Medieval respect for Muslim monotheism came from lived contact, not scholarship

Evidence

These are not examples of a speculative approach like that of the schools, but are independent, casual, a stereotype deriving ultimately from knowledge of life in Syria, Spain or North Africa, rather than from any academic interest in Islamic theology. — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 245

Categorization

• XREF: The concrete, contact-derived stereotype about Muslim monotheism parallels how contemporary Orientalism is said to derive from lived colonial administrative contexts rather than ‘pure’ scholarship.