Medieval Christians understood Islam only as a distorted copy of Christianity

Evidence

Only a reader who was already well-informed would have been able to pick out the statements that were true. There was not even much interest. There was practically no systematic comparison of the interior life of the two religions. What interest did exist was genuine, but it was very limited. Christendom was relatively indifferent to what did not touch immediate Christian interests. This is not to say that there was no perception at all of the realities of Islamic spiritual practices; but these had little significance except as a contrast or a foil to the ways of Christians. Islam was always a reflection, often a muddied reflection, of what was familiar at home. In the consciousness of mediaeval writers, it was never inherently attractive or by its nature edifying. Even when Muslims were seen to obey the divine law in morals, it was usual to interpret Islam as a falling short of being Christian. — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 1280 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

My point, however, is to emphasize the truth that the Orientalist, as much as anyone in the European West who thought about or experienced the Orient, performed this kind of mental operation. But what is more important still is the limited vocabulary and imagery that impose themselves as a consequence. The reception of Islam in the West is a perfect case in point, and has been admirably studied by Norman Daniel. One constraint acting upon Christian thinkers who tried to understand Islam was an analogical one; since Christ is the basis of Christian faith, it was assumed—quite incorrectly—that Mohammed was to Islam as Christ was to Christianity. Hence the polemic name “Mohammedanism” given to Islam, and the automatic epithet “imposter” applied to Mohammed. — Edward W. Said, Orientalism, 165 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

It was natural for Christian thinkers to interpret the unfamiliar and unexpected phenomenon of Islam in terms of what was familiar to them already. Therefore they tended to present Islam to themselves not as a new religion, but rather as the variant of an old heresy. … As Richard Southern has observed: ‘There was only one way in which this chaos (as it must have appeared) of truth and falsehood could be treated by a twelfth-century thinker if it were to be brought within the range of his equipment: it must be treated as a heresy, more mysterious in its operation than other heresies which had appeared in the course of Christian history, but like them a more or less deliberate perversion of the true faith, which required refutation by the ordinary rules of argument.’ — Robert Irwin, For Lust of Knowing, 48 (#exemplifies, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: By 1250 the unity-of-God doctrine was common Christian knowledge about Islam; Medieval Christians saw Islam as salvation by faith without works; Medieval Christian views of Islam mixed praise with condemnation. — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 1124 (+11 more)

Related

• Medieval Christian distaste, not ignorance, distorted portrayals of Islam (similarity 0.90)
• Medieval Christians viewed Islam only as a negative foil to Christianity (similarity 0.89)
• By 1250 the unity-of-God doctrine was common Christian knowledge about Islam (similarity 0.89)
• Mediaeval Christians knew Islam only as a foil to Christianity (similarity 0.88)
• Christians misread Islamic ritual by assuming it mirrored their own (similarity 0.87)
• Medieval educated opinion did not regard Muslims as idolaters (similarity 0.87)
• The social character of Islamic practice went unrecognized by medieval Christian writers (similarity 0.87)
• Christians understood Islam only through the distorting analogy of Christ (similarity 0.87)
• Medieval Christians saw Islam as salvation by faith without works (similarity 0.87)
• Medieval Christians valued Qur’anic Christ references over Islamic monotheism (similarity 0.87)
• Medieval Christians weaponized accurate Islamic learning for polemics (similarity 0.87)
• Medieval Christian views of Islam mixed praise with condemnation. (similarity 0.86)
• Medieval Christians understood Islam through preexisting biblical categories rather than direct encounter (similarity 0.86)
• Medieval Christian accounts of Islam’s origins recycled a few basic narrative permutations (similarity 0.86)
• Christian polemists preferred their own readings over traditional Islamic interpretation (similarity 0.86)

Broader Connections

• Medieval Christians viewed Islam only as a negative foil to Christianity #corroborates (1.00) — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 1280
• Christians understood Islam only through the distorting analogy of Christ #corroborates (0.90) — Edward W. Said, Orientalism, 165
• Medieval Christians framed Islam as an old heresy rather than a new religion #exemplifies (0.85) — Robert Irwin, For Lust of Knowing, 48
• Medieval Christians understood Islam through preexisting biblical categories rather than direct encounter #expands (0.80) — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 88
• Medieval Christians saw Islamic Christology as true yet fatally uncomprehending of key terms #qualifies (0.80) — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 923
• Islam’s selective agreement with Christianity defied medieval categorization #complicates (0.80) — R. W. Southern, Western Views of Islam in the Middle…, 29
• Medieval Christians read the Qur’an as inadvertent testimony to Christian truth #exemplifies (0.80) — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 1079
• Both medieval Christianity and Islam defined each other by disagreement, not overlap #qualifies (0.75) — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 1080
• Medieval Christian knowledge systems failed to explain or influence Islam #expands (0.75) — Edward W. Said, Orientalism, 168
• Medieval Christians could not accept that devotion and unchastity could coexist in Islam #exemplifies (0.70) — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 1189