Medieval Christian writers garbled the hajj with a backwards account of the stone-throwing ritual.
Evidence
Muhammad also taught them that every year they should betake themselves to the House of God, which is in the city of Mecca, to pray and give thanks, and that they should make the circuit of it, wearing seamless garments; and should throw stones between their trouser-legs, to roll over the pavement of the House, so that as they say, the demon should be stoned by them. — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 1213
Categorization
Category: Factual Claims
- ADDENDUM: Connects to the cross-cultural misunderstanding theme in ‘Complaints About Immodesty Go Way Back’ — the seamless garment detail is dress-related and the whole passage is about how outsiders misread ritual practice, parallel to how moral panics over dress reflected outsiders’ misreadings.