Defending the “Backward Civilization”: The Resurrection of a Forgotten 17th Century Text in 20th Century Intellectual Discourse on Islam

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

It is not clear who is the author of the quote in line 487, "does not conflict with Western civilizations democratic values."  If it is Shairani, it would help to make that explicit, "in the words of Shairani, "does not . . . .

Author Response

"It is not clear who is the author of the quote in line 487, "does not conflict with Western civilizations democratic values."  If it is Shairani, it would help to make that explicit, "in the words of Shairani, "does not . . . ."

Many thanks to the referee for his comment and contribution. Yes, the sentence was unclear, so I corrected it to “as Garcia put it.” 

 

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

This is a historical account of how the Englishman Henry Stubbe's 17th century work The Rise and Progress of Mahometanism was rescued two centuries later from the obscurity of private collections by CIS secretary Hafiz Mahmud Khan Shairani and published by the Istanbul press for Turkish readers through the fund-raising efforts of the Ottoman citizen and Cambridge University Professor Halil Halid Bey.  The publication of Stubbe's book contributed to the dispelling of "racist stereotypes that portrayed Muslims as backward, barbaric, and outdated" (ll. 483-84). This article is an accessible, captivating, and instructive narration of a pivotal point in the study of Islam.  It illuminates a hidden corner of Islamic literary history. 

Comments on the Quality of English Language

The construction "Prophet of Muhammad" is unusual, and it is not clear why the author uses this construction.  It would probably be distracting for English readers. I recommend that the author use "the Prophet Muhammad" as an alternative reference. It is more familiar and would not be distracting.

Author Response

First of all, I would like to thank the referee for his nice comments. The expression “Prophet of Muhammad” is very wrong, unfortunately we missed it. Thank you also for this warning; we have changed "Prophet of Muhammad" to "the Prophet Muhammad".

Reviewer 3 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

In this paper, entitled “Defending the “Backward Civilization”: The Resurrection of a 2 Forgotten 17^th Century Text in 20^th Century Intellectual Discourse on Islam,” the author/s examine/s Henry Stubbe’s “The Rise and Progress of Mahometanism,” considered by some scholars to be a revolution in the study of Islam and one of the earliest sympathetic Orientalist accounts on Islam. No wonder then that such a book was not published by any major British, or even European, book house. Henry Stubbe’s, (1632-1676), was a very controversial scholar who had many intellectual as well as political fights with his peers. Stubbe’s idea was that Islam is in a way similar to Unitarian Christianity. But, of course, such as idea would have hardly appealed to enthusiastic Christians of the 17^th century, or even now. Henry Stubbe’s manuscript lay unattended and unprovoked in library shelves for more than two hundred years.

 The author diligently traces the early steps and endeavour by the Islamic Society of London, Muslim community in England in the early 20^th century to have this manuscript published. Halil Halid Bey (1869-1931), played a great role in raising funds in England and the Ottoman Empire for the purpose of publishing the manuscript in 1912 under the title: An account of the rise and progress of Mahometanism: with the life of Mahomet and a vindication of him and is religion from the calumnies of the Christians, by Henry Stubbe; edited with an introduction and appendix by Mahmud Khan Shairani.

 

Author Response

I thank the referee for his valuable comments and appreciation.