Medieval anti-Islamic poetry staged Muhammad as a legislator of sexual license
Evidence
The Gospels must be changed; their law is difficult, It deems us void of sense and foolish Since it prohibits us from adultery and wantonness And it destroys marriage between blood relatives It forbids or enjoins many things through its inept rules Which you will condemn when you give more appropriate ones. For adultery and making love you will establish by law; Let food abound and let love be set free! But you should close your decree with this ending: That whatever was prohibited should now be permitted. — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 789
Categorization
Category: Factual Claims
- STORYSTEM: A polemical ‘invented charter’ voice — a ruler scripting a new lawcode that merely reverses every prohibition — could work as a satire device or a speculative story about a law founded on pure negation, maybe in a fictional kingdom.
- CANDY: Medieval poets wrote fake divine decrees for Muhammad that simply say ‘whatever was forbidden is now allowed’ — a neat party-line jab at ‘softening the law’ narratives.