Muslim rulers repeatedly refused to execute Christian provocateur friars who sought martyrdom

Evidence

In the course of a few days’ imprisonment the would-be martyr made himself so objectionable that the sultan was no longer able to resist the pressure put on him to secure to Livin the end he desired. In all these stories the reluctance of the Muslim rulers to execute is obvious and it is difficult not to impute the ultimate violence to those who provoked it. Theirs was a state of mind that could tolerate no relation between Christendom and Islam save that of violence exerted or undergone. — Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, 689

Categorization

• XREF: Reverses the standard image of Muslim rulers eager to punish apostasy — here they resist executing despite provocation; connects to ‘Complaints About Immodesty’ theme of rulers as moderating rather than fanatical.
• SEED: Essay angle: the martyr who cannot obtain death — a study of how reluctant executioners complicate narratives of religious violence on both sides.
• DEEPTHINKING: The core claim — that the ultimate religious violence is imputed to the provoker, not the ruler — reframes who ‘causes’ religious martyrdom in a way that resists one-sentence summary.