Even educated medieval thinkers reduced Islam to terror and lust

Evidence

Alan has clearly culled his ideas from a hostile Christian biography of Muhammad; he later asserts that his corpse was devoured by dogs. He gleaned from this reading the notion that Islam is a depraved cult based on carnal pleasure. This is the gist of most of Alan’s anti-Islamic arguments: he lambasts the Muslims for asserting that God impregnated the Virgin through a material breath (flatus materialis). They hope for carnal pleasures in heaven, interpreting literally the biblical promises of a land of milk and honey. They practice ablutions thinking that water—rather than contrition and confession—can wash away sin. They justify their polygamy by citing the example of the Old Testament patriarchs, when in fact they merely want to satisfy their lust. The Saracens, along with the Jews, misinterpret Old Testament prohibitions against idolatry and polygamy, erroneously accusing Christians of idolatrous worship of images of the saints. — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 882 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: The crudest Muslim-idol beliefs flourished among the illiterate; Twelfth-century polemics reduced Islam to a carnal cult of lust — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 882; Medieval Christian polemicists framed Islam as lust-driven heresy rather than separate religion (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• Twelfth-century polemics reduced Islam to a carnal cult of lust #corroborates (0.95) — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 882
• Medieval Christian polemicists framed Islam as lust-driven heresy rather than separate religion #corroborates (0.95)