ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Three Views of Science in the Islamic World Endnotes [^1] Among those who were sent to Europe as the reconnoiterer of the Islamic world was Yirmisekiz Mehmet Celebi (Chalabi). He arrived at Paris as the Ottoman ambassador in 1720 and became one of the first Ottomans to give a first-hand report of 'modern' Europe, especially France.

When compared with the accounts of earlier Muslim travelers to Europe, such as that of Evliya Celebi, his reports and letters show in qn unequivocal way the psychology of the 18 th century: a proud Muslim soul torn between the glory of his history and the mind-boggling advancement of the 'afranj', the infidels of Europe. Mehmet Celebi's reports published under the title of Sefaretname became a small genre of its own to be followed by later Ottoman envoys to Europe.

His Sefaretname has also been translated into French by Julien Galland as Relation de l'embassade de Mehmet Effendi a la cour de France en 1721 ecrite par lui meme et traduit par Julien Galland (Constantinople and Paris, 1757). For a brief account on Mehmet Celebi in English, see Bernard Lewis, The Muslim Discovery of Europe, (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1982), pp. 114-[^116]: [^2] See, among others, Bernard Lewis, The Muslim Discovery of Europe, pp. 221-238; and H. A. R.

Gibb and Harold Bowen (eds.), Islamic Society and the West: A Study of the Impact of Western Civilization on Moslem Culture in the Near East (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1957), vol. I, parts I & II. [^3] G. E. Von Grunebaum, Modern Islam: The Search for Cultural Identity (Connecticut; Greenwood Press, 1962), pp. 103-[^111]: [^4] Ataturk’un Soylev ve Demecleri (Ankara, 1952), II, 44, from a speech given in October 27, 1922; quoted in Von Grunebaum, ibid., p.

[^104]: [^5] Although the most celebrated responses to Renan belong to J. Afghani and N. Kemal, a number of other refutations have been written. The Turkish scholar Ducane Cundioglu lists twelve major refutations, ten of which are by Muslims, and the list comprises such names as Sayyid Amir Ali, Rashid Rida, Celal Nuri, Louis Massignon, and Muhammad Hamidullah.

For an excellent survey of the subject, see his 'Ernest Renan ve 'Reddiyeler' Baglaminda Islam-Bilim Tartismalarina Bibliyografik Bir Katki', Divan, Vol. 2 (Istanbul, 1996), pp. 1-[^94]: [^6] The full text of Afhgani's rebuttal 'Refutation of the Materialists' is translated by Nikki R.