كتاب منهج دراسة الأديان بين الشيخ رحمت الله الهندي والقس فندر
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .¬_________
disillusioned "with the prospect of converting Muslims to Christianity."]33[Had not death intervened, however, he would likely have continued his lifelong labor elsewhere. In its obituary, the CMS suggested that since, "so long as there is a Christian Mission to Mohammedan countries, Pfander's works will endure," they should be translated "into English, as textbooks for Missionaries and Mission schools in all parts of Asia."]34[
Appraisal
Pfander's approach perpetuated. The first English version of the Mizan appeared in 1867; translations in other languages also continued to appear. Early this century, William St. Clair-Tisdall (1859 - 1928) revised, and translated into English, all three of Pfander's books. Tisdall largely continued Pfander's view, both of Islam as salvifically bankrupt and of Muhammad as morally culpable. A better scholar than Pfander, Tisdall's own writing contributed to the development of serious Christian thinking about the relationship between Christ and other faiths. Others, including Imad-ud-Din and W. A. Rice, whose Crusaders of the Twentieth Century appeared in 1910, continued Pfander's approach, virtually without modification. William Muir, inspired by Pfander, surpassed him as a scholar but perpetuated his estimate of Islam. The fact, though, that Pfander's books remain in print today suggests that some Christians still value his approach. "We do not hesitate," says the preface to the 1986 edition of the Mizan, "to print such a book of fundamental importance . . . Islam is still the same, and needs a definitive answer."
Pfander's approach modified. Bishop French acknowledged Pfander as his "Master in missions," as a "worthy successor of . . . Henry Martyn," but modified his style, pioneering an approach to Muslims that avoided open disputation. He thought that rational argument could never do justice to the mysterium that lies at the heart of Christian faith and aimed not so much to defeat Islam as to win Muslim hearts.]35[Safdar Ali, in his Niaz nama (Friendly treatise), used "the persuasive tone born of love and a strong
