Christian hagiographers explained Islam’s military success as mere worldliness rather than divine favor

Evidence

Alfonsi, following the Risâlat al-Kindî, uses the legend of Muhammad’s failed resurrection to help explain the successes of Islam: After Muhammad’s death, everyone wished to abandon his Law. — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 808 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

In connection with miracles there was yet another association of ideas: the place of miracles was supplied by force of arms, said Marti; not successfully, he pointed out, at Uhud.§* The first spread of Islam, the conversion of the world to Christianity, were contrasted under this aspect. There was pleasure in the Prophet’s wounds at Uhud, because they disproved the claim that angels guarded him. … Muslims’ claim that he did work miracles was an admission that they were necessary, and al-Farabi openly admitted this. — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 430 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Medieval believers read military victory as divine judgment on the merits of faiths; Muslims read military conquest as divine favor and proof of true faith; Martyrdom hagiography reassured dhimmi Christians by framing Islam as worldly and Christianity as otherworldly (+17 more)

Broader Connections

• Medieval Christians read Muslim military success as divine judgment favoring Islam #contradicts (1.00) — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 47
• Muslim military success suggested to Christians that Muhammad’s theology might be divinely favored #contradicts (1.00) — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 1242
• Martyrdom hagiography framed Islam as worldly and Christianity as otherworldly #expands (1.00)
• Christian polemicists explained Islam’s worldly success via Muhammad’s failed-prophet legend #corroborates (1.00) — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 808
• Christian polemic framed Islam as this-worldly and Christianity as otherworldly #corroborates (1.00) — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 366
• Medieval Christian polemic read Islam’s spread as force, not miracle #corroborates (1.00) — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 430
• Islam’s military success forced Christians to reinterpret church history as corruption #complicates (0.90) — Carl W. Ernst, Islamophobia in America_ The Anatomy of…, 166
• Islam’s self-perception of triumph mirrored Christian imperial self-regard #complicates (0.70) — Bernard Lewis, From Babel to Dragomans, 665
• Islam was judged deficient for differing from Christian structures #complicates (0.70) — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 1266
• Medieval Christian accounts of Islamic ablution garbled Arabic units and doctrine #complicates (0.70) — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 2333
• Divine-command ethics did not entail theistic tyranny in Islam #complicates (0.70) — Wael Hallaq, Restating Orientalism, 515
• Christianity constituted Islam as a threat to its core unexamined beliefs #complicates (0.70) — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 1397
• The Christian image of Islam served Christian self-understanding, not Islam itself #complicates (0.70) — Edward W. Said, Orientalism, 165
• Christians found virtuous Muslim deeds impressive precisely because they deemed them vain #complicates (0.70) — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 1278
• Medieval Christian readers could see Islamic theology as mere difference of tone #complicates (0.70)