Early Christian accounts of Islam were written without any contact with Muslims

Evidence

In writings about Islam penned by famous Christians like Jerome and Bede, it is worth remembering that much of the so-called knowledge produced about Islam was based on folk tales about monsters and mythical narratives about the East and its associated mysteries. These early works were nothing but musings and conjecture, written by individuals who had never opened the pages of a Qur’an or met a Muslim. — Sophia Rose Arjana, Muslims in the Western Imagination, 143

Categorization

• BMF: The image-before-contact thesis aligns with the very premise of “2001: A Space Odyssey” — a manufactured image (the monoliths) preceding and driving understanding of what is unprecedented, a form of fear-without-an-object.
• SEED: Direct evidence toward an essay exploring how authoritative knowledge can be built entirely on conjecture and folk tale — the ‘fear without an object’ thesis names the causal engine.
• DEEPTHINKING: This is the chapter’s thesis moment: canonical authorities (Jerome, Bede) manufactured ‘knowledge’ about Islam from pure speculation, never reading a Qur’an or meeting a Muslim. It anchors the reader’s whole inquiry — the monster preceded the man.
• XREF: connects to: The social character of Islamic practice went unrecognized by medieval Christian writers; Christian polemicists never consulted Muslims about actual Muslim beliefs — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 1439