Le Monde: Was Voltaire the first Islamist left in French history?

It is the duty of the republic’s guards who call for a certain vision of secularism to uncover the masks of the nation’s enemies who sow problems and threaten its unity. It seems that the first to import and spread this harmful ideology in France was the so-called François Marie Arouet, who was hiding behind the name Voltaire.

But the French philosopher Voltaire, by later praising Islam and the Ottoman Empire, and presenting Islamic tolerance as a model that should inspire European rulers, is somehow considered the founder of French Islamist left.

With this introduction, historian John Tollan began an article in the French newspaper Le Monde, in which he said that the phrase "the Islamic left" which was lacking in France was revived by Interior Minister Gerald Darmanan when he described La France insoumise with a social democratic orientation as a "party. Linked to the Islamic left that undermines the republic. "

Tollan - a professor of history at the University of Nantes in France - commented that this approach reminds the days of former French Prime Minister Manuel Valls, and once again condemns the "Islamic leftists".

The Globalization of History

After this introduction, the writer returned to the French philosopher Voltaire to ask whether he was a leftist Islamist?

Noting that he was criticizing the Prophet of Islam - may God bless him and grant him peace - but that his real goal was not Islam or his prophet, but fanatics, as he explained in a message in 1742.

He commented that Voltaire - in order to evade censorship - presented the leader of the Jacobins in the image of the Prophet of Islam (may God bless him and grant him peace), but after that he changed his tone in his philosophical messages in 1734, when he praised Anglo-Saxon communism and suggested importing it to France, especially that "the Islamic left "A virus that is most often transmitted through the Anglo-Saxons, through whom Voltaire discovered the Qur’an," says historian Tulane.

Voltaire wrote to his friend Nicholas Claude Terriot, "one of the writers of the 17th century" that "there is an English devil who made a wonderful translation of the Great Qur’an. He presented her with a presentation on the life of Muhammad (may God bless him and grant him peace) with an analysis of the Qur’anic belief coupled with the story of the birth and spread of Islam, and the translator portrayed The Prophet (may God bless him and grant him peace) was described as a charismatic, beloved leader and wise legislator who drafted laws suitable for his people.

Tolan pointed out that this is the image of the prophet of Islam, peace and blessings be upon him, adopted by Voltaire in his article on morals and the spirit of nations in 1757, in which he wanted to write a new type of global history, in which the place of Europe and the Christian world diminished, seeking to "globalize history."

The writer commented that Voltaire's pursuit was half a success, noting that in his sixth chapter "On the Arabian Peninsula and Muhammad", he devoted 10 pages to the life of the Messenger (may God bless him and grant him peace), and described how his country was defending its freedom against the Persians and the princes of Constantinople.

Voltaire describes the divisions that undermined these empires and the conflicts between them, making them easy prey for invaders, and briefly narrates that the Messenger (may God bless him and grant him peace) was from a poor family, and he worked as a hired employee in the trade of a woman from Mecca before marrying her and living with her until the age of forty, and then he showed. Talents that made him superior to his fellow countrymen, "says the writer.

Tolerance of Islam versus Christian intolerance

Tolan says that Voltaire was an admirer of the Prophet (may God’s prayers and peace be upon him), and became a champion of Islamic tolerance that contradicts Christian fanaticism. To the most fanatical and barbaric religion. "

The writer attributed to Voltaire saying that the medieval church heralded the infallibility of the Pope, burned heretics, and mobilized Christian knights for the Muslims' war. However, Muslim leaders - such as Saladin and his nephew, al-Malik al-Kamil - were, in turn, the pinnacle of sophistication, literature and tolerance.

Voltaire: Ah!

May all the peoples of Europe follow the example of the Turks

John Tolan recovers a dialogue on a street in Aleppo that Voltaire imagined in one of his books between a Greek monk and an honest man, in which the man expresses his doubts and contempt for the old and the new covenant, and when the monk confirms that Christianity is a religion of peace, the man replies that Christians in Europe despise and kill each other, then the monk replies He hates persecution, saying, "Praise be to God, that the Turks under whom I live in peace do not persecute anyone." And the man says, "Oh! May all the peoples of Europe follow the example of the Turks."

Thus - the historian says - Voltaire uses Islam to attack the Christian foundations of European culture, praises Islam and the Ottoman Empire, and presents Islamic tolerance as a model that should inspire European rulers, and so he is, in a way, the founder of French Islamic leftism.

Return to dialogue

The historian sarcastically asks, now that we have identified the source of evil, what do we do and how do we act with an "Islamist leftist" who died nearly two and a half centuries ago? Will this be by preventing him, for example, or by defining passages that offend our republican sensitivity, and preventing reading them or burning writings that offend Our feelings?

The historian cautioned that returning to Voltaire's writings in its correct perspective, shows that the manipulation of the Islamic question is not a new reality in our culture, pointing out that Voltaire and European thinkers who praised the Prophet Muhammad - may God bless him and grant him peace - and Islamic tolerance, were the first to criticize the Church and the state, Because the violent reaction of their opponents made them consider them enemies of the Church and the Ummah, and resented Islam.

Returning to the discussions of the present, the historian wonders what does the adjective "leftist Islamist" mean, especially since no one identifies himself in this capacity, explaining that it is just an insult that we throw at those who question the merits of certain policies, such as the veil, the reception of refugees and many other topics, or those who denounce hatred Towards the French Muslims.

The historian noted that Interior Minister Gerald Darmanan revived this term dear to Manuel Valls, a term that Israeli historian Shlomo Sand had noted that politicians use to silence those who do not agree with them, in order to avoid any intellectual discussion in which they are not up to the task.

The author concludes that dialogue is what we need now, in the form of debates on issues of discrimination, social inequality, security, secularism and many other things, with broad participation by citizens from all walks of life and from all social levels, while respecting the voices of those with whom we do not share the opinion.