{"id":2433,"date":"2020-04-20T10:24:44","date_gmt":"2020-04-20T09:24:44","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2020-04-20T10:25:28","modified_gmt":"2020-04-20T09:25:28","slug":"muhammad-in-early-european-sources","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shiastudies.com\/en\/2433\/muhammad-in-early-european-sources\/","title":{"rendered":"Muhammad in Early European Sources"},"content":{"rendered":"

Muhammad in Early European Sources<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Today academics have no problems in admitting the fact that the image of Muhammad often given in the West prior to the last century and a half; has been\u00a0 one of pure speculation and slander. In fact many scholars in the west of the past century such as Karen Armstrong and Montgomery Watt have written essays and articles or even books regarding the unfair portrayal of our Prophet in Europe.<\/h4>\n

Although Muhammad is a name known in most households throughout Europe and is not seen as alien or vaguely uncommon; being the 20th most common name given to male babies in this country[1]. It is also a name which has been through many transitions and a name that carries many images and connotations throughout Europe and the Western world. This Essay will focus on the early depictions of Muhammad in Europe from the 10th Century C.E (when the earliest depictions first\u00a0 began to arise) till the 19th Century when a more honest approach begins to appear amongst European Scholars.<\/h4>\n

Today academics have no problems in admitting the fact that the image of Muhammad often given in the West prior to the last century and a half; has been one of pure speculation and slander. In fact many scholars in the west of the past century such as Karen Armstrong and Montgomery Watt have written essays and articles or even books regarding the unfair portrayal of our Prophet in Europe.<\/h4>\n

Within the history books regarding pre-Islamic Arabia and the Christians and Jews of Arabia prior to Muhammad announcing his Prophethood, we have sources that allude to the fact that both Christians and Jews of the region were expecting a new Prophet.<\/h4>\n

\u201cI will raise them up a prophet from among their brothers, like you; and I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I shall command him.\u201d (Deuteronomy 18:18)[2]<\/h4>\n

However the reaction to the religion of Islam by the Church in Europe shows a completely different attitude to that of the Jews and Christians of Arabia. The first evidently historically documented attacks from within Europe on the Prophet Muhammad and the religion of Islam occurred during the Muslim occupation of Spain (Al-Andalus) in the city of Cordoba (around 850 C.E), in which two Christians by the names of Eulogio and Alvaro began a movement known as the Martyrs. This small movement in Cordoba encouraged Christians to go out and start slandering or defiling the personality of the Prophet, resulting in the death penalty for committing what was then a public crime. Basing their claims on a rather distorted and brief biography of Muhammad which within it had accounts of Muhammad dying in the year 666 C.E, fulfilling what they saw to be the mark of the beast; thus making Muhammad the Anti-Christ prophesised in their Bible:<\/h4>\n

\u201cAnd he shall speak words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints
\nof the Most High; and he shall think to change the seasons and the law; and they
\nshall be given into his hand until a time and times and half a time.\u201d (Book of
\nDaniel 7: 23-5)[3]<\/h4>\n

They saw the triumph of Muhammad\u2019s message over the Christian lands as the
\nfulfilment of this Prophecy and believed he was the one changing both the
\nseasons and the laws. This was the only way to justify in their eyes, the rapid
\nspread of Islam and answer the question many Christians were asking i.e: \u201cHow
\ncould God allow this impious faith to prosper and thrive?\u201d[4]<\/h4>\n

The early claims about Muhammad put forward by such movements as the Cordovan
\nMartyrs were based on this rather weak apocalyptic biography, which portrayed
\nMuhammad as an \u201cimpostor and a charlatan\u201d[5] who had claimed revelation in order
\nto deceive the world, someone who indulged in disgusting sexual acts and
\nencouraged his followers to do likewise as well as someone who forced people to
\nconvert to Islam at the edge of the sword. Although the Christians in Spain were
\nall too familiar with this depiction and image of Muhammad, few others in Europe
\nbecame acquainted with these tales and of those who did, there was little
\nreaction. It was not until another two hundred and fifty years later that
\nWestern Europe particularly the Church would use these fables about the Prophet
\nand reproduce them for public propagation. Although as some historians note; a
\nfew serious scholars of Europe attempted to look at Muhammad and Islam from a
\nmore objective view, it was this image of \u201cMahound\u201d that continued to be the
\ncommon view of Muhammad among the people of Europe.<\/h4>\n

Modern day Academics have noted that the fictional depiction of the Prophet
\nMuhammad that became a myth on par with King Arthur, Charlemagne and Robin Hood,
\nmade it extremely difficult for people to see him as a historical figure and
\ngive him the same treatment as historical figures such as Alexander the Great
\nand Hannibal of Carthage.[6] Karen Armstrong has noted in her book that \u201cThe
\nfictional portrayal of Mahound in The Satanic Verses resonates deeply with these
\nestablished Western Fantasies\u201d[7] of Muhammad.<\/h4>\n

In order for the Christian Scholars of this era to justify the success of
\nMuhammad and his religion, stories were concocted regarding the trickery and
\nmagic implored by Muhammad and they way he passed them off as miracles.
\nAccusations and pure fabrications regarding Muhammad\u2019s miracles were taught
\namongst the Church in Europe; for example- Muhammad had trained a white dove by
\nplacing peas behind his ear which the dove would collect, allowing Muhammad to
\nclaim this dove was the Holy Spirit giving him revelation[8].<\/h4>\n

In the modern approaches at producing a biography of the Prophet undergone in
\nthe past century, Historians are now admitting that they find it hard to deduce
\nwhere such accounts and stories about the Prophet have historically come from;
\nin fact it is becoming now apparent that most of them have no source. N. Daniel,
\na modern academic and Historian notes in his book[9] the lack of evidence in
\nregards to these claims stating that \u201cThe most probable explanation of what
\nhappened must be that Christians thought that whatever tended to harm the
\nenemies of truth was likely to be true\u201d. Such an explanation is actually backed
\nup from the writings of early western biographers of the Prophet such as Guibert
\nof Nogent, a Franciscan Monk and Historian (1053-1124) who wrote amongst his
\nwritings about Muhammad that: \u201cIt is safe to speak evil of the one whose
\nmalignity exceeds whatever ill can be spoken of\u201d in addition to writing in his
\nworks that he had no source for the work he had produced on the Prophet
\nMuhammad[10]. However some accounts of Muhammad propagated by the Churches can
\nbe found within the works of John of Damascus (Yuhanna ibn Mansur. d.c 749 C.E)
\nwho was most probably the first Christian to have engaged with Islamic theology
\nin some detail, being of Arab parentage and a school contemporary of Yazid Ibn
\nMu\u2019awiyah, the Umayyad ruler.<\/h4>\n

John of Damascus upholds in his writings that Muhammad is the founder of the
\n\u2018Heresy of Ishmaelites\u2019 (although he refers to them as Hagarenes in a few of his
\nwritings). John\u2019s main focus regarding Muhammad in his writing revolved around
\nthe fact that he saw the Islamic doctrine concerning Jesus to be a heresy thus
\nassociated the religion brought by Muhammad with the Arian Christian Church
\nwhich existed at the time. The Arian church did not share Islam\u2019s view of Jesus
\nhowever did deny the co-eternity of the Son with the Father in Theological
\nmatters. So John is believed to have been the first to narrate in the polemical
\ntransmission that Muhammad had been instructed by an Arian Monk in Damascus
\ncalled Bahira; Though History states that Muhammad only once ever encountered
\nBahira and whilst at a very young age. Other arguments included in the workings
\nof John that crop up even amongst modern day Polemics include arguments about
\nMuhammad such as Muhammad lifting the Qur\u2019an from the Old and New Testament and
\nthat Muhammad had married the ex-wife of his own son[11]. Modern day Orientalist,
\nRobert Irwin argues in his book that \u201cThe hostility that pervades John\u2019s account
\nof Islam should be understood within the context of the time, Christians living
\nunder Islamic rule were tolerated, but there were strict limits to that
\ntolerance\u201d[12]. Irwin notes that the situation for Christians particularly in
\nDamascus where the Umayyads ruled with an Iron fist was difficult and strenuous
\nto say the least, perhaps fuelled the already existing flames in John\u2019s heart
\nagainst Islam. John of Damascus\u2019s writings remained the main source for
\nproducing information about the Prophet in Europe for over 1000 years.<\/h4>\n

By the 12th Century in Europe, we notice a transition in the lies about
\nMuhammad, far be it from an honest account instead we see a change in the claims
\nabout the status Muhammad gave himself in Arabia. Charges that Muhammad became
\nthe God of the Arabs and Muslims begins to crop up, and this is seen in the
\nChristian play cycles and romances of the 12th Century in Europe. Mahound, Mahun,
\nMahomet and in German- Machmet, a name becoming synonymous with demon, devil and
\nidol was invented and coined by the writers of Play circles. In such writings,
\nthe status of Muhammad has been changed from earlier claims of him being the
\nanti-Christ to newer claims of Muhammad being a heathen idol worshipped by the
\nArabs.[13] In Wolfram von Eschenbach\u2019s Willehalm and Ulrich von Turheim\u2019s
\nRennewart, Muhammad is represented as Mahun, which is an idol whose image the
\nSaracens worship ritually and take into battle. After their defeat in these
\nplays, the Saracens would throw the idol to the hounds and pigs or trample and
\nurine on it. In all these plays the Saracens lose, and thus the depiction of
\nMuhammad as an idol is usually destroyed by the Saracens, with the exception of
\none play when Sowdone of Babylon take Rome. In this particular play, the
\nSaracens are depicted burning frankincense in front of Mahun and the other
\npolytheist\u2019s Gods and drinking the blood of beats before feasting on Milk and
\nHoney. Such claims later developed into a new addition to the English language
\nof \u201cMammetry\u201d meaning the worship of images or idolatry, a false religion[14].<\/h4>\n

Thus as Minou Reeves, has noted in her book regarding Muhammad\u2019s image in
\nEurope, \u201cThe man who preached that there was no God but the Creator of the
\nUniverse and who renounced idolatry as the gravest of all sins, himself became
\nan idol in the songs and play cycles of the Middle Ages in Europe.\u201d[15] Whilst
\nthese claims presented in claims and songs were meant for and presented to a
\nwider public audience, in an attempt to undermine a rival religion in the eyes
\nof Christian Europe, theological polemics remained confined to scholarly church
\ncircles.<\/h4>\n

Surprisingly even Dante Alighieri, a romanticised Christian Theologian of the
\n12th Century who took most of his theological insights from Tasawwuf and Sufism
\nhas written in his \u201cDivine Comedy\u201d poem that Muhammad and his cousin Ali are
\nboth among the infernal powers in the lowest chambers or sequence of Hell.
\nHowever Dante writes that Muhammad\u2019s crime is not the founding of a new
\nreligion, rather the heresy of Christianity. Dante depicts Muhammad as a sinner
\nin hell, tearing apart his own flesh with his own hands, which was a symbolic
\ngesture to depict Muhammad as the chief amongst the damned souls of Hell[16].<\/h4>\n

Europe unfortunately remained prone to this rather non factual and biased image
\nof Muhammad being painted by Scholars; Buaben refers to this period of
\nOrientalism against Muhammad and Islam as The Age of Ignorance. The age of
\nignorance is the name given to this period as stated under Buaben\u2019s model, this
\nage was under the assumption that \u201cthere was no truth outside the church.
\nChristianity was \u2018the truth\u2019 and the truth was God, therefore no truth (and
\nhence God) lay outside Christianity\u201d[17]<\/h4>\n

Unfortunately in Europe, there was a distinct lack of Scholarly progress made in
\nthe field of Orientalism until the 19th century, I as well as the vast majority
\nof modern day Orientalists would argue. This was due to both a lack of sincerity
\nin the efforts of the scholarly elite in Europe as well as the lack of reliable
\ninformation translated or available regarding the Biography or Sirah of the
\nProphet Muhammad. So the first signs of progress seemingly made in this area
\nlies in the work of Muir an Academic in Orientalist studies of the Mid 19th
\nCentury, however as Muir clearly states in his aims, he does not come free from
\nany agenda when it comes to studying the life of Muhammad, quite the opposite
\n(coming from a Christian Missionary background), Muir has no problem in
\nadmitting his hatred towards the Prophet of Islam.<\/h4>\n

Even with a Scholar such as Muir, the transitional phase from Early European
\nattitudes towards Muhammad to a more honest approach is severely tainted by
\nMuir\u2019s agenda of attempting to refute Muhammad and show him up as a fraud. Muir
\nappears to be at first sympathetic towards Muhammad\u2019s mission of Prophethood
\nwhilst in Mecca, however goes on to state that he does not view Muhammad\u2019s
\nrevelations from any perspective other than psychological and that he received
\nno messages from any source outside his own mind[18]. Muir also appears to show
\nup his own biases against Muhammad or his agenda to belittle him, whilst at
\nfirst levelling charges of cruelty and barbarism against him, which appear to be
\ncontradicted by his own references to the way Muhammad treated the Prisoners of
\nWar after the Battle of Badr. Buaben says of Muir\u2019s approach in his book that
\n\u201c\u2026..seems to fit his thesis that any story of immense disadvantage to Muhammad
\nmust be true.\u201d[19]<\/h4>\n

However although Muir displays this Christian Missionary agenda against
\nMuhammad, and a desire to show him up as a fraud (quite reminiscent of most
\nother Christian Orientalists of the time such as Karl Pfander and many others),
\nhe does use a more honest approach at analysing the Prophet\u2019s life from more
\nauthentic sources, despite the fact he is extremely selective. Muir does
\nhowever; pave the way forward for the 20th Century Orientalists such as
\nMontgomery Watt and Margoliouth who although coming from similar backgrounds to
\nMuir begin the trend of honest depictions of Muhammad in the 20th Century. Muir
\nhas undoubtedly led the way for a legacy which Orientalism today has taken
\nheavily from.<\/h4>\n

In Conclusion, the early attitudes of Scholars in Europe towards Muhammad, sees
\nvery little change right up until the 19th Century. It is apparent however, that
\nthe attitudes towards Muhammad were not entirely evident through honestly drawn
\nconclusions, rather the opposite. The attitudes of the European Scholars, I
\nwould argue appear to be the result of the fear of Islam spreading rapidly into
\nWestern Europe and as an anti-virus towards the spread (as many of the Scholars
\nand European church fathers would\u2019ve seen it), lies about Muhammad were
\ncirculated and propagated in order to put a fear of the religion into the hearts
\nand minds of the Europeans. Given the power that the Church once held in Europe
\nit would have been close to impossible for any Scholar to show any sign of
\nsympathy towards Islam, this is reflected by the fact that even Mystics such as
\nDante who took heavily from the Islamic Mysticism, had to show such an animosity
\nand hatred towards Muhammad. Even the more honest approach taken up by Muir
\n(after a trend of completed unfounded attacks for over 9 centuries) one notices
\nthat the use of authentic Islamic sources are then too only looked towards in
\norder to discredit Muhammad as a Prophet. Therefore I conclude by saying that
\nthis period of Scholarship towards Muhammad lacks any degree of honesty and that
\nuntil the time of Muir when sources were becoming readily available, the vast
\nmajority of attacks against Muhammad were entirely unfounded and was in reality
\nslander.<\/h4>\n

Bibliography<\/strong><\/h4>\n

2001, The Tanakh, Jewish Publication Society, Brooklyn, New York<\/em><\/h4>\n

Reeves, M. 2000, Muhammad in Europe, Garnet Publishing Limited, UK<\/em><\/h4>\n

Buaben J.M. 1996, Image of the Prophet Muhammad in the West, The Islamic
\nFoundation, Leicester, UK.<\/em><\/h4>\n

1962, Shorter Oxford Dictionary, Oxford, UK.<\/em><\/h4>\n

Armstrong, Karen. 1991, Muhammad, a Biography of the Prophet, Phoenix
\nPublishers, UK<\/em><\/h4>\n

Armstrong, Karen, 2006, Muhammad, Prophet for our Time, Eminent Lives
\nPublishers, UK.<\/em><\/h4>\n

References<\/em><\/strong><\/h4>\n

[1] . See Government Statistics for 2004 at http:\/\/www.statistics.gov.uk\/specials\/babiesnames_boys.asp<\/em><\/h4>\n

[2] . The Tanakh (Old Testament), Hebrew and English Translation, Jewish
\nPublication Society.<\/em><\/h4>\n

[3] . The Tanakh (Old Testament), Hebrew and English Translation, Jewish
\nPublication Society.<\/em><\/h4>\n

[4] . Armstrong, Karen. \u201cMuhammad, a Biography of the Prophet\u201d, page 24, Phoenix
\nPublications.<\/em><\/h4>\n

[5] .Ibid.<\/em><\/h4>\n

[6] Irwin, Robert. \u201cFor Lust of Knowledge\u201d, Chapter 2.<\/em><\/h4>\n

[7] . Armstrong, Karen. \u201cMuhammad, a Biography of the Prophet\u201d, page 26, Phoenix
\nPublications.<\/em><\/h4>\n

[8] . Acknowledged by both Karen Armstrong and Minou Reeves.<\/em><\/h4>\n

[9] . \u2018The Critical Approach to Arab Society in the Middle Ages\u2019 (Annales
\nIslamologiques) Vol. 17 pp 31-52<\/em><\/h4>\n

[10] \u2013 Buaben, J.M- \u201cImage of the Prophet Muhammad in the West\u201d, Islamic
\nFoundation, Leicester, UK.<\/em><\/h4>\n

[11] . Most Probably a lapse in understanding the events with Zayd ibn Haritha.<\/em><\/h4>\n

[12] . Irwin, Robert. \u201cThe Lust of Knowledge\u201d pp 23.<\/em><\/h4>\n

[13] . Reeves, Minou- \u201cMuhammad in Europe\u201d, pp 87.<\/em><\/h4>\n

[14] . See the Shorter Oxford Dictionary, 3rd Edition, Oxford, 1962. p. 1220.<\/em><\/h4>\n

[15]. .Ibid<\/em><\/h4>\n

[16] The Divine Comedy, Dante Alighieri.<\/em><\/h4>\n

[17] Buaben, J.M. The Image of the Prophet Muhammad in the West.<\/em><\/h4>\n

[18] . Muir, The Life of Muhammad from the Original Sources.<\/em><\/h4>\n

[19] Buaben J.M. The Image of the Prophet Muhammad in the West.<\/em><\/h4>\n

shiastudies.com\/en<\/a><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today academics have no problems in admitting the fact that the image of Muhammad often given in the West prior to the last century and a half; has been one of pure speculation and slander. In fact many scholars in the west of the past century such as Karen Armstrong and Montgomery Watt have written essays and
\narticles or even books regarding the unfair portrayal of our Prophet in Europe.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7959,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7453,7763],"tags":[19146,10822],"class_list":["post-2433","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bank-of-subjects-of-articles","category-characters","tag-muhammad-in-early-european-sources","tag-shaistudies"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shiastudies.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2433","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shiastudies.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shiastudies.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shiastudies.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shiastudies.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2433"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/shiastudies.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2433\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shiastudies.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7959"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shiastudies.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2433"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shiastudies.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2433"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shiastudies.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2433"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}