William Henry Temple Gairdner

William Henry Temple Gairdner (31 July 1873 – 22 May 1928) was a British Christian missionary with the Church Missionary Society in Cairo, Egypt. His entire life was dedicated to service in Egypt as he himself commented when he was first preparing to leave. While in Cairo he partnered with his friend Douglas M. Thornton to reach educated Muslims with the gospel of Jesus Christ. This dynamic duo held many lectures in their home, Beit Arabi Pasha, and wrote a weekly magazine, Orient and Occident.

After Thornton's death in 1907 Gairdner continued his work in Cairo but was never able to recapture the amount of work that was accomplished when Thornton was at his side. It was this lack of help that would plague his ministry until the day of his death in 1928. Gairdner was a prolific writer and scholar of Arabic. He showed much promise to contribute greatly in theological and scholarly circles of Islam but instead chose to serve the local church in Cairo.

Family and early life Gairdner was born in Ardrossan, Ayrshire, Scotland on 31 July 1873. He was the son of Sir William Tennant Gairdner, a Scotsman, and Helen Bridget Wright, an English-woman. Gairdner was educated at St Ninian's Prep School, Moffat and Rossall School. His father served as a professor of medicine at Glasgow University and bestowed upon young Gairdner his passions for music, science, and philosophy. His mother contributed to Gairdner's experiences in school life and church life as she often conveyed her love for the Anglican Church to him as well as arranged for his traditional English education. Gairdner's personality drew greatly from his mother. From her he drew his sense of humor and emotional nature. Margaret was one of Gairdner's childhood friends and was the daughter of Dr. John Oswald Mitchell, and granddaughter of Rev. W. Ackworth.

Gairdner and Margaret celebrated twenty-five years of marriage and raised five children together before Gairdner's death in 1928.

Oxford University Gairdner entered Trinity College, Oxford in October 1892. Gairdner's educational career at Oxford is marked by his involvement in the Oxford Inter-Collegiate Christian Union (OICCU). Gairdner remained on the fringe of this group until March 1893 "Where he experienced the overwhelming ‘embrace of Christ’, and responded in faith." Gairdner was gone for a total of eighteen months leaving at the end of May 1910 and returning to Cairo in November 1911. Gairdner made three major stops on this educational leave, the first being in Potsdam, Germany to study the German language and be able to read German literature of which there were many writings on Islamic topics. This magazine was created to present articles of general interest and to reach a wider audience than Thornton and Gairdner were already reaching. Many of the articles dealt with questions and objections that Muslims would raise about Christianity such as the authenticity of the Bible. The Muslim Idea of God (1925) The Phonetics of Arabic: A Phonetic Inquiry and Practical Manual for the Pronunciation of Classical Arabic and of One Colloquial (the Egyptian) (London: H. Milford, Oxford University Press, 1925) Egyptian Colloquial Arabic: A Conversation Grammar (London: H. Milford, Oxford University Press, 1926) Commentary on Galatians (in Arabic) Commentary on Hebrews (in Arabic) Commentary on Philippians (in Arabic)

Translations The Niche for Lights (Mishkât Al-Anwar, 1924)

For a more complete bibliography, see Lyle L. Vander Werff, Christian Mission to Muslims, the Record: Anglican and Reformed Approaches in India and the Near East, 1800–1938 (South Pasadena, CA: William Carey Library, 1977), 279–282; and Constance E. Padwick, Temple Gairdner of Cairo (London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1929), 327–330.