Page 236 - Mastermind: The Truth of the British Deep State Revealed

Darwin's theory was first mentioned in the Arab world in a series of three

articles published in the monthly Arabic magazine al-Muqtataf. This maga-
zine was founded by Yaqub Sarruf and Faris Nimr in Beirut in 1876. All three

pieces were penned by Rizq-Allah al-Berbari and ascribed human origins to
so-called evolutionary mechanisms. He referred to Lamarck and praised Dar-

win. Vol. 2 had three more articles written by Bishara Zalzal Efendi on an-
thropology.

Bishara Zalzal published a 368-page book in Alexandria, Egypt in 1879.
This book, which was dedicated in both prose and poetry to Sultan Abdul

Hamid II, was entitled Tanwir al-adhhan (The Enlightenment of Minds). In
the book, Lord Cromer was praised as "a typical example of the Anglo-Sax-

on people". Obviously, Zalzal was an evolutionist that had a deep admiration
for Abdul Hamid II, British Lord Cromer and the whole Anglo-Saxon peo-

ple in general. 120

These supposedly 'scientific' magazines quickly proliferated in Egypt,
Lebanon and Syria between 1865 and 1929. The most popular three of the

evolutionist magazines were as follows:

Al-Muqtataf (Anthology, Harvest, or Selection) (1876-1952)

Al-Hilal (The Crescent) (1892-1930)

Al-Mashriq (The East) (1898-1930)

The so-called enlightenment movement in the Arabic world called 'al-
Nahda' originated in Egypt and possessed largely evolutionist views. Unsur-

prisingly, its founder, Rifa'a al-Tahtawi, was an evolutionist who deeply ad-
mired Britain. Jamal al-Din al-Afghani and Muhammad Abduh were among

the leading figures of this movement.

Jamal al-Din al-Afghani was a social Darwinist. He claimed that the Is-
lamic world could progress only if Islamic nations fought each other. Many

violent radical organizations were built on this premise and the vicious cycle
of violence that continues even today in the Islamic world was based on his

Darwinist ideas.

Mastermind: The Truth of the British Deep State Revealed