Perceptions of Islam in the Christendoms. A Historical Survey.

This project is a comprehensive survey of the views and perceptions of Islam that emerged in the Christendoms from the eighth-century to the present time. Even though the starting-point of the inquiry is to assess the historical role of Christian apologis ts who confronted Islam both as a religious and political enemy of Christianity, I have placed the whole discussion in a wider historical context of civilisational and political developments. Some of the leading writers of the early Middle Ages approached Islam on the basis of their theological belief in and the presuppositions of Christian doctrine. They succeeded in creating a distorted image of Islam that became deeply rooted in the culture and psyche of the West, and had far reaching consequences for the relations between the power-blocs of Christianity and Islam. To understand the underlying causes of polemical tradition, I have presented the views of leading apologists of the early centuries within the four major geographical divisions: (i) the Or iental Christians under Muslim rule, (ii) the Byzantine Empire, (iii) Catholic Spain under the Muslim rule, and (iv) the Catholic West and Protestant countries. I have used original texts for the exposition of these writers' views, and presented their vie ws within the context of major historical events and movements. In this book I pay due regard to the fact that some theological beliefs and doctrines in Christianity and Islam are held by their followers to be incompatible. However, I make no attempt to a djudicate between such formulations or interpretations. My approach to such matters is primarily historical. As a result this historical survey has its distinctive feature as a first major historical investigation of the theme that stretches from the ear ly eighth-century to the present time based on original sources.