Medieval Christians viewed Islam only as a negative foil to 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

Categorization

• XREF: Complements the ‘constructed other’ literature—Edward Said’s Orientalism and studies of how out-groups are framed as inverted reflections of the in-group. — connects to: Medieval Christian distaste, not ignorance, distorted portrayals of 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 (+3 more)