Islamic Reformism and Christianity ─ A Critical Reading of the Works of Muhammad Rashid Rida and His Associates (1898-1935)

As is pointed out in the introduction to this work, there are few studies of the reactions to missionaries by those proselytized. This is only one of the previously unexplored themes that Ryad (religious studies, Leiden University) addresses in his impressive examination of the attitudes toward both Christianity and reform within Islam made by Muhammad Rashid Rida (1865-1935) a Syrian religious scholar who spent most of his working life in Egypt. Rida published a religious/political journal al-Manar (The Lighthouse) in which he discussed the need for a return to the tenets of early Islam, the tension between the Ottoman Empire and its Arab and Syrian territories, the negative attitudes of Christian missionaries and the inaccuracies of Jewish and Christian beliefs as reflected in their holy books. The last two topics are the main focus of this book. The section on missionaries, particularly British, shows Rida's opposition to colonialism as much as to Christianity. The next two sections are devoted to discussions of dogma and the search for the true source of accurate doctrine. Rida both examines the Bible as a source of errors that are corrected in the Qu'ran and refutes Christian misinterpretations of Islam. This includes supporting Tolstoy's revision of the Gospels and insisting that the apocryphal Gospel of Barnabas is the only accurate account of the life and death of Jesus. The book concludes with summaries of some of Rida's fatwa concerning interaction with Christians and a look at the influence his writings have on Islamic scholars today. Annotation c2010 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Umar Ryad, Ph.D. in Islamic Studies (2008), University of Leiden, has studied at Al-Azhar and Leiden University. He is assistant-professor at the Leiden Institute of Religious Studies. His research includes the modern history of Muslim-Christian relations, developments of Muslim reformist thought and transnational Muslim movements in inter-war Europe.