Medieval Christian polemic invented a silent Muslim opponent who never objected

Evidence

There was always a Muslim ‘reader over the shoulder’; not a real one, of course, but one whom the Christian imagination created. He was unreal because he never objected to what was asserted against him. There was a remarkably wide use of the logical dilemma as a dialectical device, almost as a literary form, and there was more than a suggestion of the atmosphere of public challenge and debate. The mediaeval Latins seem always to be defending a public dissertation before favourable judges, judges whose approval has been assured in advance. It is a nightmare reversed: it is the opponent who cannot answer, except in words set in his mouth; it is a race in which the jockey on the rival horse is a dummy. Much of the literature about Islam seems to consist of debating points triumphantly enunciated and, of course, never answered, because the opponent is absent; and it is this which gives an air of unreality to so much of it. — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 1420 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Most mediaevals assumed that Islamic refusal to dispute arose from a fear of reason. It is perhaps more likely that it came, on the part of Muslim governments, from a desire to avoid trouble, and on the part of Qur’anic scholars and jurisprudents from a contempt for Christianity. None of the Latins whose knowledge of Islam was extensive made an important point with which the relatively ignorant Acqui preceded a reference to the execution of those who publicly attacked Muhammad: whoever willed, whether Christians or Jews or people of any other faith, might live in the lands of the Muslims, so long as they did not speak against the Prophet. — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 714 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Medieval anti-Islam polemic staged debates no Muslim could answer — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 1420; Islamic religious toleration was predicated on silence about Muhammad — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 714; Medieval Christian polemic offered no common ground that could persuade Muslims. — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 448 (+1 more)

Related

• Medieval anti-Islam polemic staged debates no Muslim could answer (similarity 0.89)
• Medieval disputation records were largely constructed strawman debates (similarity 0.87)
• Medieval polemic staged an imaginary Muslim opponent who could never answer (similarity 0.87)
• Islamic religious toleration was predicated on silence about Muhammad (similarity 0.86)
• The claim that Muslims refuse to dispute became Christian dogma (similarity 0.86)
• Medieval Christian polemic against Islam was ineffective self-consolation since Muslims never engaged it (similarity 0.85)
• Medieval Christian polemic offered no common ground that could persuade Muslims. (similarity 0.85)
• Muslims’ well-meaning silence in religious debates was often misread by Christians as defeat. (similarity 0.85)
• Muslim courteous silence in debates was misread as inability to answer (similarity 0.84)
• Mediaeval anti-Islamic polemics convinced neither Muslims nor Christians (similarity 0.83)
• Christian anti-Islamic polemic targeted Christian readers, not Muslims (similarity 0.82)
• Medieval anti-Islamic polemics aimed to fortify Christians rather than convert Muslims (similarity 0.82)
• Religious polemic repels the home audience more than the described adversary (similarity 0.82)
• Medieval Christian polemics against Islam were written for Christian audiences, not Muslims (similarity 0.82)
• Medieval Christian polemic constructed Islam for Christian audiences, not from Muslim sources. (similarity 0.82)

Broader Connections

• Medieval anti-Islam polemic staged debates no Muslim could answer #corroborates (0.95) — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 1420
• The claim that Muslims refuse to dispute became Christian dogma #expands (0.90)
• Islamic religious toleration was predicated on silence about Muhammad #corroborates (0.80) — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 714
• Medieval Christian polemic offered no common ground that could persuade Muslims. #expands (0.75) — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 448