Jews, Christians, and the Abode of Islam : Modern Scholarship, Medieval Realities

In __Jews, Christians, and the Abode of Islam__, Jacob Lassner examines the triangular relationship that during the Middle Ages defined—and continues to define today—the political and cultural interaction among the three Abrahamic faiths. Lassner looks closely at the debates occasioned by modern Western scholarship on Islam to throw new light on the social and political status of medieval Jews and Christians in various Islamic lands from the seventh to the thirteenth century. Utilizing a vast array of primary sources, Lassner balances the rhetoric of literary and legal texts from the Middle Ages with other, newly discovered medieval sources that describe life as it was actually lived among the three faith communities. Lassner shows just what medieval Muslims meant when they spoke of tolerance, and how that abstract concept played out at different times and places in the real world of Christian and Jewish communities under Islamic rule. Finally, he considers what a more informed picture of the relationship among the Abrahamic faiths in the medieval Islamic world might mean for modern scholarship on medieval Islamic civilization and, not the least, for the highly contentious global environment of today. Contents......Page 6 Preface......Page 8 Acknowledgments......Page 16 A Preliminary Note......Page 18 Part One. Encountering the “other”: Western Scholarship and the Foundations of Islamic Civilization ......Page 20 1. Orientalists: The Modern Quest for Muhammad and the Origins of Islamic Civilization ......Page 22 2. Rethinking Islamic Origins ......Page 45 3. “Occidentalists”: Engaging the Western “Other,” Medieval Perceptions, and Modern Realities ......Page 80 4. The Occidentalist Response to Modern Western Scholarship ......Page 105 Part Two. Jews and Christians: The Reality of Being the “Other” in the Medieval Islamic World......Page 148 5. The First Encounter: Muhammad and the Jews of Arabia ......Page 150 6. Perceiving the “Other”: Jews and Muslims in the Abode of Islam ......Page 174 7. Accommodating “Others”: Tolerance and Coercion in Medieval Islam ......Page 194 8. Medieval Jewry in the Orbit of Islam ......Page 213 9. Early Muslim-Christian Encounters: The Islamization of Christian Space ......Page 236 10. Muslims and Christians: Perceptions, Polemics, and Apologetics ......Page 255 11. Christians, Muslims, and Jews: Cross-pollinations in Medieval Philosophy and Science ......Page 277 Selected Bibliography......Page 306 Index......Page 320 “One of the greatest authorities on medieval Islam” sheds “immensely stimulating” new light on cross-cultural relations in the Middle Ages (Times Literary Supplement, UK). In Jews, Christians, and the Abode of Islam, historian Jacob Lassner examines the relationship between the three Abrahamic faiths that defined their political and cultural interaction during the Middle Ages—and continues to define them today. Examining the debates taking place in modern Western scholarship on Islam, Lassner sheds new light on the social and political status of medieval Jews and Christians in various Islamic lands from the seventh to the thirteenth century. Using a vast array of primary sources, Lassner balances the rhetoric of literary and legal texts from the Middle Ages with other, newly discovered medieval sources that describe life as it was actually lived among the three faith communities. Lassner demonstrates what medieval Muslims meant when they spoke of tolerance, and how that abstract concept played out at different times and places in the Christian and Jewish communities under Islamic rule. Finally, he considers how this new understanding of medieval Islamic civilization might affect the highly contentious global environment of today. "In Jews, Christians, and the Abode of Islam, Jacob Lassner examines the triangular relationship that during the Middle Ages defined--and continues to define today--the political and cultural interaction among the three Abrahamic faiths. Lassner looks closely at the debates occasioned by modern Western scholarship on Islam to throw new light on the social and political status of medieval Jews and Christians in various Islamic lands from the seventh to the thirteenth centuries. Utilizing a vast array of primary sources, Lassner balances the rhetoric of literary and legal texts from the Middle Ages with other, newly discovered medieval sources that describe life as it was actually lived among the three faith communities. Lassner shows just what medieval Muslims meant when they spoke of tolerance, and how that abstract concept played out at different times and places in the real world of Christian and Jewish communities under Islamic rule. Finally, he considers what a more informed picture of the relationship among the Abrahamic faiths in the medieval Islamic world might mean for modern scholarship on medieval Islamic civilization and, not the least, for the highly contentious global environment of today"--Provided by publisher In Jews, Christians, and the Abode of Islam, Jacob Lassner examines the triangular relationship that during the Middle Ages defined--and continues to define today--the political and cultural interaction among the three Abrahamic faiths. Lassner looks closely at the debates occasioned by modern Western scholarship on Islam to throw new light on the social and political status of medieval Jews and Christians in various Islamic lands from the seventh to the thirteenth centuries. Utilizing a vast array of primary sources, Lassner balances the rhetoric of literary and legal texts from the Middle Ages with other, newly published medieval sources, describing life as it was actually lived among the three faith communities. Lassner shows just what medieval Muslims meant when they spoke of tolerance, and how that abstract concept played out at different times and places in the real world of Christian and Jewish communities under Islamic rule. Finally, he considers what a more informed picture of the relationship among the Abrahamic faiths in the medieval Islamic world might mean for modern scholarship on medieval Islamic civilization and, not the least, for the highly contentious global environment of today