Read This: The Orphan Scandal

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In 1933, 15-year-old Turkiyya Hasan was beaten at the Swedish Salam Mission in Port Said, Egypt. Hasan claimed she was beaten because of her refusal to accept Christianity. The missionaries claimed that she was willfully misbehaving and provoking disturbances at the missionary.

Turkiyya’s story is significant for many reasons. Her story brought to light the increasing number of orphans who had been “saved” by missionaries. She helped bring to light Egypt’s neglect of orphans. Her story revealed tensions between the Christian missionaries and the Muslim population of Egypt. It also showed the rise in Islamism as a reaction to colonialism and democratization in the Middle East. 

Hasan’s story is highlighted in Beth Baron’s book The Orphan Scandal: Christian Missionaries and the Rise of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Book cover: Read This: The Orphan Scandal

The author’s main purpose is to show the rise of Islamism in the Middle East as a reaction to colonialism and democratization through examples of Christian proselytization.

It is important to clarify some of the things mentioned. First, Islam and Islamism are different. Islam is a religion that is one of the three Abrahamic religions. Islamism is the political ideology of Islam.  Second, the term proselytization means to persuade someone to change their religious beliefs or other religious belief systems.  

The book takes place in the early 1930s in Egypt. At the time, Egypt had poor social services. This allowed for Christian missionaries to move into schools, hospitals, and orphanages. Muslims who turned to these services were met with Christian Missionaries. “Where others saw a stigma, missionaries saw the possibility of ‘winning souls for Christ’: the child was a blank state who could be saved” (Baron, p. 37).

One example that the book shows is of the Fowler Orphanage in Cairo, which was run by the United Presbyterian Church of North America. The orphanage housed girls who were often forced to stay there until they turned 18. The missionaries wanted the girls to stay there as long as possible so the girls could be completely converted. “Those accepted entry into the Fowler Orphanage were subject to a contract outlining the terms, which stipulated a fine for the family if the girl was removed early” (Baron, p. 51).

The example of proselytization that was most prominent was the story of 15-year-old Turkiyya Hasan. Turkiyya joined the Swedish Salam Mission when she was nine or ten years old. She quickly realized that staying at this mission would mean having to accept Jesus, which was against her beliefs. Her resolve to keep her beliefs led to threats and beatings from the missionaries. 

Maria Ericsson, who founded the Swedish mission, was even recorded saying, “Islam is not an invention of man; it is an invention of Satan himself against the Son of God and against human souls” (Baron, p. 85). This situation ended up turning into a scandal, and Hasan became a spokesperson for the anti-missionary movement. She ended up working with members of the Muslim Brotherhood (Baron, p. 20). Her story revealed details about what happens inside those missions.
The backlash from Turkiyya’s story, as well as clashing between Christian Missionaries and the Muslim population, brought about the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. 

The Muslim Brotherhood was founded in 1928 by Hassan al-Banna. At the time, the main goal of the Muslim Brotherhood was to save Muslim children from these missions. Eventually, the Muslim Brotherhood would use the Christian Missionaries tactics against them. “To woo girls attracted to Christianity back to Islam, and prevent others in Isma’iliyya from straying, the Muslim Brotherhood rented quarters and started its own school for girls in September 1932, calling it the Madrasat Ummahat al-Mu’minin (School for Mothers of the Believers)” (Baron, p. 124). Creating religious schools is a part of Islamism and was done to combat the colonization and westernization of these Christian Missionaries.

Analysis

There are many themes to this book. However, the most prominent focuses on the intersection of human rights and religious freedom. 

One of the main themes seems to be that the imposition of a universal standard of human rights is also viewed by some, as an imposition of western values and ideals.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a document that was created by the West and benefits Western cultures. Some believe that the West has forced moral superiority over the world. In the book, this is shown between the missionaries and the orphans. Christian missionaries believed they knew better than the Muslim population of Egypt. They imposed their Christian and Western values upon the young people of Egypt. This includes forced conversion to Christianity. Children in the orphanages would be beaten until they accepted Jesus. That is not belief; that’s imitation. Western influence put pressure on the Middle East to conform to Western values and beliefs. 

To be clear, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is not a bad thing. It should, however, be used as a guide for which all human rights are derived from. It is impossible to create a list of human rights that encapsulates everything while also accounting for every single culture in the world. So, The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a guide.

An example of this would be indigenous rights. Indigenous rights are not explicitly stated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, but the rights of indigenous people are assumed under the UDHR. Their right to preserve their culture and heritage are protected under the UDHR.

In this book, an example of this would be the right to religious expression. This right is derived from the freedom of religion (UDHR, Article 18). The freedom of expression such as wearing a cross, a hijab, or a turban are examples of expression that are protected under this right. Many of the girls in orphanages were forced to wear crosses or pray to crosses. Muslims do not see Jesus as a religious figure, so this is sacrilegious for them.

Mosque, seen through a window

Relevance to today

The incident of Turkiyya Hasan happened almost a century ago. So, why did Beth Baron write this book in 2014? Why does this incident matter now? There are several reasons why this incident is relevant.

First, it explores the roots of modern Islamist movements. Turkiyya Hasan and her refusal to comply with missionaries inspired a lot of Muslims to do something about Christian missionaries. The book showed how this scandal helped the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood. The Muslim Brotherhood is currently a movement with at least two state allies which include Iran and Qatar. It is also designated a terrorist group in six countries. It also was an inspiration for many Islamist movements across the world. The Muslim Brotherhood’s emphasis on providing social welfare and community services have been replicated by other Islamist movements in the Middle East. Also, the organization and structure of the Muslim Brotherhood have been adopted by various Islamist groups. The Muslim Brotherhood is a transnational organization, but members of the Muslim Brotherhood have created their own political parties in several countries. This includes Hamas in the West Bank and the Islamic Action Movement in Jordan. The Muslim Brotherhood is prominent in the rise of many Islamist movements throughout the world. Finding the root of Islamist movements can help in finding a solution to end conflicts. That is why studying the roots of the creation of Islamist movements is important.

Second, it also explores the ongoing dynamics between Western influence and Islamic societies. Western societies and Islamic societies have faced a lot of tension in recent years. Western influence has shaped their political and social structures in many Middle Eastern countries. Cultural exchanges have been significant between the West and the Middle East. However, this has led to tensions. Western values are often considered to conflict with Islamic traditions. This book exemplifies this by showing how schools and orphanages provided Christian services to try to convert the young people to Christianity. Nowadays, the adoption of Western lifestyles by the young people of the Middle East and the impact of Western education are causes of ongoing tensions between Western influence and Muslim societies. Many young people have stopped wearing traditional Islamic clothing, such as the hijab, where it is safe to do so. Many governments in the Middle East are trying to balance modernization and preserving culture. This becomes harder when there are outside influences.

Understanding the dynamics between Western influence and Islamic societies is not simple. This book helps to show where some of the tensions began.

Critique

This book is very good in many ways. First, as mentioned before, it helps give historical context to conflicts and tensions that are happening in the Middle East. Historical context is very important to understand. The book gives readers root causes of these current conflicts.
 
View from space of Egypt and surrounding areas

It can also help politicians and lawmakers to make informed decisions on current affairs. We need to learn history or else we are doomed to repeat it. This book also does a good job at promoting cultural awareness and sensitivity; it makes sure to emphasize that no one culture or religion is more important or more moral than any other.
 
Second, the book does a good job at contextualizing the scandal within the broader socio-political landscape. The missionaries saw an opportunity in Egypt’s lack of social welfare. That is how incidents such as Turkiyaa’s happened in the first place. A lot of people were in desperate need for social welfare services that they had no choice but to turn to Christian missionaries. Also, many Christian missionaries saw it as an opportunity to “save” many people. This is a form of colonialism. Christian missionaries forcibly converted many young people during this time. They were imposing their Western values as Christians. The book gave the reader enough information to accurately depict what the socio-political landscape was like in Egypt.

There are a few things where the book fell short. First, it seemed to overemphasize the importance of Turkiyaa Hasan’s incident toward historical change. Turkiyya’s incident did become a popular story amongst Egyptian locals at the time. However, to credit the incident as the main reason for the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood seems like a stretch. There were plenty of incidents in orphanages, schools, and hospitals at the time, where people rebelled just like Turkiyaa did. The Muslim Brotherhood was founded in 1928, five years before Turkiyya’s incident, and had started to rise before that. The book was not convincing enough to say that Turkiyya’s incident was the sole reason for the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood. It seemed that the Westernization from Christian Missionaries towards Muslims was the general reason for the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Second, the author seemed more sympathetic to the Islamist narrative. I understand having sympathy towards the many Muslims that were forced to convert to Christianity. I did feel, however, that she was too sympathetic to the Islamist narrative. The book is focused on the perspective of the Muslim Brotherhood. I think Baron missed the complexities and motivations of the Christian missionaries. Those complexities and motivations in no way make what they did acceptable. However, those complexities and motivations are history that needs to be understood. The Christian missionaries needed to be understood, so things like this won’t happen again. The book should have put in the perspective of Christian missionaries more. I think it would put a better perspective of what and how people thought at the time.

Conclusion/ Recommendation

If you are someone that is interested in history, especially the history of the Middle East, this book is for you. The book does an excellent job at providing historical context on Islamic movements as well as social services in the Middle East. If you are interested in learning more about Islam, this is also a book for you. The book teaches a lot about the religion, Islam, itself as well as the political ideology, Islamism. Turkiyaa Hasan’s story was used as a great example of how Christian Missionaries forced conversion, as well as how Egypt’s lack of social services made people desperate.
 

 

 

Please click the photo below for a collection of my Human Rights and Religious Freedom columns:

 Human rights and religious freedom: A Compendium

 

Rebecca Clark is the Human Rights and Religious Freedom Editor at Wandering Educators. She is currently studying a master’s degree in Human Rights and Diplomacy at the University of Stirling. This degree is taught in partnership with the United Nation Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR). During this program, she is learning how to use diplomacy to help ensure religious freedom around the world. Her career goal is to ensure that everyone is free to practice their religions and beliefs without persecution.