RAḤMAT ALLĀH AL-HINDI AL-KAYRĀNAWĪ AND HIS BOOK DEMONSTRATION OF THE TRUTH: ISLAMIC CRITICISM OF THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENTS: ISLAMIC CRITICISM OF THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENTS

Abstract

Christian missionary campaign thrived in the nineteenth century in many parts of India. The missionaries confronted Indian Muslims on many fronts and challenged their faith. This campaign was accelerated following the fall and dissolution of the Islamic State of Mughal by the British colonial power in the nineteenth century. Many Muslim scholars responded to the Christian missionary campaigns, but the most prominent of all is Shaykh Raḥmat Allāh al-Kayrānawī. He engaged in public debate with leading Christian evangelicals and authored several books in response to their allegations. His book, Iẓhār al-Ḥaqq (Truth Revealed), which he primarily wrote in response to Karl Gottlieb Pfander’s Mīzān al-Ḥaqq (The Balance of Truth) and as a report of the debate between him and Pfander, is one the best books written on Islamic apologetics. This paper examines analytically al-Kayrānawī’s methodology and style of debate with Christian apologetics as exemplified in his book Iẓhār al-Ḥaqq. The paper reviewed the book’s major arguments and identifies the novelty of its methodology and style of presentation. The paper found that al-Kayrānawī’s awareness and adoption on many occasions of the methods and conclusions of Biblical criticism helped him achieve his goal behind the publication of his book Iẓhār al-Ḥaqq.

Keywords: Raḥmat Allāh al-Kayrānawī, India, public debate, Pfander, Missionary.