Christian views of Islam grew from dhimmi resistance arguments against Muslim rule

Evidence

The portrayals of Islam presented in this book found their first expression in the defensive ruminations of Christian dhimmis subjected to a vigorous new Muslim empire. The earliest Christian authors to describe the Muslim conquest and dominion of the Christian Roman empire reiterated the standard topoi used since the Hebrew prophets to explain their subjugation: the Muslim invader was a scourge sent by God to punish his wayward flock. As Christians got to know Islam better, and as they saw with growing alarm that their correligionaries were converting to Islam, they portrayed the rival faith as a Christological heresy, a worldly religion cleverly crafted by the cunning heresiarch Muhammad to dupe an uncouth and lascivious people into following him. — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 1358 (#expands, via linked claim)

Riccoldo feels the attraction of Muslim civilization—its wealth, culture, learning; indeed, this attraction makes it all the more necessary for him to affirm his Christian identity, to argue for the superiority of Christianity over the “Saracen perfidy.” Christendom is in peril, and Riccoldo needs to reassure his reader (and himself) that God is still on the Christians’ side. To do so, he has to explain Islam’s role in Christian history and to define it theologically. — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 46 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Martyrdom hagiography reassured dhimmi Christians by framing Islam as worldly and Christianity as otherworldly; Dhimmi bishops mediated between Christian flocks and Muslim rulers for mutual gain.; Medieval Christian portrayals of Islam grew from conquered dhimmi anxieties about apostasy — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 1358 (+12 more)

Broader Connections

• Medieval Christian portrayals of Islam grew from conquered dhimmi anxieties about apostasy #expands (0.96) — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 1358
• Admiration for Muslim civilization intensified Christian theological opposition to Islam #complicates (0.84) — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 46
• Christian thinking forced Islam into Christian analogical categories, misrepresenting it #complicates (0.82)
• Christian depictions of Islam in both conventions derive from Christian perceptions of Judaism #complicates (0.80) — Ivan Davidson Kalmar, Derek Penslar, Orientalism and the Jews, 234