Argumentations on Muslims-Christians theological problematics in Ahmed Midhat Efendi

After the Tanzimat, Ottoman cultural landscape experienced many theological polemics between Muslims and Christians. Missioners, taking advantage of the politics of toleration in the Ottoman Empire by the declaration of Islahat, began to produce Islamophobic publishing and also publicly distributed translations of the Holy Bible. Ahmed Midhat Efendi, who was worried and disturbed by these tensions against Islam, enthusiastically wrote refutational books against Christian campaigns in depth. Extensive varieties of theological problematics are embraced or encircled in Ahmed Midhat's refutational books. His debates covered many different scales of problems, ranging from Christians essential and historical-rooted problems to different social challenges, while he was complaining about Muslims ignorance about Christianity and missionary activities. Therefore, Ahmed Mithad manifested his motivations against missionaries through publications in order to cope with the aforementioned ignorance and lack of reaction. In his productions, he stated that the basic goal of his studies was to sincerely defend Islam, not to inhospitably attack Christianity. Ahmed Midhat mainly scrutinized these problems in his refutations: the history of Christianity, the Trinity, the nature of Jesus, the historical conditions of the Bible, prophecy, and the root of the crucifix: original sin and redemption. The main aim of this study is to discuss Ahmed Midhat's criticisms of Christianity by examining the mainly scrutinized problems mentioned above. The Christian clergy's responses to Ahmed Mithad are one of the arguments included in this thesis. The evidence suggested by Ahmed Mithad and the compatibility of his scientific base with current research and historical sources are in this research's content as well. Moreover, his differences and repetitions from previous refutations, compared with actual studies and historical records are included in the study. Keywords: Tanzimat, History of Religions, Islam, Christianity, Ahmed Midhat.