John (Trip) Adler

Historical Study A-40

Paper #1
2/11/04
The Muslim View of Christianity and the Medieval European Notions of Islam

Muslims view Christians as the closest of all religious communities to their own.

Therefore, they tend to have some respect for them and see them as being not entirely

different from themselves. What determines this view is the similarity between Muslim

and Christian beliefs, even though there are some differences. One of the most important

similarities is the devotion of oneself to God. Both Christians and Muslims consider God

and His judgment to be held if highest regard. Muslims respect the fact that priests and

monks humbly devote themselves to God and can recognize the truth in the Qur’an.

Another similarity that allows Muslims to respect Christianity is that Muslims see Jesus

as a prophet. According to the Qur’an, there are many prophets. Although Muhammad is

the most important prophet, Jesus is considered important for helping to pave the way for

Muhammad. Muslims don’t completely reject Christian scriptures, because they

repeatedly invite Christians to examine their scriptures for evidence of the coming of

Muhammad. They suggest that Jesus deserves the distinction of announcing his coming,

which shows the similarity between the two prophets. It is true that Jesus is a

controversial prophet, because he is the only prophet in the Qur’an who distanced himself

from the doctrines of his community. But it is clear that he is considered an important

prophet. For example, according to Islamic tradition, he had a miraculous pure birth and

he was lifted up to God where he remained alive until fulfilling his appointed role at the

end of time. Therefore, Muslims consider Christians as being similar to themselves

because of the ways that they regard both God and Jesus.

The medieval European notions of Islam are complex and changed over time.

Early in history, even before the founding of Islam, Christians thought of the people to

the East as wild, pillaging people, who were not Christian. Because they attacked various

empires and cities, such as Egypt and Jerusalem, they were a menace. Few questions

were asked about them, and they were simply considered barbarians. As the Latin

Christian world developed more ideological unity, the enemy only developed sharper

features. For example, when the Crusades began, Christians now had more reasons to

think of Muslims as enemies. At this time, images of Islam in books and other places

were inaccurate and made Muslims look bad. But over time, there was an increase in

factual information about Islamic world, there were more contacts between Christians

and Muslims, there was more of an appreciation for science and philosophy from the

Islamic world, and there was a gradual evolution within Western consciousness. With

these changes there gradually came to be more respect for Islam. In addition, Christians

began to realize the danger posed by the Mongols, they discovered a pagan world beyond

Islam, and there were more ideological divisions in the Christian world. These all led to

more tolerance of Islam. Therefore, over time, Christians became more tolerant and

respectful of the Islamic world.