Learned Byzantine writers knew nothing of actual Muslim beliefs
Evidence
For Roger Bacon, neither Islam nor Judaism had the support of philosophy. These were in three cases the conclusions of writers with no personal knowledge of Islam. — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 358 (
#corroborates, via linked claim)
Apart from some occasional interest in the odd Sufi writer or saint, European vogues for “the wisdom of the East” rarely included Islamic sages or poets. Omar Khayyam, Harun al-Rashid, Sindbad, Aladdin, Hajji Baba, Scheherazade, Saladin, more or less make up the entire list of Islamic figures known to modern educated Europeans. — Edward W. Said, Covering Islam, 128 (
#corroborates, via linked claim)
The consequence of this, of course, was that Ampelon got his wish to see Christ: he was taken outside the city and beheaded. The story of Ampelon serves the same purpose as that of Anthony Ruwah: to reassure its reader that the success of Islam is due to its worldliness. The Christian, for whom this world is only a trial, an exile, should patiently accept his subordinate social status, remain steadfast in his ancestral faith, and await his celestial reward. — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 372 (
#corroborates, via linked claim)
Categorization
- XREF: connects to: Christian polemicists never consulted Muslims about actual Muslim beliefs — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 1439; Medieval scholars transmitted mangled Islamic names without any direct knowledge of Islam — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 1289; Medieval writers granted Muslims virtue only as courtesy, never as real religion — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 952 (+13 more)
Broader Connections
- Medieval scholars transmitted mangled Islamic names without any direct knowledge of Islam
#corroborates(1.00) — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 1289 - Medieval writers granted Muslims virtue only as courtesy, never as real religion
#corroborates(1.00) — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 952 - Medieval Christian anti-Islamic polemics were written without personal knowledge of Islam
#corroborates(1.00) — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 358 - Medieval Christian polemicists fixated on Islam’s legal theory while knowing nothing of its practice
#corroborates(1.00) - Medieval Christian writers produced no thorough survey of Islamic morals, only fragments
#corroborates(1.00) — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 1125 - Medieval polemicists ignored known facts to fabricate Muslim heretical intent
#corroborates(1.00) - Medieval writers ignored Islamic ritual because praising it served no polemic purpose
#corroborates(1.00) - A simple martyrdom claim about Islam reached even poorly informed medieval readers
#corroborates(1.00) — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 693 - Educated Europeans knew almost no real Islamic figures beyond a handful of literary stereotypes
#corroborates(1.00) — Edward W. Said, Covering Islam, 128 - A medieval polemicist could know Muslim doctrine details yet grasp no coherent Islam
#corroborates(1.00) — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 879 - Medieval Christian descriptions of Islam omitted Qur’anic recitation entirely.
#corroborates(1.00) — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 1196 - Only well-read medieval Christians knew genuine Islamic legends
#corroborates(1.00) — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 496 - Byzantine martyr stories explained Islam’s success as mere worldly power, not truth
#corroborates(1.00) — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 372 - Medieval Christian knowledge systems failed to explain or influence Islam
#corroborates(1.00) — Edward W. Said, Orientalism, 168 - Early medieval European knowledge of Islam was thin and unverifiable
#corroborates(1.00)