Statues in public places were viewed by Muslims as pagan idolatry

Evidence

These Spanish and Eastern Christians were hostile to Islam but relatively knowledgeable about it. Such is not the case with many medieval European writers, who (as I show in chapter 5) portray the Saracens as idolaters, praying and sacrificing to the statues of a colorful pantheon: Apollo, Tervagant, Jupiter, and especially Mahoumet (or various other garbled versions of the name Muhammad). Ecclesiastical writers schooled in the Latin classics had a vivid image of pagan worship, an image they transposed to create a portrait of the religious error of the “pagan” Saracens. The chroniclers of the first Crusade used this image to glorify and justify the crusaders’ exploits. Epic poets developed the same images in the Chansons de Geste; fourteenth-century dramatists worked them into their passion plays. For many medieval authors, the Saracens were pagan idolaters. — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 69 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Christians fantasized Muslims as pagan idolaters to justify crusading violence; Calligraphic inscriptions replace icons as Muslim devotional art — Bernard Lewis, From Babel to Dragomans: Interpreting…, 130; Medieval writers imagined Muslim worship by transposing Roman pagan imagery — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 69 (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• Medieval writers imagined Muslim worship by transposing Roman pagan imagery #complicates (0.75) — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 69