Napoleon’s pro-Islam propaganda successfully won Cairo to French rule

Evidence

Other than the obvious fabrications about the French being Muslims and destroying the papacy, what is noteworthy about this manifesto is its attempt to win over Egyptians through praise for Islam. Napoleon repeatedly insisted that he was fighting for Islam. He invited sixty Muslim scholars from al-Azhar to his quarters and impressed them with his knowledge of and respect for the Koran. Everything that Napoleon said was translated for popular consumption into Koranic Arabic. This strategy worked: the people of Cairo lost their distrust of the French colonizers. — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 111

Categorization

• XREF: Contrasts sharply with contemporary anti-Muslim rhetoric; shows colonial power has historically weaponized Islamophilia too, not just Islamophobia. — connects to: French officials mistook the revolt for isolated Cairo-directed incidents — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 299; Napoleon co-opted Islam to win over Egyptians rather than demonizing it — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of…, 157; Napoleon justified invading Egypt by claiming to defend Islam from the Mamluks (+1 more)
• QUESTION: When did the colonial strategy of flattering Islam give way to the current Islamophobic framing, and what material interests drove that shift?