Katika katikati ya karne ya 19, wamisionari walipitisha sera ambayo hawakuwahi kuitumia hapo awali. Wamisionari hawakuridhika tu na shule, vichapio na zahanati, bali walienda mbali zaidi kwa kuanzisha jumuiya. Mnamo mwaka 1842, kamati iliundwa ili kuanzisha jumuiya ya kisayansi chini ya usimamizi wa misheni ya Kimarekani. Kazi ya kamati ilidumu kwa miaka mitano hadi ilipofanikiwa kuanzisha jumuiya iitwayo ‘Jumuiya ya Sanaa na Sayansi’. Miongoni mwa wanachama wake walikuwemo Nasif al-Yaziji na Boutros al-Bustani, ambao walikuwa Wakristo Walebanon waliokubaliwa kujiunga kwa sababu walikuwa Waarabu, Eli Smith na Cornelius van Dick, ambao walikuwa Wamarekani, na Kanali Churchill, ambaye alikuwa Mwingereza. Malengo ya jumuiya hiyo mwanzoni yalikuwa ya kutatanisha; ilielekea kufundisha sayansi kwa watu wazima, pamoja na kuwafundisha vijana shuleni. Jumuiya ilihimiza watu wazima na vijana kwa pamoja kujifunza utamaduni wa Magharibi, ikiwaelekeza kulingana na mpango wa wamisionari.

During the mid-19th Century, the missionaries adopted a policy which they had not employed before. The missionaries were not content themselves with just schools, printing shops and clinics, but went further to establish associations. In 1842, a committee was set up to establish a scientific association under the auspices of the American mission. The committee’s work lasted for five years until it had managed to establish an association called the ‘Association of Arts and Science’. Its members included Nasif al-Yaziji and Boutros al-Bustani2, who were Lebanese Christians taken on board because they were Arabs, Eli Smith and Cornelius van Dick, who were American, and Colonel Churchill, who was English. The objectives of the association at first were vague, it had the tendency to teach science to adults, as well as teaching youngsters at school. The association encouraged adults and youngsters alike to learn Western culture, orientating them according to the missionary plan.

Hata hivyo, licha ya juhudi kubwa zilizofanywa na chama hicho, kilifanikiwa kuajiri wanachama hai hamsini tu katika Shamu nzima ndani ya miaka miwili. Wote walikuwa Wakristo, hasa kutoka Beirut; hakuna Mwislamu wala Mdruze yeyote aliyejiunga na chama hicho. Juhudi kubwa mno zilifanywa ili kupanua na kuhuisha kazi ya chama, lakini hazikuzaa matunda.

However, despite the huge efforts put in by the association it only managed to recruit fifty active members in the whole of al-Sham in two years. They were all Christians, mainly from Beirut, no Muslim or Druze whatsoever joined the association. Colossal efforts were made to expand and activate the work of the association but to no avail.

Chama hicho kilisambaratika baada ya miaka mitano tangu kuanzishwa kwake, bila kupata matokeo yoyote muhimu isipokuwa hamu ya wamishonari ya kuanzisha vyama zaidi. Kwa hiyo, chama kingine kilianzishwa mwaka 1880 na kikapewa jina la 'Chama cha Mashariki'. Kilianzishwa na Wajesuiti chini ya usimamizi wa Padre wa Kifaransa wa Kijesuiti Henri Debrenier, na wanachama wake wote walikuwa Wakristo. Kilifuata nyayo za 'Chama cha Sanaa na Sayansi', nacho kilidumu kwa muda mfupi tu kabla ya kusambaratika kama mtangulizi wake. Baadaye, vyama kadhaa vilichipuka kila mahali, lakini vyote vilikuwa vimehukumiwa kushindwa, navyo vikasambaratika kama hapo awali.

The association collapsed after five years from its initial establishment without reaping any significant results except for the desire of the missionaries to establish more associations. Therefore, another association was founded in 1880 and it was named the ‘Oriental Association’. It was founded by the Jesuits under the guardianship of the French Jesuit Father Henri Debrenier and all its members were Christians. It followed in the footsteps of the ‘Association of Arts and Science’ lasting only a short time before collapsing as its predecessor had done. Afterwards, several associations sprang up all over the place, but all were doomed to failure and they collapsed as before.

Chama kipya kilianzishwa mwaka 1857 kilichukua mbinu tofauti kidogo. Hakuna wageni wa aina yoyote walioruhusiwa kujiunga, na waanzilishi wake wote walikuwa Waarabu. Kwa namna fulani kilifanikiwa, na baadhi ya Waislamu na Wadruze walijiunga nacho; chama kiliwakubali kwa sababu walikuwa Waarabu. Jina lake lilikuwa 'Chama cha Kisayansi cha Syria'. Kilipata mafanikio kutokana na shughuli zake, kutokana na mshikamano wake wa kiarabu, na pia kutokana na kutokuwepo kwa wageni miongoni mwa wanachama wake. Wanachama wake walifanikiwa kuwashawishi watu wengine kujiunga, na wakakusanya uungwaji mkono kwa chama hicho hadi wanachama mia moja hamsini walipokuwa wamejiandikisha ndani yake. Miongoni mwa wafanyakazi wake wa utawala walikuwepo baadhi ya watu mashuhuri wa Kiarabu, kama vile Muhammad Arsalan kutoka miongoni mwa Wadruze, na Hussain Bayham kutoka miongoni mwa Waislamu. Watu kutoka madhehebu yote ya Kikristo ya Kiarabu walijiunga, mashuhuri zaidi kati yao wakiwa Ibrahim al-Yaziji na Boutros al-Bustani. Chama hiki kilidumu kuliko vyama vyote vingine. Mpango wake ulibuniwa kuwahusisha madhehebu yote na kuwa cheche ya utaifa wa Kiarabu. Hata hivyo, lengo lake la siri lilikuwa kwa kweli la kikoloni na la kimisionari, lililofichwa chini ya jina la sayansi. Lilijidhihirisha katika kueneza utamaduni na elimu ya Kimagharibi.

A new association was founded in 1857 which adopted a slightly different method. No foreigners whatsoever were allowed to join and its founders were all Arabs. Somehow it managed to succeed and some Muslims and Druze actually joined, the association accepted them because they were Arabs. Its name was the ‘Syrian Scientific Association’. It became successful due to its activities and its Arabic affiliation and also because of the absence of foreigners among its membership. Its members managed to convince other people to join and they gathered support for the association until one hundred and fifty members had enrolled in it. Among its administrative staff were some noted Arab personalities such as Muhammad Arsalan from the Druze and Hussain Bayham from the Muslims. Personalities from all Arab Christian sects joined, the most noted of them being Ibrahim al-Yaziji and Boutros al-Bustani. This association outlasted all the others. Its programme was designed to accommodate all sects and be the spark for Arab nationalism. However, its hidden objective was in fact colonial and missionary dressed in the name of science. It manifested itself in the spreading of Western culture and education.

Mwaka 1875, "Chama cha Siri" kiliundwa mjini Beirut; kwa kweli kilijengwa juu ya wazo la kisiasa. Kilianza kuhimiza wazo la utaifa wa Kiarabu. Waanzilishi wake walikuwa vijana watano kutoka miongoni mwa wale waliosomea katika chuo cha Kiprotestanti cha Beirut. Wote walikuwa Wakristo ambao vikundi vya kimisionari vilifanikiwa kuwapotosha. Baada ya kundi hili kuunda chama, idadi ndogo ya wanachama iliajiriwa nao. Chama kilionekana kuita, kupitia matamko na vipeperushi vyake, utaifa wa Kiarabu na uhuru wa kisiasa kwa Waarabu, hasa wale wa Syria na Lebanon. Hata hivyo, kazi yake halisi na mpango wake wa kweli vilihusu lengo jingine kabisa. Lengo lake lilikuwa kupanda matamanio ya ajabu na matumaini ya uongo katika nyoyo za watu. Kilitoa wito wa utaifa, Waarabu na Uarabu, na kuhimiza chuki dhidi ya Dola ya ‘Uthmani, kikiiita dola ya Kituruki. Kilifanya kazi ya kutenganisha dini na Dola, na kufanya utaifa wa Kiarabu kuwa msingi wa maisha. Ingawa chama daima kilitetea Uarabu, viongozi wake walirejea mara kwa mara katika maandishi yao wakiishutumu Uturuki kwa kuwanyang'anya Waarabu Khilafah ya Kiislamu, kwa kukiuka Shari‘ah ya Kiislamu na kwa kuitumia vibaya dini. Hili linaonyesha wazi asili halisi ya chama na lengo la kweli lililokifanya kianzishwe, yaani kuchochea machafuko dhidi ya Dola ya Kiislamu, kuleta shaka na kutilia shaka dini, na kuanzisha harakati za kisiasa zilizojengwa juu ya kanuni zisizo za Kiislamu.

In 1875, the ‘Secret Association’ was formed in Beirut; it was actually based on a political concept. It began encouraging the concept of Arab nationalism. Its founders were five young men from amongst those who had been educated in the Protestant college in Beirut. They were all Christians whom the missionary parties had managed to affect. Following this group’s formation of the association, a small number of members were recruited by them. The association seemed to be calling, through its declarations and leaflets, for Arab nationalism and political independence for the Arabs, especially those in Syria and Lebanon. However, its actual work and its real programme was concerned with a different objective entirely. Its aim was to cast strange desires and false hopes into people’s hearts. It called for nationalism, Arabs and Arabism and encouraged animosity towards the ‘Uthmani State, calling it the Turkish state. It worked towards separating religion from the State and towards making Arab nationalism the basis of life. Despite the fact that the association always championed Arabism, those in charge referred repeatedly in their literature to Turkey accusing her of snatching the Islamic Khilafah from the Arabs, of violating the Islamic Shari‘ah and of abusing the deen. This clearly demonstrates the true nature of the association and the real objective for which it had been founded, i.e. to cause unrest against the Islamic State, to create suspicion and scepticism about the deen and to establish political movements based on non-Islamic principles.

Jambo ambalo ni hakika kuhusu harakati hizi ni kwamba zilianzishwa na mamlaka za Magharibi. Ni wao waliozianzisha, waliozifuatilia maendeleo yake na kuzisimamia. Pia waliandika ripoti kuhusu shughuli zao. Kwa mfano, balozi wa Uingereza huko Beirut alituma telegramu kwa serikali yake tarehe 28 Julai 1880 akisema, "Vipeperushi vya kimapinduzi vimeanza kusambaa, Midhat anatiliwa shaka kuwa chanzo chake; licha ya hayo, hali bado ni shwari. Maelezo yako kwenye barua."3

What is in fact a certainty concerning these movements is that they had been initiated by the Western powers. It was they who established them, monitored their progress and managed them. They also wrote reports about their activities. For instance, the British consul in Beirut sent a telegram to his government on 28th July 1880 saying, “Revolutionary leaflets have come into circulation, Midhat is suspected to be the source, despite this, the situation remains calm. Details in the post.”3

Telegramu hii ilitumwa baada ya kijitabu kilichosambazwa mitaani mjini Beirut na kubandikwa kwenye kuta zake. Telegramu hiyo ilifuatiwa haraka na barua kadhaa zilizotumwa na mabalozi wa Uingereza mjini Beirut na Damascus. Barua hizo zilikuwa na nakala za vijitabu ambavyo chama kilivisambaza, na kwa hiyo zinapaswa kuchukuliwa kwa haki kama taarifa kuhusu harakati zilizoanzishwa katika chuo cha Kiprotestanti kilichoanza shughuli zake huko al-Sham. Shughuli za chama zilionekana zaidi huko al-Sham, ingawa zilifanyika pia katika maeneo mengine yenye Waarabu wengi, kama inavyothibitishwa na kile kamishna wa Uingereza huko Jeddah aliandika kwa serikali yake mwaka 1882. Katika taarifa kuhusu harakati za Waarabu alisema: "Hata hivyo, habari zimenifikia kwamba hata huko Makkah wasomi wengine wameanza kuzungumzia uhuru. Inaonekana kwangu, kutokana na nilichosikia, kwamba kuna mpango uliobuniwa unaolenga kuunganisha Najd na nchi iliyo kati ya mito miwili, yaani Kusini mwa Iraq, na kumteua Mansur Pasha kuwa mtawala, pamoja na kuunganisha 'Asir na Yemen kwa kumteua 'Ali ibn 'Aabid kuwatawala."4

This telegram was despatched in the wake of a leaflet distributed on the streets of Beirut and posted on the walls there. The telegram was soon followed by several letters sent by the British consuls in Beirut and Damascus. The letters were accompanied by copies of the leaflets which the association had distributed and should therefore rightly be regarded as reports on the movement set up in the Protestant college which began its activities in al-Sham. The association’s activities were more evident in al-Sham, although they took place in other predominantly Arab areas as demonstrated by what the British commissioner in Jeddah wrote to his government in 1882; in a report about the Arab movement he stated, “However, news has reached me that even in Makkah itself some intellectuals have begun talking about freedom, it seems to me from what I have heard that a plan has been designed aiming at uniting Najd with the land between the two rivers, i.e. the South of Iraq, and appointing Mansur Pasha as ruler, as well as uniting ‘Asir and Yemen by appointing ‘Ali ibn ‘Aabid to rule over them.”4

Uingereza haikuwa mhusika pekee mwenye maslahi, Ufaransa nayo ilionyesha shauku kubwa.

Britain was not the only interested party, France also displayed a great deal of interest.

Mwaka 1882, mmoja wa maafisa wa Kifaransa mjini Beirut alielezea wasiwasi wa Ufaransa kwa kusema, "Roho ya kujitegemea imeenea sana, na wakati wa kukaa kwangu Beirut nilitambua kujitolea kwa vijana Waislamu katika kuanzisha shule na zahanati na katika kuufufua nchi. Jambo linalostahili kutajwa hapa ni kwamba harakati hii haina ushawishi wowote wa kimadhehebu; chama kinawakaribisha Wakristo kuwa wanachama na kinawategemea kushiriki katika shughuli za kizalendo."5

In 1882, one of the French officials in Beirut voiced the French concern by saying, “The spirit of independence is well spread and I noticed during my stay in Beirut the dedication of Muslim youths in establishing schools and clinics and in reviving the country. What is worth mentioning here is that this movement is free of any sectarian influence, the association welcomes the membership of the Christians and relies on them to participate in the nationalist activities.”5

"Kila nilipoenda nilikutana na hisia ya pamoja, ya kiwango kile kile, ya chuki dhidi ya Waturuki; kuhusu wazo la kuanzisha hatua ya pamoja ili kuondoa hali hii inayochukiwa sana, hilo liko katika harakati kubwa. Katika upeo wa macho upepo wa harakati ya Waarabu unakusanya nguvu na unakaribia kuzaliwa. Watu hawa waliodhulumiwa kwa muda mrefu wanakaribia kutangaza hadhi yao ya asili ndani ya ulimwengu wa Kiislamu na kuongoza hatima ya ulimwengu huu."6

A French national wrote from Baghdad, “Everywhere I went I was faced with the common feeling, on the same scale, of hatred for the Turks; as for the concept of initiating a collective action to get rid of this much hated situation, this is very much under way. In the horizons a wind of Arab movement is gathering strength and is about to be born. This people who have been oppressed for a long time are about to proclaim their natural status within the Muslim world and direct the destiny of this world.”6

Kazi ya umisionari kwa jina la dini na sayansi haikuwa imekomea tu kwenye uangalizi wa Marekani, Ufaransa na Uingereza, bali ilienea hadi kwenye karibu nchi zote zisizo za Kiislamu, zikiwemo Urusi ya Kifalme ya Czar iliyotuma misafara ya kimisionari, na Prussia (Ujerumani) iliyotuma kundi la 'dada' (watawa wa Carodt) kushiriki pamoja na misheni nyingine. Ingawa kulikuwa na tofauti za maoni kati ya misheni mbalimbali na wajumbe wa Magharibi kuhusu mipango yao ya kisiasa, ambayo ilizingatia maslahi yao ya kimataifa, lengo lilikuwa lile lile: kuhubiri Ukristo na kueneza utamaduni wa Magharibi Mashariki, pamoja na kuamsha shaka za Waislamu kuhusu dini yao, na kuwasukuma kuichukia na kuidharau historia yao huku wakiwaongoza kuisifu Magharibi na mtindo wao wa maisha. Wamisionari walifanya uhubiri wao kwa kuzingatia chuki kubwa waliyokuwa nayo dhidi ya Uislamu na Waislamu. Waliudharau utamaduni wa Kiislamu na mtindo wake wa maisha, na waliwaona Waislamu kuwa washenzi waliorudi nyuma, jambo ambalo bado ndilo maoni yasiyo sahihi ya karibu kila Mzungu. Matokeo waliyoyafikia yanaonekana leo katika kuenea kwa kufuru na ukoloni katika nchi zetu.

Missionary work in the name of religion and science was not merely confined to the focus of the attention of the US, France and Britain, but extended to most of the non- Islamic states, including Czarist Russia who sent missionary expeditions and Prussia (Germany) who sent a group of ‘sisters’ (the nuns of Carodt) to participate with other missions. Inspite of the difference of opinion among the various missions and Western delegates regarding their political programmes, which took into consideration their international interests, the objective was the same; the preaching of Christianity and the spreading of Western culture in the East coupled with the arousal of the suspicions of the Muslims towards their deen, pushing them to resent it and to regard their history with contempt whilst leading them to praise the West and its way of life. The missionaries carried out their preaching according to their great hatred of Islam and the Muslims. They dispised the Islamic culture and its way of life and they regarded the Muslims as backward barbarians, which still remains the ill-considered opinion of nearly every European. The results that they achieved are reflected today in the concentration of disbelief and colonialism in our lands.