Dialogue or confrontation. The Egyptian religiouselite and the French occupation authorities(1798–1801)

Summary

Abstract

The Muslim religious elite of the Ottoman Egypt wasconsidered the main social power so as to be used asthe backbone of the French occupation regime.Ulama played theleading role in the local traditional governmentinstitutions – diwans,preserved by the French, thereby sharing with theconquerors the responsibility for what was going onin the country. Alongside with that they became asole mouthpiece for the Egyptian people at thattime. Interconnecting Egyptians and the Frenchauthorities, the Islamic religious leaders madeefforts to protect and promote the interests oftheir compatriots. The aim of this paper is toexamine various reasons behind the decision of theulama to collaboratewith the French occupation authorities and analyzethe level of effectiveness of their activities asintermediaries between foreign power holders andEgyptians.

Keywords: Bonaparte, Ottoman Egypt, Islam, Ulama

From the very beginning of the military campaign inEgypt the French launched a propaganda campaign infavor of Islam aimed at winning over the localMuslims who regarded the invaders as impiousstrangers. Indeed, the Muslim East entered the warwith “an unusual enemy.” France was the state whichopenly declared its separation from Christianity andcarried out mass repressions against the clergy onthe European continent. At the same time, the Frenchmilitary command tried to use its militantanti-Christian ardor to establish good relationswith the local Muslim population. The declaration,printed by the French in the mid of July 1798, soonafter they took over Alexandria, included thefollowing exhortation of Bonaparte: “Shaykhs,qadis, imams […] and notables ofthe land! Tell your nation that the French […] aresincere Muslims: the proof of it is that they havedescended upon the great Rome and destroyed thePapal See which used to urge the Christians to fightIslam” (Al-Jabarti, 1994, vol. 3, p. 5; see also:Napoléon I, № 2723). So, the native religiousdignitaries were to be considered an important partof the local society in the first Frenchproclamation addressed to Egyptians.

One of the main goals of Bonaparte's policy on theconquered lands was to find some local social powerwhich could be used as the backbone of the Frenchoccupation regime.