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DANIEL JANOSIK : Director of Islamic Studies, Adjunct Professor of Apologetics, Historical Theology, and Islamic Studies at Southern Evangelical Seminary, and the adjunct professor in Apologetics at CIU Columbia International University (A.B., College of William and Mary; M.Div., Columbia International University; M.A., Columbia International University; Ph.D., London School of Theology) Dissertation: John of Damascus, First Apologist to the Muslims.
In a traditional history of Islam, one major chapter is usually dedicated to the Islamic empires, which lasted from the early medieval period to, technically, the fall of the Ottoman Empire after World War I. The details of the rapid conquests, the general trend of expansion over the centuries, and, most of all, the legendary accounts of fabulous wealth, art, and learning that modern readers automatically associate with the Islamic world, are probably the most celebrated aspects of Islamic culture. Each of these aspects gives a significant reason to admire the Islamic empires, especially as it is a generally accepted view that Islamic scholars preserved the learning of the Greeks through Arabic translations of the great works, which were lost in the West for centuries, and thus provided the foundation for the Renaissance and its rediscovery of classical Greek knowledge. Such knowledge was the source of the inventions and innovations that ushered in the scientific advances that began in the 16th-century and flowered in the Industrial Revolutions of the 18th and 19th centuries and also brought about revolutionary gains in medicine.
If these accounts are true, then the world is greatly indebted to the Islamic empires, which allowed centers of learning and culture to flourish while the Western world lay overshadowed by the so-called Dark Ages. However, history is rarely so simplistic. This chapter will consider the historical evidence available regarding these cultural legacies and their potential impact on the world, including some brief counter-arguments from controversial revisionary theorists. If evidence does in fact point to a different interpretation of the Islamic culture’s impact in history, especially regarding its claim to be a religion of peace, then some important implications and potential conclusions must be considered.
Traditional Account of Islamic Expansion and Empire
Islamic expansion is traditionally understood to have been rapid and unexpected: within only 2 years of the prophet Muhammad’s death, all of Arabia was conquered. Within 40 years of his death, parts of North Africa, Syria, Iraq, Iran, and Egypt were included in the Islamic territory; within 100 years, all of North Africa, Spain, and parts of Portugal and Afghanistan were included, extending the empire to the borders of India. It has been calculated that by the end of that time, over 50% of lands that had been claimed by Christians in the east was controlled by Islamic forces. As one scholar explains, the Arabs simply “took possession of whole sections of the crumbling Empire [of Byzantium].”[1] What happened to all of that land? To very briefly summarize a long and complex history, these eastern territories became part of four major caliphates and five major empires (all of which overlap with each other to some extent).
The Caliphates and Their Empires
A caliphate is simply the area of territory under the jurisdiction of the caliph, or religious successor to Muhammad. The caliph is also known as the “Commander of Believers.” According to Muslim sources, the first of these great caliphates was the Rashidun Caliphate (632-661) which was centered in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, and primarily made up of Sunni or “orthodox” Muslims (who believe that the caliph should be chosen by community consensus). The second caliphate was the Umayyad Caliphate (661-750). This caliphate was centered in Damascus, Syria, but continued a “capital in exile” in Cordoba, Spain, until the 11th century. The third caliphate was the Abbasid (750-1258), which was established in Baghdad. Interestingly, after Mongols destroyed this capital, the Mamluk rulers in Egypt tried to re-establish the Abbasid caliphate in Cairo. Although this derivative caliphate continued until 1517 (under several dynasties), these Egyptian caliphs had little political power and essentially were only authorities in religious matters. The fourth and final caliphate was the Ottoman Caliphate (1517-1922), which was especially influential in World War I.[2]
These caliphates existed between 661 and 1922 AD and were usually connected to a significant Islamic empire. A few points on each will be sufficient to sketch the main details of these empires’ history and influence. The Umayyad Empire (661-750) was established by Muawiya after the First Muslim Civil War (661 AD), and its territory extended from India to Spain to North Africa, making it the largest Arab Muslim state in history.[3] Continued civil wars and power struggles eventually weakened the empire, which was more interested in power than in religion by the end of its existence. The second empire, the Abbasid empire (750-1258), essentially replaced the Umayyad by taking over its authority in 750 AD and establishing a capital in Baghdad. It also extended through the Middle East and North Africa but did not control India even at its most expansive point (around 850 AD). This empire is the one which is most commonly associated with the so-called Golden Age of Islam, and traditional accounts attribute to it many developments in science, literature, medicine, and philosophy. It was only brought to an end when invading Mongols captured and sacked Bagdad in 1258. The third empire was the Ottoman Empire (1299 – 1922), which some view as the greatest Muslim empire of all. It endured for 600 years, spanning such great events as the Crusades, the capture of the Byzantine capital of Constantinople in 1453, and the reign of Suleyman the Great in the 16th century. The Ottoman empire began to lose political and military power after the defeat of its army at Vienna in 1683 and ended in 1923 when Mustafa Kemal Attaturk dissolved the empire to establish the modern nation-state of Turkey. The fourth empire to be established (though the Ottoman Empire ultimately outlasted it) was the Safavid Empire (1501-1736). This was perhaps the greatest of all Persian empires, known for its art and architecture as well as its efficient government system.[4] Finally, the Mughal Empire was founded in 1526 and lasted until 1857. It was based in India and enjoyed an extremely rich and prosperous existence with both cultural and economic progress. Although there was no religious controversy, decline ultimately set in as a result of indulgent leaders and a weak army.
The Golden Age and its Impact on the West (as related by traditional and Muslim accounts)
Muslims and traditional histories emphasize that throughout these five empires, great scholars “genuinely contributed in the development of philosophy and science.”[5] They point to Islamic Spain and the Middle East as the real guiding lights for the development of thought in Europe during the Middle Ages, as well as for essential concepts such as the Arabic numeral system. These concepts and innovations created a “great … debt owed by medieval Europe to the Islamic world,” as one source explains.[6] The basic tenets of this view are that the Islamic world, especially during the Golden Age (750-1050 AD), was a period of great learning and innovation for Muslim scholars. The assumption is that the West at this same time experienced a period of cultural and technological stagnation, and the Renaissance several hundred years later was only possible because Islamic scholars had preserved the classical works that were later “rediscovered” by the West and which stimulated the cultural revival of the Renaissance. Furthermore, the traditional account maintains that scientific discoveries pioneered by Muslim scholars were later of great significance in Europe’s own technological boom. These Muslim advances are said to include the following: the astrolabe (for navigation); an early version of the scientific method; the development of algebra, algorithms, and spherical trigonometry; the introduction of “Arabic” numerals (originally from India); advances in anatomy, surgery, and pharmacology; and advances in astronomy, chemistry, and optics.
It has been generally established from historical records that numerous Muslim scholars contributed to diverse fields of study during this time. Al-Farabi (b. 872), Ibn-e-Rushd (b. 1126), and Ibn-Sina (b. 980) were great philosophers who studied and wrote commentaries on Aristotle (as well as on religion and reason), while Ibn-al-Haytham (b. 965) and Abu Musa Jabir-bin-Hayan (b. 721) were famed physicists and astronomers. Al-Haytham is recognized as the “father of modern optics” for his contributions to the understanding of vision, especially in regard to light being reflected into the eye from the outside rather than from the eye itself. In addition, he is recognized as an important contributor to the scientific method because of his use of experiments to verify his theories. Other notable names include Muhammad ibn Zakaria Al-Razi (b. 865), who was the greatest Muslim physician and is credited with the invention of rubbing alcohol; Al-Biruni (b. 973), who specialized in multiple fields that included astronomy, physics, and mathematics; Omar Khayyam (b. 1048), who was a great mathematician, poet, and astronomer; and Al-Khawarizmi (b. 780), who collected and consolidated previous mathematical discoveries, and brought advancements to the fields of astronomy and geography. All of these men are credited with contributing to the cultural splendor and learning that characterized the various Muslim empires, but especially the Abbasid Empire in its zenith as the center of the 300-year Golden Age of Islam.[7]
Counterview of the Islamic Expansion and Golden Age
A common explanation of the Golden Age is that Islam itself inspired and nurtured a culture where the arts and sciences could flourish. Revisionist scholars who critique the idea of a Golden Age do so on two bases: first, that many of the innovations originated from conquered peoples and non-Muslim thinkers rather than Arab scholars, and second, that those Muslims who did contribute to their fields did so outside of and sometimes even directly against the religious circles of Islam. Some go so far as to suggest that Islamic culture was a negative influence on the world. As one scholar writes, Islam, unfortunately, contributed to Europe numerous “ideas and attitudes that were far from being enlightened,” such as holy warfare.[8] A closer look at the historical records available, as well as recent archeological discoveries, have caused revisionist scholars to seriously question the idea of a Golden Age at all, and certainly to doubt that Islamic culture is the true source of the European Renaissance.[9]
The first of these objections is based on the argument that many or most of the discoveries credited to Islamic culture can actually be traced to the works of conquered peoples, especially Jews and Christians who were educated in the “western” (Byzantine) tradition of learning and contributed to cultural and scientific development during the first generation or two after the Muslim armies had conquered their lands. One scholar, Robert Spencer, enumerates some examples of how the evidence shows major innovations to be the work of non-Muslims; these points are supported by other revisionist scholars as well.
The architectural design of mosques, especially the domes, was originally from Byzantine models of existing churches.
The astrolabe was developed by the Greeks long before Muhammad was born (though the Muslims made improvements).[10]
Christians preserved Aristotle’s works during the “Dark Ages,” and Christians, such as Huneyn ibn Ishaq (809-873), did most of the translation of the Greek into Arabic.[11]
The first hospital in Baghdad during the Abbasid period was built by a Nestorian Christian, Abu ‘Ali ‘Isa ibn Zur’a (943-1008).
The first Arabic-language medical text was written in Greek by a Christian priest and then translated into Arabic by a Jewish
The world’s first university may have been the Assyrian ChristianSchool of Nisibis and not Al-Azhar in Cairo.[12]
The “Arabic” numerals, as well as the concept of the zero, came from India.
Morera points out “even the Arabic script may have been invented by Christian missionaries from the Christianized Arab city of Hira in ancient Iraq.”[13]
Morera also adds that a tenth-century MuslimChronicler testified that in Iran the majority of philosophers were still Christian.[14]
Spencer goes on to point out the implications of such evidence: “Islam was not the foundation of much significant cultural or scientific development at all. It is undeniable that there was a great cultural and scientific flowering in the Islamic world in the Middle Ages, but there is no indication that any of this flowering actually came as a result of Islam itself.”[15]
In addition to the evidence cited by revisionist scholars, there is also evidence from Muslim scholars themselves that strongly suggests that a number of discoveries credited to Islam did not come from the Arab Muslim conquerors, but rather from the people they had conquered, especially the Persians, the Greek-speaking Christians educated in the Byzantine system, and the Jews. Even Muslim scholar Ibn Khaldun (1332-1406) remarked that most of the Muslim scholars and innovators were non-Arabs of Persian descent[16] (al-Razi , Avicenna, al-Biruni, al-Khawarazmi, Omar Khayyam, al-Farabi, Abu Musa Jabir, al-Kindi, and al-Ghazali) and would most likely have been influenced by Baghdad’s pre-Islamic Greek heritage in philosophy and science. According to Serge Trifkovic, a Serbian-American scholar and author of The Sword of the Prophet, during this time (900-1200), Jews and Christians translated earlier Greek works on theology, philosophy, medicine, and literature into Arabic.[17] Islam was not opposed to learning from the earlier civilizations and incorporating their science, learning, and culture into its own worldview. The Muslims evaluated this material according to their religious views and the authority of the Qur’an and made some contributions, but in the end, rejected most of it in favor of revelation alone. Later, Jews and Christians translated the Arabic works into Latin and re-introduced Greek medicine (Hippocrates and Galen) and philosophy (Aristotle and Plato) to the West.
The Muslims did indeed transmit Greek, Hindu and other pre-Islamic knowledge to the West. However, after initially accepting and encouraging its use, the Muslims themselves were not able to make use of this knowledge beyond a superficial understanding due to their rigid view that revelation (the Qur’an) must supersede everything, even reason, and scientific inquiry. This is why Trifkivic asserts:
The nature of the problem has always been spiritual. Like all totalitarian ideologies, Islam has an inherent tendency to the closing of the mind. The spirit of critical inquiry essential to the growth of knowledge is completely alien to it. All known episodes invoked to counter this simple fact happened in spite of Islam, not thanks to it.[18]
Robert Spencer adds, “Much of the responsibility for this must be laid at the feet of the Sufi Abu Hamid al-Ghazali (1058-1111). Although he was a great thinker, he nevertheless became the chief spokesman for a streak of anti-intellectualism that stifled much Islamic philosophical and scientific thought.”[19] Spencer then concludes that for a time the Islamic culture was able to draw on and advance the achievements of the surrounding civilizations, “but when they had taken what they could from Byzantium and Persia, and sufficient numbers of Jews and Christians had been converted to Islam or thoroughly subdued, Islam went into a period of intellectual stagnation from which it has not yet emerged.”[20] This suggests that once the talent of recently conquered civilizations had been absorbed, the anti-intellectual emphasis of Islamic leaders choked the innovation so that the discoveries became stagnant until picked up by later Christian and Jewish scholars in the West.[21]
The second main issue that is not raised by Muslim scholars defending the Golden Age is that the Islamic governments did not support a number of these scholars, especially the ones who rejected the core beliefs of Islam. Therefore, what they accomplished was often in spite of Islam rather than because of Islam.[22] For example, Muhammad ibn Zakariya Al-Razi, one of the greatest of all Muslim physicians, philosophers and alchemists dismissed revelation and considered religion a dangerous thing. Al-Razi was condemned for blasphemy and almost all his books were destroyed later.[23] Avicenna, another great physician, philosopher, and scientist was considered a devout Muslim but held that philosophy was superior to theology. His views were in sharp contrast to central Islamic doctrines, and he rejected the bodily resurrection of the dead. As a consequence of his views, he was severely criticized by the philosopher Al-Ghazali and labeled an apostate.[24] Al-Farabi was also denounced by al-Ghazali for adopting the heretical view that reason was superior to revelation.[25] Averroes (Ibn Rushd) was a Spanish philosopher and scientist who expounded the Qur’an in Aristotelian terms and said that philosophy superseded religion. For this, he was found guilty of heresy, his books were burned, and he was banished from Lucena.[26] Al-Khawarazmi, the great mathematician, had his own problems. Nowhere in his works did he acknowledge Islam or link any of his findings to the holy text, and the historian Al-Tabari even considered him to be a Zoroastrian.[27] Omar Khayyam was highly critical of religion, particularly Islam, and condemned the idea that every event and phenomena were the results of divine intervention. Like many free thinkers of his time, he was denounced as a heretic for spreading ideas that were deemed to counter the teaching of the Qur’an.[28] As Trifkovic notes, one of the less known repercussions of the Islamic Golden Age was that “persecution, exile, and death were frequent punishments suffered by the philosophers of Islam whose writings did not conform to the canon.” This is also why Trifkovic laments that often “the best Muslims, whether judged by intellectual or political achievement, are usually the least Muslim.”[29]
If the driving force behind the “Golden Age” was, in fact, the conquered peoples and a handful of scholars who generally received condemnation rather than respect from the Islamic government, then there is no reason to credit the Qur’an, faith in Allah, or the sayings of Muhammad for this enlightened age. Rather, Muslim scholars were able to contribute to science, philosophy, and the arts due to the rise of rationalism and free-thinking represented by the Mu’tazilites. Revisionist scholars conclude, however, that when the momentum of Islam followed al-Ghazali in his rejection of rationalism, the “closing of the Muslim mind”[30] brought an end to any invention and innovation on the part of Muslim scholars.
Did Islam Contribute to the European Dark Ages?
Another important question revolves around the claim that Islamic advancements brought Europe out of the Dark Ages and laid the foundation for the later European Renaissance. This is certainly a prevalent view that is promoted by world leaders today. For example, in Obama’s speech at Cairo University in Egypt on June 4, 2009, he praised the many virtues of Islam, speaking of “civilization’s debt to Islam” and its “innovation” that “carried the light of learning” through the ages and to Europe.[31] This sentiment is clearly an echo of the traditional Muslim view, adopted by many geo-political leaders, that the cultural superiority of Islam during the Golden Age had a profound cultural effect on Europe. One Muslim writer, Ziauddin Sardar, concurs with this view and writes, “the European Renaissance and all the progress in science, technology, medicine, learning and humanism that it produced, was built squarely on the shoulders of Muslim scholars and thinkers. Indeed, the Renaissance is inconceivable without the contribution of Muslim civilization.”[32]
However, in addition to the discussion above regarding the evidence pointing to the major contributors to Islamic civilization being often non-Muslims or non-orthodox Muslims, a handful of revisionist scholars in the last century have offered new arguments to support a general claim that Islamic culture actually had a deleterious effect. This effect can be seen both in the civilizations it interacted with and in the societies that it actually governed. The first argument, which concerns the civilizations around Islamic empires, is promoted by Emmet Scott, a historian specializing in the ancient history of the Near East, who theorizes that Muslim conquests and raids contributed to the so-called “dark ages” of Europe.
Scott offers several main points in support of this claim, which he bases largely on the work of a 20th-century Belgian historian, Henri Pirenne. First, Pirenne and Scott argue that Muslim conquests and continual skirmishes along the vital trade routes of the Mediterranean blocked Western European interactions with the Byzantine Empire, which for hundreds of years was the bastion of Western learning and culture. This would have hindered or perhaps doomed the efforts of European scholars who sought to make intellectual advances in the midst of political and military chaos that followed the loss of Roman structure and authority. Scott notes that the former Graeco-Roman civilization in Europe before the rise of Islam was largely “urban, literate, and learned, and characterized by what could be called a rationalist spirit.”[33] After the Muslim conquest, this same part of the world was described as a “society that was overwhelmingly rural, generally illiterate, had a largely barter economy, and tended to be inward-looking rather than open and syncretic.”[34] Most academics account for this decline and decadence as a gradual result of the fall of Rome to the barbarians. However, as Pirenne and Scott point out, before the conquest by the Muslims, the former “barbarians” (Germanic tribes) were assimilating well into the Christian society, and even bringing economic growth and development to the European urban centers, which calls into question the common view that European society of this time was in serious decline.[35]
Second, Pirenne and Scott argue that Muslim forces had several key negative influences that Muslim forces exerted on the West. These include cutting off the trade of Egyptian papyrus (which led to a shortage of readily-available writing materials in Europe and forced a dependence on expensive parchment),[36] the influence of Islamic-style theocracy (which they argue helped bring Europe to accept a papal rule and later a medieval theocracy that eventually became corrupt),[37] and even the concept of Holy War – used in the Crusades[38] – and the Inquisition, which they document as having been used in Muslim territories fifty years prior to the great Spanish Inquisition.[39] These influences would have led to a decrease in literacy and trade as well as provided the idea for several of Europe’s less-laudable acts, such as the attacks against Jewish villages during some of the Crusades and forced conversions of Jews and Muslims in Spain during the Reconquista. For these reasons, ranging from the economic woes caused by the naval blockade of trade on the Mediterranean Sea to the Catholic Church’s attitude toward apostasy and “Holy War,” Scott and Pirenne conclude that the impact of Islam on the West had many detrimental consequences and thus “caused” the Dark Ages in Europe. Regardless of whether the reader finds their arguments persuasive, it is nonetheless intriguing to try to envision what Europe would look like today if Islam had not been able to exert so much global control and influence over the last 1400 years.
The Myth of Andalusia
One common argument for the existence of an Islamic Golden Age is the example of Muslim rule in the Spanish region of Andalusia. This medieval culture is frequently held up as an example of how the three Abrahamic faiths, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, were able to function under a benevolent Muslim government that allowed a high level of religious tolerance, societal order, and cultural productivity. In contrast, the argument is made that Christian Europe was plunged into chaos and barbarism after the fall of Rome. Thus, according to this view, the Arabs “brought one of history’s greatest revolutions in power, religion, culture, and wealth to Dark Ages Europe” as they were “generally religiously tolerant.”[40] This perspective also paints the Muslim culture as “[respectful of] Christians and Jews as ‘People of the Book’” and maintains that “[m]odern historians seem to agree that the invasion was not particularly cruel, or destructive,” as one historian has summarized.[41] Finally, it maintains that the Qur’an is the source of tolerant behavior and jihad is merely an “inner struggle” rather than a violent and large-scale conquest.
However, in his recent study, The Myth of the Andalusian Paradise, Dario Fernandez-Morera collects a body of compelling evidence that suggests that much of the positive view of multi-cultural tolerance practiced in Muslim-controlled Spain during the “Golden Age” has no legitimate basis in reality. He argues that its promotion as such has been more to advance a vision of medieval Islam as being enlightened and tolerant (even superior to Christianity) than to objectively study the historical evidence. First, the chronicles and eyewitness accounts from this time period record ruthless invasions where churches were pilfered and burned or converted to mosques. Libraries were burned, just as they were in Zoroastrian Persia and Christian Alexandria. Crosses were destroyed wherever they were found. Morera reports that “Religious and political persecutions, inquisitions, beheadings, impalings, and crucifixions” reached a height unequaled before in Spain.[42] Slavery was rampant, and slaves made up one of the main exports. Indeed, many Christian women were taken as sex slaves and Christian men were made eunuchs to guard the harems.
In addition to the brutal invasion tactics, Morera’s evidence also points to the creation of a violent and unsophisticated culture after the conquest: killings for power were common and violence was the major method for social control. Even though the European culture of Spain was much more advanced than the culture of the invading Muslims, who were mostly illiterate Bedouins, Christians were looked down upon and Jews were held in contempt.[43] In addition, the Maliki School of Islamic jurisprudence, which is very strict and unfavorable to non-Muslims, was instituted throughout the area in order to maintain Muslim control.
Finally, Morera argues that Andalusian society was hardly multi-cultural. Care was taken by Muslims not to pollute themselves by contact with Christians and Jews, whether that be from verbal greetings or using the same utensils. Morera also demonstrates that the Christian dhimmisof Spain did not benefit much from Islamic “toleration.” Instead, “they were by definition a subaltern group, a fourth- or fifth- class marginalized people in a hierarchical society” and “they were the victims of an extortion system, the dhimma, that gave them the choice that gangsters give to their victims: pay to be protected, or else.”[44] Rather than being the tolerant, multi-cultural paradise presented by many scholars today, Islamic Spain is described by Morera as a “multicultural society wracked by ethnic, religious, social, and political conflicts that eventually contributed to its demise – a multicultural society held together only by the ruthless power of autocrats and clerics.”[45] According to Morera’s research, for the Jews and Christians in Spain who were subjected to the rule of Islam, Al-Andalus was certainly not the tolerant, peaceful, and progressive paradise that many scholars and politicians promote today.
Implications
Muslim scholars, as well as many non-Muslim scholars, promote a view of Islam that emphasizes its status as one of the greatest civilizations of all time, and assume that during the Middle Ages the cultural heritage of Islam was the force that not only preserved Western civilization but spurred it on to the great achievements of the Renaissance and the Enlightenment. However, the evidence that is used to support this view is more controversial than has been generally acknowledged. Seventh-century archeology, chronicles, and eyewitness accounts from the medieval period, and even a more critical examination of the traditional histories of scholars and innovations all cast a certain degree of doubt upon the accepted Golden Age narrative. This in turns raises other significant questions. For example, if later traditions do not match up with seventh-century archaeology, how can Muslims verify the existence of the early caliphs, historicity of early conquests, or basis for religious beliefs? If the Golden Age was greatly exaggerated and overrated, what does this indicate about Islam in general? Does Islam have a good historical claim to being a religion that promotes peace and tolerance of other faiths? Clearly, careful historical research and the freedom to draw conclusions unbiased by mainstream interpretations is essential for discovering and answering some of the most significant questions of history – questions which otherwise never come to light because they do not concur with the standard account. Ultimately, then, it is very important to base conclusions on the best evidence. In the case of Islam’s Golden Age, this seems to include giving serious consideration to the evidence which indicates that Islam may have been more of a detrimental force than an incubator of culture and learning.
Apologetic Conclusions
Muslims often refer to Islam as the foundation of great cultural and scientific flowering throughout the Middle East and beyond during the Middle Ages. How can Christians demonstrate that the evidence does not support these claims in a number of ways? The discipline of Apologetics can actually be a great tool in situations like these, where history and theology are woven together. It can help build skills for Christians to logically evaluate evidence and theories while also providing the tools for them to successfully reach out to Muslims with the gospel. There are basically three reasons for Apologetics – preparation, defense and refutation. Preparation is important in Apologetics because it prevents Christians from being converted to other religions by building up their faith. This often takes place when the believer is confronted by other beliefs and forced to learn more about his own religion in contradistinction to the beliefs of others. In order for a believer to “give an answer,” he must be informed about his own beliefs as well as the beliefs of his inquisitor. Another very important role of Apologetics is the defense of Christianity against attacks by other religions or doctrines. Christians need to be able to use the art of persuasion in order to commend and defend the beliefs of Christianity to those of other faiths. The third role of Apologetics is the refutation of heresy, as Christians must be ever vigilant in their assault against doctrines and ideas that seek to destroy orthodoxy by subterfuge or false beliefs.
When applying these aspects of apologetics to Islam, Christians must first understand that the early Muslim conquests may have been so devastating to the European economy that they, in fact, contributed to the rise of the Dark Ages. In addition, the Golden Age was probably overrated, and the purported scientific and mathematical discoveries of the period should often, in reality, be attributed to non-Muslims and Muslim non-conformists rather than devoted Muslim scholars. Furthermore, primary source materials reveal that a peaceful coexistence of Jews, Christians, and Muslims in Al-Andalus was more mythical than factual. Therefore, the modern view of a tolerant multicultural society under Islamic dominance does not seem to be supported by the evidence. Christians also need to understand that the tensions between rival Christian groups in the Middle East, as well as in Spain, brought weakness and disunity, making these areas ripe for conquest. This particular situation should cause Christians today to realize that they need to seek unity in the face of persecution, especially in regard to the Christians in the Middle East.
In addition to understanding both the Muslim and Christian position, Christians need to be able to defend what they believe and realize that right beliefs bring about right actions. The Bible encourages Christians to stand firm in the truth so that they will not give in to false doctrines and misconceptions (Eph. 6:10-18; 2 Tim. 4:3-4). Defending what is true is crucial in a Christian’s witness to Muslims. It is also necessary that Christians demonstrate a supernatural love based on the mercy of Christ and the Father’s desire to bring Muslims into the true kingdom of God. Otherwise whatever gains attained through reason will be lost due to a lack of relationship.
Finally, Christians must be able to refute error when it is presented, though this should also be done with gentleness and respect (1 Peter 3:15). For example, it is important to refute certain viewpoints that are untrue. One of the “mantras” that is repeated over and over by Muslims as well as non-Muslims is that Islam is a religion of peace. However, Christians need to realize that the evidence of constant warfare with the West, and especially with Christians and Jews, casts serious doubt on this claim. If Islam is not inherently supportive of co-existence and peace, then assuming it to be so is not only erroneous but also as potentially catastrophic as it was for the seventh-century peoples who assumed that the invading Muslims would cause them no harm.
Building Bridges to Understand
One important topic to build a bridge towards is the discussion of how verses in the Qur’an, as well as in the Hadith, tell Muslims to subdue all non-Muslims. These views need to be compared with the verses in the Bible that demonstrate that Jesus Christ is the only one who can bring peace to this world.
Islam
Christianity
“Fight those who believe not in Allah nor the Last Day, nor hold that forbidden which hath been forbidden by Allah and His Messenger, nor acknowledge the religion of Truth, (even if they are) of the People of the Book, until they pay the Jizya with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued.” (Q. 9:29)
“I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)
The Messenger of Allah said: “I have been commanded to fight against people till they testify that there is no god but Allah, that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah, and they establish prayer and pay zakat.” (Sahih Muslim 1:33)
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” (John 14:27)
According to these verses, Islam will always be at war. Allah gave all Muslims a mandate to conquer all nations and people until they have submitted either by converting to Islam or by paying the jizya and agreeing to the terms of a “protected” citizen. Christianity, in contrast, rose out of persecution, and because Jesus had submitted to death in place of sinful man, only he can provide the true peace for which the world yearns.
Another important bridge relates to understanding the history of Islam and science. During the Golden Age of Islam, the Muslim world may have been relatively more advanced than parts of the Christian world; however, it seems that many of the scientific advances were borrowed from other cultures conquered by the Muslims. In addition, a number of the Muslim scholars were considered heretics or rebels and their work was discredited and their books were burned. This provides a good opportunity to explain how Christianity is well suited to advance the cause of science since the God of Christianity is understood as both the creator of all things and the one who created the laws of science to be orderly and consistent so that mankind could benefit from using reason to make new discoveries. In Islam, reason was made subordinate to revelation and science, and this often led to the rejection of innovative thinking through “the closing of the Muslim mind.”[46] Since Christianity has a balanced view in regard to reason and revelation, new discoveries and innovative thinking have been highly regarded and supported throughout history.[47]
Finally, many have promoted Muslim rule in al-Andalus as a model of multiculturalism and tolerance that we should follow in our present situation. However, the evidence reveals that only the Arabic culture was given positive approval, and both Christianity and Judaism were scarcely tolerated and were regarded as “inferior” religions. Thus, a good bridge to use would be to demonstrate that Islam will never be tolerant of other religions as long as Muslims follow the Qur’an’s injunction to subdue all other religions (Q. 9:33, 8:39, 61:9). However, it should be remembered in conversation that Christians also have difficulty being tolerant of other faiths. Therefore, it would be profitable for both Muslims and Christians to dialogue about ways to respect each other’s religion. Hopefully, through this process, Muslims will better understand that true toleration will come only when we embrace the fact that all are created in the image of God and he wants everyone to bow before God the Son. Only if we are in Christ can true tolerance be achieved.
[1] Henri Pirenne, Mohammed and Charlemagne (New York: Meridian Books, 1957), 149.
[2] Donald Quataert, The Ottoman Empire, 1700-1922 (Cambridge University Press, 2005), 3-5.
[3] Blankinship, Khalid Yahya, The End of the Jihad State, the Reign of Hisham Ibn ‘Abd-al Malik and the collapse of the Umayyads(State University of New York Press, 1994), 37.
[4] Arthur Goldschmidt, A Concise History of the Middle East, 11th ed. (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 2016), 133-34.
[6] Emmet Scott, Mohammed & Charlemagne Revisited: The History of a Controversy (Nashville, TN: New English Review Press, 2012), xi-x
[7] See Ahmed Renima, “The Islamic Golden Age: A Story of the Triumph of the Islamic Civilization,” in The State of Social Progress of Islamic Societies, ed. Habib Tiliouine (Springer, 2016), 25-52.
[8] Emmet Scott, Mohammed & Charlemagne Revisited, xx.
[12] Robert Spencer, The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (and the Crusades). (DC: Regnery, 2005), 90-91.
[13] Dario Fernandez-Morera, The Myth of Andalusian Paradise: Muslims, Christians, and Jews under Islamic Rule in Medieval Spain (Wilmington, Delaware: ISI Books, 2016), 237.
[21] See Robert Reilly, The Closing of the Muslim Mind; Emmet Scott, Mohammed & Charlemagne Revisited; and Dario Fernandez-Morera, The Myth of the Andalusian Paradise.
[46] Robert Reilley, theme concept from The Closing of the Muslim Mind.
[47] The common story of the Church standing against science by banning Galileo’s work leaves out one important detail. The leaders who forcibly suppressed his views of the solar system were acting on a recent decision by the Church to officially adopt the views of Ptolemy and his earth-centric model. This was thus more of a political interference and bore no reflection on the Bible’s teaching or on the general Christian approach to scientific learning.
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