Islamic Thought Through Protestant Eyes

387 Pages·2021·7.293 MB·English

by  Mehmet Karabela

Islamic Thought Through
Protestant Eyes
Early modern Protestant scholars closely engaged with Islamic thought
in more ways than is usually recognized. Among Protestants, Lutheran
scholars distinguished themselves as the most invested in the study of
Islam and Muslim culture. Mehmet Karabela brings the neglected voices
of post-Reformation theologians, primarily German Lutherans, into
focus and reveals their rigorous engagement with Islamic thought. In-
spired by a global history approach to religious thought, Islamic Thought
Through Protestant Eyes offers new sources to broaden the conventional
interpretation of the Reformation beyond a solely E uropean Christian
phenomenon.
Based on previously unstudied dissertations, disputations, and aca-
demic works written in Latin in the seventeenth and eighteenth centu-
ries, Karabela analyzes three themes: Islam as theology and religion;
Islamic philosophy and liberal arts; and Muslim sects (Sunni and Shi‘a).
This book provides analyses and translations of the Latin texts as well
as brief biographies of the authors.
These texts offer insight into the Protestant perception of Islamic
thought for scholars of religious studies and Islamic studies as well as
for general readers. Examining the infuence of Islamic thought on the
construction of the Protestant identity after the Reformation helps us to
understand the role of Islam in the evolution of Christianity.
Mehmet Karabela is an internationally recognized writer and scholar of
religion. He teaches at Queen’s University in Canada.
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Islamic Thought Through Protestant Eyes
Mehmet Karabela
For more information about this series, please visit: https://www.
routledge.com/Routledge-Research-in-Early-Modern-History/
book-series/RREMH
Islamic Thought Through
Protestant Eyes
Mehmet Karabela
First published 2021
by Routledge
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and by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2021 Mehmet Karabela
The right of Mehmet Karabela to be identifed as author of this
work has been asserted by them in accordance with sections
77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted
or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic,
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including photocopying and recording, or in any information
storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from
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Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be
trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for
identifcation and explanation without intent to infringe.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record for this title has been requested
ISBN: 978-0-367-54954-1 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-367-54959-6 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-09134-9 (ebk)
Typeset in Sabon
by codeMantra
Dedicated to the memory of Prof. Fuat Sezgin (1924–2018)
- Memento mori -

Contents
List of Figures ix
List of Maps xi
Acknowledgments xiii
PART I
Post-Reformation Protestant Uses of Islam 1
PART II
Religion and Theology 57
1 Moral Laxity of Islam 59
2 Muhammadan Religion 80
3 First Arabic Edition of the Qur’an
among the Europeans 107
4 Turkish Muhammadan Theology 127
5 The Trifling Foundations and the Unwholesome
Fruits of the Theology, or Rather, Prattlings of the
Jews and Muslims or Turco-Persians 153
6 Concept of Fate among the Turks 161
PART III
Philosophy and Liberal Arts 179
7 History of Rational Philosophy among the Arabs
and Turks 181
8 Development of Logic among the Arabs 195
9 Inaugural Speech on Turkish Philosophy 207
viii Contents
10 History of Arabic Logic 224
11 Turkish Philosophy 236
12 Politics of the Turkish Republic 243
13 Fate of Learning among the  Arabs 254
14 Turkish Schools and Colleges 267
PART IV
Muslim Sects: Sunni and Shi‘a 277
15 Persian Discourse 279
16 Investigation of Religions: On Turkish and Persian
Muhammadanism 289
17 Shi‘ites and Sunnis or the Critical Disagreements
between Persians and Turks Concerning Religion 305
Selected Post-Reformation Works on
Islamic Thought 323
Glossary of Terms 331
Bibliography 337
Index 357
Figures
0.1 The Papal Crown and the Turban of the Ottoman Sultan 2
0.2 Sebastian Kirchmaier, Oratio Persica (یسراف نخس) in
Persian, 1662 25
1.1 Christian Benedikt Michaelis, Disputatio academica
de Muhammedismi laxitate morali, 1708 61
2.1 Friedrich Ulrich Calixt, De religione Muhammedana
dissertatio, 1687 82
3.1 Johann Michael Lange, Dissertatio historico-
philologico-theologica de Alcorani prima inter
Europaeos editione Arabica, 1703 109
4.1 Johann Karl Valentin Bauer, Conspectum theologiae
Turcarum Mochammedicae, von der Religion der
Türcken, 1720 130
5.1 August Pfeiffer, Theologiae, sive potius Ματαιολογίας
Judaicae atque Mohammedicae seu
Turcico-Persicae, 1687 155
6.1 Johann Friedrich Weitenkampf, Disputatio historico-
metaphysica de fato Turcico, 1751 163
7.1 Johann Peter von Ludewig, Disputatione inaugurali
historiam rationalis philosophiae apud Arabes et
Turcas, 1699 183
9.1 Samuel Schelwig, De philosophia Turcica, oratio
inauguralis, 1686 209
10.1 Johannes Steuchius, Disputatio gradualis historiam
logicae Arabum, 1721 226
12.1 Michael Wendeler, Disputatio politica de republica
Turcica, 1655 245
13.1 Cornelius Dietrich Koch, Dissertatio inauguralis
historico-litteraria de fatis studiorum apud Arabes, 1719 256
15.1 Sebastian Kirchmaier, Oratio Persica de differentia
religionis Turcicae & Persicae, 1662 281
16.1 Hieronymus Kromayer, Scrutinii religionum
disputatio III, de Muhammetismo tum
Turcarum tum Persarum, 1668 291