European understanding of Islam was ignorant but complex until the early eighteenth century

Evidence

John is one of the first significant theologians to possess a fairly accurate knowledge of Islam based on firsthand familiarity with Islam’s sacred texts. He correctly recalls important Islamic beliefs, such as the oneness of God, Jesus as the Word of God and a prophet, Jesus’ miraculous birth, the denial of Jesus’ crucifixion, the Qur’an as God’s revelation to humanity, and so forth. A greater knowledge of Islam, however, does not make him a more benevolent interpreter of Islam. John’s agenda is not to provide an impartial description of Islam but to assist Christians who, as dhimmis, need help in their efforts to survive the pervasive claims of Islam and to resist the impulse to convert. The more Christians can see Islam as a perversion of the Christian gospel, the better equipped they will be to maintain steadfastness in the faith. — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 132 (#qualifies, via linked claim)

If the following historical overview demonstrates anything, it is that both discontinuity and continuity characterize the link between premodern and modern hostilities toward Islam. The most obvious discontinuity involves the overt theological interpretations of Islam at work in the Middle Ages, such as the common medieval conviction that Islam was a form of Christian heresy. By the time we reach the modern era, Western critics are much less concerned with demonizing Islam in order to promote and protect a particular version of orthodox Christianity. An important continuity pertains to the political rationale behind presenting Muslims as the ultimate enemies. From the Middle Ages to the twenty-first century, the West has feared Muslims because it has seen them as significant obstacles and threats to the building and preservation of Western empires and nations. Put simply, Western perceptions of Muslims as religious and political rivals drive most of the antagonistic renderings of Islam throughout history, with political rationales increasingly dominating religious ones in the modern period. — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 106 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Accurate knowledge of Islam did not soften early Christian hostility toward it — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 132; European study of Islam originated in fear, not curiosity.; Modern Orientalism derives from secularizing elements in eighteenth-century European thought (+6 more)

Related

• European study of Islam originated in fear, not curiosity. (similarity 0.93)
• Western hostility to Islam shifted from theological to political rationales across the centuries (similarity 0.89)
• Ottoman decline opened non-hostile European study of Islam (similarity 0.86)
• The fear of Islam intensified amid Ottoman decline and colonial expansion (similarity 0.85)
• Before the Enlightenment, educated Europeans regarded Islam with curiosity rather than contempt (similarity 0.85)
• Accurate knowledge of Islam did not soften early Christian hostility toward it (similarity 0.85)
• European study of Islam originates in fear, not curiosity, and that hostility persists today. (similarity 0.84)
• Medieval theological justification for opposing Muslims has faded in Europe. (similarity 0.84)
• Western attitudes to Islam have shifted across history rather than forming a constant clash. (similarity 0.84)
• Even the most learned, sympathetic Orientalists converged on Islam’s latent inferiority (similarity 0.82)
• Islamophobia has been present in Western discourse since the Middle Ages, when negative stereotypes about Muslims helped build support for the Crusades and rationalized European colonial domination. (similarity 0.82)
• Early Christian writings about Islam existed before any real contact with Muslims. (similarity 0.82)
• By the early 1900s nearly all of the Muslim world fell under European rule (similarity 0.82)
• Eighteenth-century Europeans ranked Islam as a civilization on par with Christendom (similarity 0.82)
• Islam served as Europe’s constitutive outsider against which its civilization defined itself (similarity 0.81)

Broader Connections

• Accurate knowledge of Islam did not soften early Christian hostility toward it #qualifies (0.82) — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 132
• Western hostility to Islam shifted from theological to political rationales across the centuries #expands (0.82) — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 106
• European study of Islam originated in fear, not curiosity. #contradicts (0.78)
• Modern Orientalism derives from secularizing elements in eighteenth-century European thought #qualifies (0.75)
• Ottoman decline opened non-hostile European study of Islam #contradicts (0.75) — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 160
• Christian thinking forced Islam into Christian analogical categories, misrepresenting it #exemplifies (0.73)
• Eternalised historical stereotypes render Islamophobia without a discernible beginning or end #qualifies (0.72) — Chris Allen, Islamophobia, 887
• The oppressed-Muslim-woman trope emerged in 18th-19th century Europe, not earlier #qualifies (0.72)