirut in 1834 and together with his wife they opened a school for girls. His area of work broadened and he devoted his life to working in al-Sham, Beirut in particular. All these efforts and the efforts of many others helped settle the missionary movement and revive it again. An opportunity presented itself to the missionaries when Ibrahim Pasha adopted the primary education syllabus and implemented it in Syria. The syllabus was inspired by the Egyptian educational system which in turn was taken from the French system. The missionaries took advantage of this opportunity and contributed to the educational movement from the missionary point of view, expanding their printing works in the process. On the back of all this the missionary movement prospered and took part effectively and openly in the educational movement. They succeeded in making the citizens of the Islamic State boil with anger against each other in the name of religious freedom and managed to initiate among the Muslims, Christians and Druze various kinds of religious activities related to the ‘aqeedah.

When Ibrahim Pasha retreated from al-Sham, unrest, fear and anarchy broke out and people became divided among themselves. The foreign delegates, especially the missionaries, seized the opportunity and due to the meagre influence of the ‘Uthmani State in al-Sham, began igniting civil strife. After a period of just one year, in 1841, serious disturbances broke out in the mountains of Lebanon between the Christians and the Druze. The situation deteriorated and under the pressure and influence of the foreign states the ‘Uthmani State was talked into designing a separate ruling system for Lebanon, dividing the province into two parts; one part would be occupied by the Christians, while the Druze would occupy the other. The ‘Uthmani State appointed a governor over both parts, aiming therefore to avoid any clashes between the two sects. This system did not succeed, however, because it was not natural. Britain and France became involved in the dispute and incited civil strife wherever the official authorities attempted to quell the trouble. The British and the French used these clashes as a pretext to interfere in Lebanon’s affairs. The French sided with the Maronites and the British sided with the Druze, this led to the renewal of disturbances in 1845. The scenes were horrifying and the attacks were extended to include Churches and monasteries. Theft, killing and pillage became common practice, this prompted the ‘Uthmani government to send her foreign affairs inspector to Lebanon in order to use his mandatory powers to quell the trouble once and for all. He, however, could not achieve anything significant, although he managed to appease the tension a little. Meanwhile the missionaries intensified their activities and in 1857 the Maronites began calling for a revolution and armed struggle. The Maronite clergy incited the farmers against the feudal lords and they attacked them fiercely in the North of the country, thus the revolution was ignited and it spread to the South. The Christian farmers now rose against the Druze feudal lords and the British and the French backed their respective allies. Civil strife spread rapidly all over Lebanon as a result of this. The Druze began to kill all Christians indiscriminately, whether they were clergy or ordinary people until thousands of Christians were either dead or displaced and homeless, such were the ferocity of the clashes.

The waves of disturbances and violence spread to the rest of al-Sham. In Damascus a fierce campaign of deep hatred was waged between its Muslim and Christian inhabitants which finally led to the Muslims attacking the Christian district in 1860 resulting in them committing a massacre. This was accompanied by pillaging and mass destruction until the State was forced to intervene militarily in order to put an end to the disturbances. Although the State managed to restore calm and order, the Western countries saw it as an opportunity to interfere in al-Sham and so they sent their warships to its shores. In August of the same year France sent a division of her territorial army to Beirut which began the task of quashing the revolution. This was how the ‘Uthmani State was infested by civil strife in Syria and Lebanon. Its true cause was the Western states who were trying to meddle in the internal affairs of the ‘Uthmani State. This they did and they managed to force the ‘Uthmani State to design a special ruling system for Syria, dividing her into two Wilayas and giving Lebanon special privileges. From out of these events Lebanon became separated from the rest of al-Sham and it was granted local autonomy, governed by a local administration headed by a Christian ruler and assisted by an administrative council representing the local residents. Since then, foreign countries have managed the affairs of Lebanon and have made it the centre for their activities. Lebanon therefore became the bridgehead from which the foreign powers infiltrated into the heart of the ‘Uthmani State and Muslim land.Meanwhile, the missionaries adopted a new policy which they did not employ before. The Missionaries did not content themselves with just schools, printing shops and clinics, but went further to establish associations. In 1842 a committee was set up to establish a scientific association under the auspices of the American mission. The committee’s work lasted for five years until it had managed to establish an association called the ‘Association of Arts and Science’. Its members included Nasif al-Yaziji and Butrus al-Bustani, who were Lebanese Christians taken on board because they were Arabs, Ely Smith and Cornilious van Dyke, who were American, and Colonel Churchill, who was English. The objectives of the association were at first vague, it had the tendency to teach science to adults, as well as teaching youngsters at school. The association encouraged adults and youngsters alike to learn the Western culture, orientating them according to the missionary plan. However, despite the huge efforts put in by the association it only managed to recruit fifty active members in the whole of al-Sham in two years. They were all Christians, mainly from Beirut, no Muslim or Druze whatsoever, joined the association. Colossal efforts were made to expand and activate the work of the association but to no avail. The association collapsed after five years from its initial establishment without reaping any significant results except for the desire of the missionaries to establish more associations. Therefore, another association was founded in 1850 and it was named the ‘Oriental Association’. It was founded by the Jesuits under the guardianship of the French Jesuit Father Henri Debrenier and all its members were Christians. It followed in the footsteps of the ‘Association of Arts and Science’ lasting only a short time before collapsing as its predecessor had done. Afterwards, several associations sprang up all over the place, but all were doomed to failure and they collapsed as before. A new association was founded in 1857 which adopted a slightly different method, no foreigners whatsoever were allowed to join and its founders were all Arabs. Somehow it managed to succeed and some Muslims and Druze actually joined, the association accepted them because they were Arabs. Its name was the ‘Syrian Scientific Association’. It became successful thanks to its activities and its Arabic affiliation and as well because of the absence of foreigners among its membership. Its members managed to affect other people to join and they gathered support for the association until 150 members had enrolled in it. Among its administrative staff were some noted Arab personalities such as Mohammed Arsalan from the Druze and Hussein Bayham from the Muslims. Personalities from all Arab Christian sects joined, the most noted of them being the son of Ibrahim al-Yaziji and the son of Butrus al-Bustani. This association had in fact outlasted all the others. Its programme was designed to accommodate all sects and be the spark for Arab nationalism. However, its hidden objective was in fact colonial and missionary dressed in the name of science. It manifested itself in the spreading of Western culture and education.

In 1875 the ‘Secret Association’ was formed in Beirut, it was actually based on a political concept. It began encouraging the concept of Arab nationalism. Its founders were five young men from amongst those who had been educated in the Protestant college in Beirut, they were all Christians whom the missionary parties had managed to affect. Following this group’s formation of the association, a small number of members were recruited by them. The association seemed to be calling, through its declarations and leaflets, for Arab nationalism and political independence for the Arabs, especially those in Syria and Lebanon. However, its actual work and its real programme was concerned with a different objective entirely, its aim was to cast strange desires and false hopes into the hearts of the people. It called for nationalism, Arabs and Arabism and encouraged animosity towards the ‘Uthmani State, calling it the Turkish state. It worked towards separating religion from the State and towards making Arab nationalism as the basis of life. Despite the fact that the association always championed Arabism those in charge referred repeatedly in their literature to Turkey accusing her of snatching the Islamic Khilafah from the Arabs, of violating the Islamic Shari’ah and of abusing the deen. This neatly demonstrates the true nature of the association and the real objective for which it had been founded, i.e. to cause unrest against the Islamic State, to create suspicion and scepticism about the deen and to establish political movements based on non-Islamic principles. What is in fact a certainty concerning these movements is that they had been initiated by the Western powers. It was they who established them, monitored their progress and managed them. They also wrote reports about their activities. For instance, the British consul in Beirut sent a telegram to his government on 28th July 1880 saying, "Revolutionary leaflets came into circulation, Midhat is suspected to be the source, despite this, the situation remains calm. Details in the post." This telegram was dispatched in the wake of a leaflet distributed on the streets of Beirut and posted on the walls there. The telegram was soon followed by several letters sent by the British consuls in Beirut and Damascus. The letters were accompanied by copies of the leaflets which the association had distributed and should therefore rightly be regarded as reports on the movement set up in the Protestant college which began its activities in al-Sham. The association’s activities were more evident in al-Sham, although they took place in other predominantly Arab areas as demonstrated by what the British commissioner in Jeddah wrote to his government in 1882; in a report about the Arab movement he stated, "However, news has reached me that even in Makkah itself some intellectuals have begun talking about freedom, it seems to me from what I have heard that a plan has been designed aiming at uniting Najd with the land between the two rivers, i.e. the South of Iraq, and appointing Mansur Pasha as ruler, as well as uniting ‘Asir and Yemen by appointing ‘Ali ibn ‘Aabid to rule over them."

Britain was not the only interested party, France too displayed a great deal of interest. In 1882, one of the French officials in Beirut voiced the French concern by saying,

"The spirit of independence is well spread and I noticed during my stay in Beirut the dedication of Muslim youths in establishing schools and clinics and in reviving the country. What is worth mentioning here is that this movement is free of any sectarian influence, this association welcomes the membership of the Christians and relies on them to participate in the nationalist activities."

A French national wrote from Baghdad,

"Everywhere I went I was faced with the common feeling, on the same scale, of hatred for the Turks; as for the concept of initiating a collective action to get rid of this much hated situation, this is very much under way. In the horizons a wind of Arab movement is gathering strength and is about to be born. This people who have been oppressed for a long time are about to proclaim their natural status within the Muslim world and direct the destiny of this world."

Missionary work in the name of religion and science was not merely confined to the focus of the attention of the US., France and Britain, but extended to most of the non-Islamic states, including Czarist Russia who sent missionary expeditions and Prussia (Germany) who sent a group of ‘sisters’ (the nuns of Carodt) to participate with other missions. Inspite of the difference of opinion among the various missions and Western delegates regarding their political programmes, which took into consideration their international interests, their objective was the same; the preaching of Christianity and the spreading of Western culture in the East coupled with the arousal of the suspicions of the Muslims towards their deen, pushing them to resent it and to regard their history with contempt whilst leading them to praise the West and its way of life. The missionaries carried out their preaching according to their great hatred of Islam and the Muslims. They disdained the Islamic culture and its way of life and they regarded the Muslims as backward barbarians, which remains the ill-considered opinion of nearly every European. The results that they achieved are reflected today in the concentration of disbelief and colonialism in our lands."