A History of Christian-Muslim Relations

by Hugh Goddard

Overview

Christians and Muslims comprise the world’s two largest religious communities. This book looks at the history of their relationship – part peaceful co-existence and part violent confrontation – from their first encounters in the medieval period up to the present. It emphasises the theological, cultural and political context in which perceptions and attitudes have developed and gives a depth of historical insight to the complex current Christian–Muslim interactions across the globe.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781474466806
Publisher:	Edinburgh University Press
Publication date:	03/18/2020
Series:	The New Edinburgh Islamic Surveys
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x (d)

About the Author

Hugh Goddard is Honorary Professorial Fellow in the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Centre for the Study of Islam in the Contemporary World, University of Edinburgh.

Table of Contents

Preface to the second edition vii

Mote on transliteration and dates viii

Chronology ix

Map 1 The Christian and Muslim worlds c. 830/215 46

Map 2 The Christian and Muslim worlds today 158-9

Introduction 1

1 The Christian background to the coming of Islam 5

Early Christian thinking about other religions 5

The history of the Christian Church in the Middle East 11

2 The Islamic impact 17

Muhammad's contacts with Christians 17

The Qur'an's view of Christians 21

Precedents for Muslim treatment of Christians 26

3 The first age of Christian-Muslim interaction (-c. 830/215) 30

Christian responses to the coming of Islam 30

Muslim treatment of Christians I 37

4 The medieval period I: confrontation or interaction in the East? 45

Contacts and exchanges 45

Developing mutual perceptions 50

Muslim treatment of Christians II 59

Conversion to Islam 61

5 The medieval period II: confrontation or interaction in the West? 71

Western Christian reactions to the coming of Islam 71

The Crusades 75

Alternative perceptions of Islam 83

The transmission of knowledge from the Islamic world to the West 87

6 The changing balance of power: mission and imperialism? 98

The growth of European power 98

The establishment of Christian missions 101

The heyday of European influence 111

Muslim responses 114

7 New thinking in the nineteenth/thirteenth and twentieth/fourteenth centuries 127

The growth of Western academic study of Islam 127

Changing Christian thinking about Islam 133

Changing Muslim thinking about Christianity 141

8 Dialogue or confrontation? 157

The Dialogue movement 157

The political context 166

Fellow-pilgrims? 167

9 The twenty-first/fifteenth century 176

Confrontational approaches 176

Collaborative approaches 190

Conclusion 203

Bibliography 213

Index 215

What People are Saying About This

DAVID KERR

Appropriately designed to give an introductory overview of the encounter of Christianity and Islam...
—UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH

Editorial Reviews

Goddard (Islamic theology, U. of Nottingham, UK) has produced an erudite, detailed, and even-handed history of the relations between Christians and Muslims that will make a useful text for undergraduate courses on religion and more advanced courses on history. He starts his study with a discussion of Christian thinking on other religions, and the early Christian church in the Middle East. Subsequent chapters examine the beginning of Islam and its first contacts with Christians, Koranic views of Christians, and the contact between Christians and Muslims in trade, learning, missions, colonization, and migration from the Middle Ages to the present day. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Booknews

Appropriately designed to give an introductory overview of the encounter of Christianity and Islam...He approaches the subject as a historian of religion with sensitivity to the civilizational character of the Christian-Muslim encounter—i.e. an encounter in which 'religious' aspects must be set in a wider discussion of social, economic, political, and religious factors.

David Kerr

Excellent summaries of contemporary interreligious dialogue and of thinkers from both religions who have demonstrated an interest in the other.

Religious Studies Review - Gregory J. Miller

This overview…for general readers succeeds admirably. … Goddard’s book is an excellent introduction to Christian-Muslim relations.

Journal of Religion - Thomas Burman

The book is easy to read and satisfying in its thoroughnesss without the burden of excessive detail … The author presents a fair and balanced survey of history that is useful for both Muslim and Christian Readers. For anyone who desires to reach out to Muslims, this work is well worth the effort to read. It is accurate and relevant.

… well-written, densely-packed, comprehensive documented and skilfully analysed book…The bibliographies, if supplemented by the footnotes, offer a generous range of sources to the reader. Students, in particular, will appreciate the clarity of the argument and the balanced selection by the author from every shade of opinion.

From the Publisher