Arabic

European expansion led to the introduction of Freemasonry across Arabic-speaking regions in the nineteenth century. In the Craft, European jurisdictions warranted early lodges to serve local and expatriate communities. In Egypt, foreign bodies from England, Scotland, Italy, France, and Germany established lodges in Cairo, Alexandria, Port Said, and Suez, alongside an independent Grand Lodge in Tunis founded in 1881 1. Egyptian Freemasonry also underwent several structural reorganizations, leading to the National Grand Lodge of Egypt declaring its independence in 1879 1. In Beyrout, the Craft was established through Palestine Lodge No. 415 under the Grand Lodge of Scotland in 1861 and Lodge Le Liban under the Grand Orient of France in 1869 1. European expansion under the Grand Lodges of England and Scotland further extended Craft lodges into Syria, Jordan, and the Persian Gulf before local Grand Lodges developed, as an article on thesquaremagazine.com's website notes.

In the Scottish Rite, a Supreme Council was instituted in Egypt in 1907 1, and the Rite dedicated its Twenty-second Degree, titled Prince of Lebanon, to Mount Lebanon 1. Early European observers historically drew thematic parallels between Masonic lodges and the mystical Sufi orders of the Islamic world, as an article on thesquaremagazine.com's website records.

Regarding public standing, the Craft in the Middle East faces significant opposition driven by anti-Masonic conspiracy literature. The text The Protocols of the Elders of Zion circulates widely as literature throughout the region and has been serialized in official state media, continuing to shape public perception of Freemasonry, as a paper read before Quatuor Coronati Lodge explains.