This book is a translation of Muhammad Abduh’s Al-Islām wa-l-Naṣrāniyya maʿa al-ʿIlm wa-l-Madaniyya (Science and Civilisation between Islam and Christianity). Abduh was an Egyptian jurist, religious scholar, theologian and a reformer of Al-Azhar who died in 1905. His impact on modern Islam cannot be overstated. In fact, much of modern Muslim thought has either been a reaction for or against his ideas. Although numerous English studies have been done on him, only one treatise of his has been translated into English. That is, Risālat al-tawhīd (Theology of Unity) by Ishaq Masaʿad and Kenneth Cragg, in 1966.

Far too little attention has been paid to the treatise translated here. Much less attention has been given to how this treatise impacts the Islamic theology of Christianity. Hence, this translation fills a serious gap in the genre of Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations.