Forthcoming Talk

“'Appropri­ate objects of christian benevolenc­e?' Protestant­ Missionari­es, the Nusayris and the Ottomans”

Where: World Congress for Middle Eastern Studies, Barcelona/Spain
Panel: Late Ottoman/Post-Ottoman Heterodox Communities (299)
Panel Dates: 19th July 2010 - 24th April 2010
Time of Panel: 22nd July 2010, 9am - 11am
Link: http://wocmes.iemed.org/en/preorg-lateottoman

This paper elaborates on the intricate connections between Protestant Missionaries, the Nusayris and the Ottoman state in the 19th century.
Knowledge of the Nusayris and similar groups began with Western travellers and orientalists, including American Protestant missionaries, from the early 19th century. These people studied heterodox groups for learned purposes but also to find ways how to exploit them against the Ottomans politically and to bring them into the fold of Christianity. The fear of infiltration of the Muslim subjects, whether mainstream or deviant, by foreigners, pressed the Ottoman government to endorse a more orthodox form of the official Hanefi-Sunni school. We will look into the Ottoman attitude toward the Nusayris and examine topics such as assimilation, resistance, integration and conversion. How did Protestant missionaries integrate the Nusayris into their millenarian belief in a new social order? And how did the Nusayris respond to the civilizing efforts of the Christian Missionaries and the Ottoman state?