Medieval Christians imagined Islam’s closeness to Christianity via shared hatred of Jews

Evidence

Here, then, is the crucial distinction between the depiction of Jews and Muslims in medieval literature, which otherwise correspond in many respects: the Muslim community is located outside, on the outer borders of the Christian community, and therefore is repudiated, as it were, at a distance; the Jewish community, by contrast, is located both outside and inside, within the Christian community itself, and must therefore be repudiated by being abjected from within. — Ivan Davidson Kalmar, Derek Penslar, Orientalism and the Jews, 228 (#complicates, via linked claim)

There can be no doubt of the extent of Christian hatred and suspicion of Muslims. The occurrence of occasional favourable comparison between Christendom and Islam, generally with a satiric intent, must not suggest a general attitude. On the contrary, the general attitude among those who had_no personal knowledge of Muslims, and often of those who had, was one of hatred; and we have seen in some detail the high degree of suspicion felt by those responsible for Christendom’s relations with Muslims. Even passing references to Muhammad are often couched in superlatives such as vilisstmus. — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 1477 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Medieval Christianity treated Jews and Muslims as interchangeable heretics; Medieval Christians constructed Islam and Judaism as mutual templates — Ivan Davidson Kalmar, Derek Penslar, Orientalism and the Jews, 235; Medieval Christians conflated Jews and Muslims into shared monster figures — Sophia Rose Arjana, Muslims in the Western Imagination, 162 (+14 more)

Broader Connections

• Medieval Christianity repudiated Muslims at a distance but Jews from within #complicates (0.90) — Ivan Davidson Kalmar, Derek Penslar, Orientalism and the Jews, 228
• Medieval Christian hostility toward Islam was generalized hatred, not nuanced comparison #complicates (0.87) — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 1477