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This article is concerned with the historical changes and development of the Christian view of Muhammad.

Contents 1 Overview 1.1 Early Middle Ages 1.2 Middle Ages 2 See also 3 Notes 4 References 4.1 Encyclopedias

In contrast to the Islamic views of Muhammad, the Western image has stayed highly negative for over a millennium.^[1] According to John Esposito, while Muslim tradition has glorified Muhammad over centuries, Christian tradition has widely vilified him.^[2] Watt states that "Of all the world's great men none has been so much maligned as Muhammad" ^[3] but that over time the Western view of Muhammad has changed significantly, particularly during the last two centuries^[4] and that some of the world's urgent political problems might be easier to solve if Christians and Muslims had a deeper respect for each other's religion, something which is so difficult for the West to do due to a "deep-seated prejudice" against Muhammad.^[5]

Knowledge of Muhammad was available in the West from the time of the translation of a polemical work by John of Damascus, who coined the pejorative phrase "false prophet".^[6] and "was nearly always used abusively."^[1] Another influential source was the Epistolae Saraceni or the “Letters of a Saracen” written by an Oriental Christian and translated into Latin from Arabic.^[1] From the 9th century onwards, highly negative biographies of Muhammad were written in Latin.^[1] such as by Alvarus of Cordoba proclaiming him the Anti-Christ.^[7]

The addition to Byzantine sources such as Eulogius of Cordova from the 9th century, the West also gained some knowledge of Muhammad through the Mozarabs of Spain such as Petrus Alfonsi, a Jew who converted to Christianity, in the 11th century.^[1] Later during the 12th century Peter the Venerable, who saw Muhammad as the precursor to the Anti-Christ and the successor of Arius,^[7] ordered the translation of the Qur'an into Latin and the collection of information on Muhammad so that Islamic teachings could be refuted by Christian scholars.^[1]

During the 13th century European biographers "completed" their work on the life of Muhammad in a series of works by scholars such as Pedro Pascual, Ricoldo de Monte Croce, and Ramon Llull^[1] in which Muhammad was depicted as an Antichrist while Islam was shown to be a Christian heresy^[1] Facts such as the Muslim beleif that he was unlettered, that he married a wealthy widow, that in his later life he had several wives, that he ruled over a human community and was therefore involved in several wars, and that he died like “an ordinary person” in contrast to the Christian belief in the supernatural end of Christ's earthly life were all interpreted in the worst possible light.^[1]

Medieval scholars and churchmen held that Islam was the work of Muhammad who in turn was inspired by Satan. Fantastic legends and fables emerged. Muhammad was frequently calumnized and made a subject of ridiculous legends taught by crusading preachers to stir up hate against Muslims as fact.^[8] For example, in order to show that Muhammad was the anti-Christ, it was asserted that Muhammad died not in the year 632 but in the year 666 - the number of the beast - in another variation on the theme the number "666" was also used to represent the period of time Muslims would hold sway of the land.^[7] A verbal expression of Christian contempt for Islam was expressed in turning his name from Muhammad to Mahound, the "devil incarnate".^[9] Others usually confirmed to pious Christians that Muhammad had come to a bad end.^[8]

A slightly more positive interpretation appears in the 13th century Estoire del Saint Grail, the first book in the vast Arthurian cycle, the Lancelot-Grail. In describing the travels of Joseph of Arimathea, keeper of the Holy Grail, the author says that most residents of the Middle East were pagans until the coming of Muhammad, who is shown as a true prophet sent by God to bring Christianity to the region. This mission however failed when Muhammad's pride caused him to alter God's wishes, thereby deceiving his followers. Nevertheless, Muhammad's religion is portrayed as being greatly superior to paganism.^[10]

Other Romantic depictions of Muhammad also began to appear from the 13th century onward, such as in Alexandre du Pont's Roman de Mahom, the translation of the Mi'raj, the Escala de Mahoma (“The Ladder of Muhammad”) by the court physician of Alfonso X of Castile and Leon and his son.^[1]

Some Christians also believed Muslims worshipped Muhammad giving rise to the term Mohammedan, while others simply believed he was a Christian heretic.^[7] Still others in medieval European literature often referred to Muslims as "pagans", or by sobriquets such as the paynim foe. These depictions such as those in the Song of Roland represent Muslims worshipping Muhammad (spelt e.g. 'Mahom' and 'Mahumet') as a god, and depict them worshipping various deities in the form of "idols", ranging from Apollo to Lucifer, but ascribing to them a chief deity known as "Termagant".^[11]

When the Knights Templar were being tried for heresy reference was often made to their worship of a demon Baphomet, which was notable by implication for its similarity to the common rendition of Muhammad's name used by Christian writers of the time, Mahomet. All these and other variations on the theme were all set in the "temper of the times" of what was seen as an Muslim-Christian conflict as Medieval Europe was building a concept of "the great enemy" in the wake of the quickfire success of the Muslims through a series of conquests shortly after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, as well as the lack of real information in the West of the mysterious east.^[12]

• Islamic view of Jesus
• Louis Massignon

• Ernst, Carl (2004). Following Muhammad: Rethinking Islam in the Contemporary World. University of North Carolina Press. ISBN 0-8078-5577-4. 
• Esposito, John (1998). Islam: The Straight Path. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-511233-4. 
• Esposito, John (1999). The Islamic Threat: Myth Or Reality?. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-513076-6. 
• Reeves, Minou (2003). Muhammad in Europe: A Thousand Years of Western Myth-Making. NYU Press. ISBN 978-0814775646. 
• Schimmel, Annemarie (1992). Islam: An Introduction. SUNY Press. ISBN 0-7914-1327-6. 
• Schimmel, Annemarie (1995). Mystische Dimensionen des Islam. Insel, Frankfurt. ISBN 3458334157. 
• Watt, W. Montgomery (1961). Muhammad: Prophet and Statesman. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-881078-4. 
• Watt, W. Montgomery (1974). Muhammad: Prophet and Statesman. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-881078-4.  New Edition.

• William Montgomery Watt, Muslim-Christian Encounters. Perceptions and Misperceptions

• "Various articles". Encyclopedia of Islam Online. Brill Academic Publishers. ISSN 1573-3912.
• "Various articles". The New Encyclopedia Britannica. (2005). Encyclopedia Britannica, Incorporated; Rev Ed edition. ISBN 978-1593392369.