John Tolan is one of the world's foremost scholars in the field of early Christian/Muslim interactions. These eleven essays explore, in greater depth than his previous books, a wide variety of topics. The Bible and Qur'an agree that Arabs were the descendants of Ishmael, son of Abraham and Hagar.
Ishmael is described in Genesis as ""a wild man; his hand will be against every man and every man's hand against him."" To many medieval Christians, this was a prophecy of the violence and enmity between Ishmael's progeny and the Christians--spiritual descendants of his half-brother Isaac.
Yet Tolan also discusses areas of convergence between Christendom and Islam such as the devotion to the Virgin Mary in twelfth-century Syria and Egypt and the chivalrous myths surrounding Muslim princes, especially Saladin. By providing a closer look at the ways Europeans perceived Islam and Muslims in the Middle Ages, Tolan opens a window into understanding the roots of current stereotypes of Muslims and Arabs in Western culture.
| Format |
Häftad |
| Omfång |
256 sidor |
| Språk |
Engelska |
| Förlag |
University Press of Florida |
| Utgivningsdatum |
2013-04-30 |
| ISBN |
9780813044675 |
