Mozarab hostility to Islam was a minority position, not a universal Christian attitude

Evidence

Norman Daniel misunderstands the clear fact that Eulogius’s and Alvarus’s harsh anti-Muslim sentiments are not shared by the majority of Mozarabs; for him their writings show that “[a]ll the Christians held the Arabs and their civilization in contempt” (“Spanish Christian Sources,” 367). Clearly, for Eulogius and Alvarus, the problem is that far too few Christians feel such contempt. — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 1620

Eulogius, Liber apologeticus martyrum, §12, CSM 481; on this passage, see Wolf, “Christian Views,” 96. Norman Daniel misunderstands the clear fact that Eulogius’s and Alvarus’s harsh anti-Muslim sentiments are not shared by the majority of Mozarabs; for him their writings show that “[a]ll the Christians held the Arabs and their civilization in contempt” (“Spanish Christian Sources,” 367). Clearly, for Eulogius and Alvarus, the problem is that far too few Christians feel such contempt. — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 1620

Categorization

• XREF: Reverses the common scholarly picture that Christians under Muslim rule uniformly despised Islam; connects to the martyr movement’s self-understanding as a minority in need of awakening.
• DEFINE: Clarifies that ‘Mozarab’ refers to Iberian Christians under Muslim rule, defined centrally by this chapter’s argument.
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 1620