ISLAM AND EUROPE
• Clear asymmetry between the concepts „Islam“ and
„Europe“
• Islam played a role in the formation of an European
identity
• Some historians called the Prophet „founder of Europe“
(through We/Them discourse)
• Muslims as „hereditary rival“
Development of European Images
•
•
•
•
Islam was a problem for Europe from its rise
Both worlds have been serious challenges to each other
During the first millennium of confrontation European Christians persisted
largely in ignorance
The Quran was available in Latin translation from the 12th century – translator
Robert of Ketton under supervision of Peter the Venerable (1092-1156) (under
the title „Lex Mahumet pseudoprophete“):
INCIPIT LEX SARACENORUM, QUAM ALCORAN VOCANT, ID EST,
collectionem praeceptorum.
AZOARA PRIMA
Misericordi pioque Deo, universitatis creatori, iudicium cuius postremo die
expectat(ur), voto simplici nos humiliemus, adorantes ipsum sueque manus
suffragium semiteque donum et dogma qua suos ad se benivolos nequaquam
hostes et erroneos adduxit, iugiter sentiamus.
• Medieval history is full of prejudices on both sides
• reasons for the continuity of prejudices lie in the transmission of
"knowledge" and the constant nature of the problem (the same
differences between Islam and Christianity - the same mutual
criticism)
• although at the beginning Christian communities lived in dar alIslam, they have been very isolated
→ in the context of life in fear the enemy's ideas about faith
twisted and joined the myths (absorbed and adapted by the
Latin West)
• already in the 4th century Ammianus Marcellinus (Latin historian)
wrote about Arabs – criticism of nomadism, laziness, lack of laws
• Isidore of Seville (560-636) „they live in a vast desert, they are
Ismaelites, because they came from Ishmael, and Hagarites
because of Hagar. They are mistakenly called Saracens, because
they boast that they came from Sarah"
• There were some philosophical works known in medieval times –
theological or legal ones far less.
• Exception of some Dominican houses, centers of Islamic studies in
Spain in the 13th century (they disappeared in later centuries)
• Conquista a reconquista, the Crusades, the spread of European
power in the last two centuries: these processes create and
maintain a position of suspicion and hostility on both sides.
• Theological differences make the situation even worse.
• Muslims could understand Christianity as just part of the process
that culminated in the arrival of Muhammad (but Muhammad and
his message was refused by Christians)
• basic doctrines of Islam included certain truths in the eyes of
Christians, but more falsehood - Christians found it hard to
understand why Islam exists and what role it plays in God's plan.
• In the second half of the 20th century several publications on the
development of Christian attitudes
Daniel, N. 1960, Islam and the West: the Making of an Image,
Edinburgh.
Southern, R. W.1962, Western Views of Islam in the Middle
Ages, Cambridge.
- Christian thinkers could not regarded Muhammad as an
authentic prophet. Unlike Jesus he did not foretell future events
and rejected the essence of Christianity - the resurrection,
incarnation and the Trinity. In addition, he built the "kingdom" of
this world by sword and violence. Islam therefore could not
crown/overcome Christian message.
- It could be a form of paganism, Jewish or Christian heresy that
deserves study only in order to detect the error, or to determine its
place among other heresies.
• Creating a Christian attitude towards Islam did not take long - a
century
• Perhaps the first thinker systematically studying Islam was the St.
John of Damascus (675-749).
The main work „Source of knowledge“ (Islam as a 101st heresy)
his works is not a political polemic, but a serious attempt to refute
errors. Other work „Debate between Saracen and Christian“
(perhaps not authentic) denies the prophetic mission of
Muhammad.
• The Western Church had to wait for differentiated serious study although in 1312 the church council in Vienna decided to establish a
place for the teaching of Arabic, Greek and Hebrew at Oxford,
Bologna, Avignon and Salamanca
• Without any real knowledge of exotic opponent Europe was forced to
fight him. The combination of fear and ignorance was behind the
creation of many legends, absurd and defamatory:
•
•
•
•
- Muslims are worshipers of idols, praying to a
false trinity
- Muhammad was a magician, even a cardinal of
the Roman Church who due to unsatisfied ambition
to become Pope founded his own church, etc.
- Muhammad as epileptic, lunatic
San Pedro Pascual (Petrus Paschasius) 1227-1300 –
Sobre el seta mahometana, Contra los fatalistas
mahometanos
Roger Bacon (1214-1294) came to the conclusion
that Muhammad was possessed by the devil
Václav Budovec z Budova (1551-1621):
Antialkorán, mighty and invincible evidences that
Turkish Alkoran came from devil because of Arians
and that it is conscious blasphemy against the Holy
Spirit
Only in the twelfth century origins of serious study
of Islam - mainly in Spain
•
Dante Alighieri (1265-1321): The Divine Comedy,
Muhammad and Ali in the ninth hell's level for
religious dissenters (Saladin and Avicenna placed in
the first circle, Limbo)
…see how mangled is Mohammed!
ahead of me proceeds Ali, in tears
his face split open from his chin to forelock
•
•
•
•
Some of the medieval attitudes persist to our times
the 16th century gave a new dimension to it –
Reformation
At this time, Islam is still feared, still widely
misunderstood and often used for polemical
purposes within the Church
Martin Luther often referred to Islam as a
movement of violence in the service of Anti-Christ
- together with the Pope, the Turks are the main
enemy of Christ and of the Holy Church.
•
•
•
•
•
•
Nicholas of Cusa (d. 1464) , " De cribratione Coran " - a critical
examination of the Quran - searching for the hidden truths of the
Gospel (with aim to convince Arabs to accept truths of Christianity)
Erasmus of Rotterdam (1466-1536) considered Muslims as „halfChristians“ and called for moderation
Since the Enlightenment, Islam is criticized as an obstacle to progress
Representatives of the Enlightenment used old prejudices as a tools to
attack the Church
- Voltair - drama „Fanaticism, or the Prophet Muhammad“ - a
theocratic tyrant abusing people for his personal interests
- In Diderot's Encyclopedia – entries Mahométisme, Muslim
(nonsenses)
1883 Ernest Renan in his lecture on Islam and science:
Anyone who was in the East or in Africa is affected by the narrow
spirit of the true believer, by that iron ring that encircles his head
making him closed to science, unable to learn anything or open up a
new idea .
Although not so sharply, the idea of Islam as an obstacle on the way
to the modern world (as opposition to the social and economic
development) occurs often today. It seems that it was created
(revived) mainly as a product of imperialism.
• An example of a recognition of the Islamic faith may be a letter of
Pope Gregory VII. (d. 1086) addressed to Muslim prince in
Algeria, al-Nasser from the year 1076:
... We owe each other more than other nations, because we believe
in and confess one single God, though in different ways, and we
praise Him and pray to Him every day as the creator and ruler of
the world.
- He probably wanted to protect Christian communities in North
Africa and to benefit from Mediterranean trade
• Propaganda and the creation of hostile stereotypes - Historical
bridgehead of today's Islamophobia
- present success of the same prejudices, legends (e.g. the
destruction of the Alexandrian library by Amr b. al-As as a proof
of Arab barbarism - while the first mention comes in Tarikh alhukama of Ibn al-Qifti in 13.st.)
• In early Middle Ages „Saracen“ was the most often used
designation for Muslims – uncertain ethymology
- sons of Sarah
- from sharq – east
- from sharúq (desert wind)
- from sharika (society)
- from saraqa (to steal), sarráq (plunderer)
• Also Hagarens, Ismaelites
• rejection of labeling any Muslim names with religious
connotations, instead favoring ethnic names that should
cover up the real status of Muslims - Saracens, Moors
(from the Greek mauros - dark), Turks, Tatars
List of important contacts / fronts
• early expansion of the Islamic empire - Syria and Palestine
between 633 and 640, 639-642 Egypt, North Africa in 665, 654
Cyprus, the siege of Constantinople 674-678 and 717-718, Spain
711
• Frankish chronicler Fredegarius around 658 mentions the spread
of Islam in Asia
• beginning of the 8th century - Frankish priest Petr translated from
Greek into Latin text, which speaks of the fact that Ismaelites of
the Desert "Ethribum" (Jathrib) conquered the Orient, landed in
Sicily - should it be a sign of the arrival of the Antichrist
• 8th century Spain, southern France (718 Narbonne and Toulouse,
721 Nimes, Carcassonne 725, 730 Rhone Valley)
• 732 Battle of Poitiers (Balat al-shuhada), 734 occupied Avignon,
737 unsuccessful expedition into Burgundy – king Charles Martell
(688-741) (religious connotations of these robber expeditions were
secondary) - the dynamics of Islamic expansion has been almost
exhausted
• at the turn of the 8th and 9 century stabilization of
the border in Spain, 801 Barcelona conquered by
Louis the Pious (border - roughly Ebro, Duero
respectively - survived into the 11th century, later
Tajo)
• between 765 to 768 contacts between the Caliph
Jafar al-Mansur (754-775) and Pepin the Short
(752-768)
• 797 Charlemagne (Aix-la-Chapelle) sent an envoy
for Harun ar-Rashid (786-809)
• with moving the center of caliphate from Damascus
to Baghdad less interest in "Western Europe"
(except for al-Andalus because of Umayyad
survivor Abdurrahman)
• in Europe, the crisis has deepened with the arrival
of the Vikings in the 9th and early 10th century
(844 plunder of Sevilla) - at the same time
disintegration of the Abbasid Caliphate – Aghlabids
in Tunisia who in 827 began a campaign against
Sicily
• Muslims were not the only players in the
Mediterranean (Normans), time distance (through
repetition and epic) could exaggerate their role –
e.g. Henri Pirenne (Mohammed and
Charlemagne, 1937) - because of Muslim threats
(especially piracy in the Mediterranean Sea)
Western Europe fell, became an agricultural ..
• in the ancient times Mediterranean sea ("mare
nostrum„) - was the center of the Roman Empire thus North Africa was considered part of Europe
• Ibn Churradadhbih (9th century) - Urúfa includes
al-Andalus, the land of the Slavs, Rum
(Byzantines) and Franks and land from Tangiers
to Egypt
• from 8th century naval raids into Greece, Sicily
(then here in the 13th century Frederick II.
Ordered to translate Arabic works), Sardinia
(from North Africa and Spain), 827 conquest of
Crete, Malta 870
•
Based on very sharply perceived delineation between the Islamic and
Christian world the idea of a European identity was shaped
CRUSADES
• contributed to the growth of a sense of European identity, but also to its
negative definition towards the Islamic civilization
• 1. crusade – 1095 (Urban II.) 1099 conquest of Jerusalem (loss 1187) –
rise of County of Edessa, Principality of Antioch, County of Tripoli and
Kingdom of Jerusalem (1099-1291)
2. crusade (Eugene III) 1146-49 (1147 Lisboa, Tortosa)
3. crusade (Gregory VIII) 1187-1192
4. crusade (Innocent III) 1202-1204
5. crusade 1217-1221 (Honorius III)
6. crusade 1229 (Gregory IX)
Jerusalem captured again ( Fridrich II.), lost 1244
7. crusade 1248-1254 (Innocent IV)
(captivity of Louis IX.)
8. crusade 1270
9. crusade 1271-1272 (Gregory X)
Hillenbrand, Carole (1999): The Crusades: Islamic Perspective.
Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
Usáma Ibn Munkiz (12th century): Kitab al-itibar
Expansion of Ottoman Empire
• expansion in the Balkans in the mid-14th century
1385 occupation of Sofia, 1389 Battle of Kosovo (Serbian Prince
Lazar defeated) - Crusade sent by the Emperor Sigismund of
Luxembourg defeated at Nicopolis in 1396
• 1453 Fatih Mehmet conquered Constantinople
• 1526 victory over Louis II of Hungary in Mohacs battle
• 1529 failure at Vienna, but ruled a large part of Hungary
- turnover in the balance of forces after the second unsuccessful
siege of Vienna in 1683
Ferdinand Maxmilian
Brokoff, 1714
- Statue at Charles
bridge, Prague
19th century
• Decline of Ottoman empire
• clear superiority of the West, a prelude to the colonial future
• number of local conflicts, pressure to local political reforms in the
Middle East (M. Ali - Tahtáwí, Mehmet II - Abdulmecit I.)
• impetus for the Islamic Revival
• in Europe changing views on Islam - increased interest of
Christians in Islam (missionary activity)
• development of serious Oriental studies (Islamic studies, Middle
Eastern studies…)
Colonialism
- among consequences - large-scale immigration, expansion of
political Islam to extremism, resentment towards the West
• Part of the conflict with "hereditary enemy" may be ignorance of
the contribution of Muslim science (culture) for Europe of the
modern period
- it is strange that we have so long "concealed" this contribution =
the myth of the Renaissance (or the "scientific revolution")
- The concept of Middle Ages appears for the first time at the turn
of the 14th and 15 century
→ ten centuries of darkness - the science has not been present in the
Middle Ages, now grows directly from the ancient world???
This raises questions like:
- Why Europe waited until 12th century to its resurgence?
- Why the first men of European science appeared suddenly in
12th century and later?
- Why pumping Greek learning through Arabic and not directly
from the available Greek and Latin versions?
etc.
Examples of „blindness“
• „Miguel Servetus (1511-1553) as discoverer of pulmonary circulation“ – in
„Christianismi restitutio“ z 1553
- several „independent“ discoverers inspirated by Galenos (129-200) in short
period of time (eg. Realdus Columbus 1559)
- Ibn an-Nafís (1213-1288) doubted ideas of Galenos, in the commentary to
Avicenna’s anatomy he described pulmonary circulation
- published 1547 in Venice (translated by Alpagos) Ebenefis philosophi ac
medici expositio super quintum Canonem Avicennae ab Andrea Alpago
Bellunensi
• Modern, on experiment based science was born in Europe
- e.g. Crombie, Alistair (1953) Robert Grossteste and the Origins of
Experimental Science, 1100-1700. Oxford: Clarendon Press. / (1990) Science,
Optics and Music in Medieval and Early Modern Thought. London:
Hambledon.
- Jabir b. Hayyan (721-815) – first rule (in chemistry) is practical work and
experiments
- Ibn al-Haytham (965-1040) – „modern“ scientific methods, conclusions must
be based on undertaken evidences
- Arab saying: Is’al mujarrib wa la tas’al tabíb
Channels of transmission
Contacts of scientists, monarchs…
• Pope Sylvester II. (Gerbert of Aurillac 930-1003) studied mathematics
and astronomy in Catalonia (then founded a school in Reims)
• Petrus Alphonsi (Spanish Jew), after the conquest of Zaragoza in 1118
converted to Christianity and spread knowledge of cosmology,
meteorology, psychology and medicine in France and England
• Jews - "distributors of Arab wisdom" (wherever they settled, a
remarkable development followed)
- Hasday b. Sháprút was a court physician and envoy of
Abdurrahmán III, al-Mutamid in Seville invited astronomer Isaac
ben Baruch…
- schools in Lucena, Toledo, Barcelona, Granada - their departure
in the 11th and 12th century to southern France and Italy
• Monarchs - Alfonso X (1252-1284) - translation school in Toledo,
Frederick II. (1194-1250), Sicily
• Pilgrims, mozarabs coming from Spain, mudéjares (medicine)
Places of contact
• Due to intense trade– Pisa, Florence, Genoa, Venice, Sicily,
Marseille, Mallorca, Montpellier ↔ Tunis, Tripolis, Ceuta, Oran
• Lorraine (northeastern France) - from 10th century
• Salerno – 11th century (Constantinus Africanus 1020-1087)
• Spain
• Sicily (Roger II – Muhammad al-Idrísí, Frederick II)
• Southern France
Development of Oriental studies
• The first systematic study of Islam and its history in
Western Europe in the late 16th century
• 1587 began regular teaching of Arabic at the Collège de
France in Paris (the first two professors were physicians)
• 1613 positions for Arabic at the University of Leiden
• 1632 Cambridge
• 1634 Oxford
• Since that time serious study of Arab sources
• George Sale (1697-1736) - the first "accurate" translation of the
Quran into English
• Simon Ockley (1678-1720) - History of the Saracens, more
positive image of Muhammad
• In the 19th century development of comparative philology
(linguistics today) - closely connected with biblical criticism – the
same methods applied to the Qur'an
• Edward Gibbon (1737-1794) – The History of the Decline and
Fall of the Roman Empire - part devoted to Muhammad and the
rise of Islam from the rich resources of European scientists and
travelers (distinction between Meccan and Medina period)
• William Muir (1819-1905), a British officer in India, then rector of
the University of Edinburgh - Muhammad's Life – for a long time
standard English book on the subject.
- bad qualities of Muhammad, Islam misinterpreted previous
revelation
• In contrast Frederick.D. Maurice (1805-1872), a leading
theologian of the Anglican Church - recognizes a certain
originality of Islam
• 19th century brought the development of Islamic studies
(part of Hebrew and Biblical Studies) based on the study
of texts and to a limited extent on direct observations.
- separate discipline in 20th century (Encyclopaedia
of Islam, first edition 1913-1938)
• In this still weak tradition discoveries and ideas of
scientists from Leiden, Paris, Leipzig… were passed
through students.
- The influence of these centers was particularly strong
in German-speaking countries
• Among the most important German scientists H.
Fleischer (1801-1888) and T. Nöldeke (1836-1930)
• Cambridge and Oxford for a long time on the periphery
• Oxford got into the mainstream due to works and
activities of Hamilton A. R. Gibb (1895-1971) Studies on
the Civilisation of Islam
• Until the mid-20th century the Islamic Studies in UK
missed a solid institutional basis - then establishment of
The School of Oriental and African Studies
• 19th century saw the emergence of an
international system for the exchange of ideas
and information
• scientific societies: The Royal Asiatic Society,
London, 1823, Société Asiatique in Paris, 1822,
Deutsche Gesellschaft Morgenlandische, 1845,
each with its journal
• Groups of scientists cataloged manuscripts and
edited selected important works of theology, law,
history and literature
• Some, e.g. Alois Musil (1868-1944), traveled
and brought valuable information about the
topography and monuments of the Middle East
• The most important figure in the formation of
European ideas about Islam was Ignaz Goldziher.
He applied critical method on the hadith (sunna)
- work Introduction to Islamic Theology and Law
• The most important figure for
Leiden was C. Snouck Hurgronje
(1857-1936) – Mekka in the Latter
Part of the 19th Century
- undermines Western stereotypes Islam is a living and changing
reality. Important note:
It is a mistake to assume that the
Muslim law always really dominated
culture or that remained in close
touch with the needs of society.
• In France, Louis Massignon (18831962) Passion of al-Hallaj: Mystic
And Martyr in Islam – on Islamic
mysticism
• In the 20th century, more and more emphasis on
examining Islam as a living system of practices within
the specific societies
• This change was supported by the interest of major
universities in USA
• European and American research also showed more
interest in the folk Islam, particularly the Sufi orders
• The end of the 20th century - in the context of Islamic
studies in the West are also „others“ finally heard
• Science is now more about cooperation and dialogue
• Unlike in the past, many of the members of important
conferences (e.g. Middle East Studies Association of
North America) are now from Muslim countries
• Development of anthropology of Islam