Medieval authors only praised Islam after predicting its imminent extinction.

Evidence

This assertion of a swift and inevitable victory of Christianity over Islam makes his positive presentation of Islam and Muslims less problematic. There are good rulers on both sides, such as ‘Umar and Saint Louis, and there are bad rulers, such as Frederick II and Baybars. Yet Muslim piety, and Muslim reverence for Christ and Mary, can be presented in an unapologetically positive light. It is indeed only after repeated assertions that the Saracen faith is near extinction that De statu goes into describing it. — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 1067

Categorization

• XREF: The rhetorical pattern — flattering a doomed rival — echoes how Renaissance texts could praise Islamic civilization only as a fallen or vanishing one; connects to postcolonial critique of nostalgia for a superseded East.
• DEEPTHINKING: The insight that positive representation is licensed only by the assurance of the other’s extinction is a powerful and subtle mechanism — the praise covets and contains simultaneously, relevant far beyond medieval polemics.