The Sum of All Heresies: The Image of Islam in Western Thought

234 Pages·2007·2.72 MB·English

by  Frederick Quinn

The Sum of All Heresies
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The Sum of All
Heresies
The Image of Islam in Western Thought
frederick quinn
1
2008
3
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LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Quinn,Frederick.
Thesumofallheresies:theimageofIslaminwesternthought/
FrederickQuinn.
p. cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN978-0-19-532563-8
1. Islamiccountries—Relations—Europe. 2. Europe—Relations—
Islamiccountries. 3. Islamiccountries—Foreignpublicopinion,European.
4. Civilization,Islamic. 5. Publicopinion—Europe. 6. Christianityandother
religions—Islam. 7. Islam—Relations—Christianity. I. Title.
DS35.74.E85Q452007
297—dc22 2007010412
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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and Emily Anne Irish
‘‘O brave new world that has such people in it.’’
—Shakespeare, The Tempest
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Acknowledgments
The study of Islam became afulltimesubject forme in 2000 when
I spent time in Abuja, Nigeria,with my late wife, Charlotte, who
was writing abook onIslam in Africa. Sabbatical time atOxford
University in 2003allowedme todrawon the resources of the Bod-
leian librarythrough the friendly and efficient staff ofRhodes
House, andalso allowed for severallong conversations withBishop
Kenneth Cragg, whose pioneeringwork on Muslim–Christian rela-
tions representedthe AnglicanChurch’sprincipal point ofcontact
withIslam for nearly half a century. Oxford’s Centre for Islamic
Studieswasahospitablevenue,andIprofitedfromdiscussionswith
Professor James Piscatori, coauthorof Muslim Politics,and Keith
Ward,RegiusProfessorofDivinityatOxfordUniversityandauthorof
numerousvolumesonworldreligions.JaneShaw,historianandDean
of Divinity at New College, was a lively interlocutor, as was Shirley
Ardener,whoseseminarsattheInstituteofSocialAnthropologywere
a venue for scholars from all over the worldto exchangeideas.
In Utah, an opportunity to deliver the Stirling McMurrin
Lecture on Religion and Culture in October 2003 allowed me to
initiallylayoutsomeoftheideaselaboratedinthisbook’sconcluding
section. Conversations with John O. Voll, director of Georgetown
University’s Center for Muslim–Christian Understanding, and Nor-
man Jones of the Utah State University History Department
allowed me to test some of the ideas presented in this work. An
invitation to teach courses on political Islam and global Islam
viii acknowledgments
through the University of Utah’s Political Science Department and Middle
East Center in 2004 and 2005 allowed further exploration of the topic. I am
grateful to Ibrahim Karawan, Bernard Weiss, Peter von Sievers, and Hakan
Yavuz for their kind assistance.
The assistance of Leonard Chiarelli, assistant librarian, the Aziz S. Atiya
Library for Middle East Studies, University of Utah, was invaluable. Tree
Brown Hayes, another librarian, was most helpful in the preparation of the
manuscript and selection of illustrations, as was her talented graphics arts
husband Jim, aided by Sahara, Marina, and Ogden. Cynthia Read, Executive
Editor at Oxford University Press, has proven once again to be a wise and
creativecounselor,andDanielGonzalez,hereditorialassistant,andChristine
Dahlin ably and cheerfully saw the book through production.
Part of the book’s final chapter was delivered at the Brigham Young
University’s conference on ‘‘Islam in the European Public Sphere,’’ January
28–29, 2006, in Provo, Utah. I am grateful to Professor Wade Jacoby of
Brigham Young University for his hospitality and assistance.
My article ‘‘‘Am I Not Your Lord?’ Kenneth Cragg on Muslim–Christian
Dialogue,’’ which appeared in the Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs 26(1)
(April 2006), is reprinted with permission of the JMMA.
Contents
Introduction, 3
1. The Prophet as Antichrist and Arab Lucifer
(Early Times to 1600), 17
2. ‘‘The Time of Araby Has Come at Last’’
(1600–1800), 55
3. The Prophet as Hero and Wise Easterner
(1800–1900), 91
4. ‘‘Nous Revenons, Saladin!’’
(We Return, Saladin!) (1900–2000), 125
5. The Summing Up, 159
Appendix: ‘‘Am I Not Your Lord?’’ Kenneth Cragg
on Muslim–Christian Dialogue, 173
Notes, 181
Selected Bibliography, 201
Index, 215