The campaign of revilement and misrepresentation of culture, religion and identity of Muslims (I illustrated in my former write-up “Arabs, Muslims and the world media”) which commenced evincing dynamism exceedingly after 9/11 on diverse communication platforms is not a causate of what happened on September 11 but has its roots embedded in the pages of history. Western Literature is an immaculate prototype to test the enmity towards Islam and Muslims in the olden days and asserting that the world in this way meagerly advanced close to the tolerance and ratiocinatiom would not be awry. Unavailability of covel communication setups prompted literature to care for conveyance of prejudices and considerable honored poets, dramatists, novelists, essayists, critics and persons of letters who composed literary masterpieces afforded these prejudices and untruths plentious zone in their works inoculating them for succeeding generations.
The comprehensive antagonistic attitude in duration towards Islam and Muslims takes in repugnant animadversion predominantly wherein belimps historical negationism and fabrication, Muslims stamped violent, Islam labeled a vicious ideology radiated with coercive proselytization, Muslim women perceived as repressed sexual beings, terrorists under veils and aspersions casted aimlessly on Islam, its Prophet and Holy book.
These acclaimed writers have apparently publicized their prejudices, fixed dislikes and lack of even handed research into Islamic realm at hands to West roughly since 8th century. Their energetic aversion mirrors the contemporaneous repugnance. Apposed to the number of discriminatory writers, those who abstained are few and far between.
Dante Alighieri (1265-1321) an Italian poet of late middle ages in his most acknowledged work “The Divine Comedy” written between 1308 and his death in 1321 describes his journey through Inferno, Purgatoria and Paradiso that are hell, purgatory and paradise. In Canto 28 of the first part (Inferno) of his poem, he pictures Islamic Prophet in Inferno (hell) for religious schism within Christianity by founding Islam in the 7th century. In Inferno, the Prophet is portrayed mangled and split open with his intestines hanging between his legs. “…between his legs all of his red guts hung with the heart.” Depiction of Turks (term for Muslims in olden days) is that of barbarians and anti-Christians.
Geoffrey Chaucer (1343 – 25 October 1400) celebrated as ‘father of English literature’ is the greatest poet of middle ages. His outstanding and memorable work “The Canterbury Tales” characterizes Syria (predominantly Islamic) as ‘barbre nacion’ (barbaric nation) in “The Man of Law’s Tale.” In the same tale, the Muslim Sultaness is termed ‘welle of vices’ (well of vices) and ‘roote of iniquitee’ (root of evil) while her Muslim subjects are categorised as barbaric and anti-Christian. The only individual off the charge is the son of Sultaness, the Sultan, who is in readiness to proselyte to Christianity on command of his Christian beloved’s father.
Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (29 September 1547 – 22April 1616) a greatest Spanish writer and preeminent world novelist in his brilliant work “Don Quixote” (translated into over 140 languages and dialects) painted Muslims as barbaric and in parallel to Geoffrey Chaucer’s “The Man of Law’s Tale” exempted only a Moorish (term uses for Muslims) woman (Zoraida) off the charge of barbarity for her abstruse conversion to Christianity. She’s discussed as beautiful, generous and kind. To escape criticism, writes Cervantes in his preface to Don Quixote, “if any objection can be raised regarding the truth of this one, it can only be that its author was Arabic, since the people of that nation are very prone to telling falsehood, but because they are such great enemies of ours, it can be assumed that he has given us too little rather than too much.” In this way, Cervantes identifies Muslims as liars and enemies of Christians. In the same text silence due to oppression is affiliated with Muslim women and delineated as a distinction between Christian and Muslim women. “Is this lady a Christian or a Moor? Her dress and her silence make us think she is what we would rather she was not.”
Francis Bacon (22 January 1561 – 9 April 1626) an English philosopher, statesman, scientist, jurist, orator and author in his preeminent collection of essays promulgated counterfactual picture of Islam and its Prophet. In his essay “Of Unity in Religion” Bacon advices Christians not to optate Mahomet’s (Muhammad’s) sword stating Islam spread by clinging to war and carnage altogether turning a blind eye to crusades. In a further literary discourse “Of Boldness” he popularizes the apocryphal story wherein the Islamic Prophet convokes Meccans, makes them certain of a hill approaching him on his command. He expresses his will to pray for adherents of Islam. When he frequently commands the hill to show up, it does not and says Bacon, he (Muhammad) is not a whit contrite but says, “If the hill will not come to Mahomet, Mahomet will go to the hill.” By cause of this double dealing, Bacon attacks the moral stature of the Islamic Prophet.
William Shakespeare (26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) an English poet, playwright and actor observed as the greatest writer in English language, also called the England’s national poet and the world’s preeminent dramatist depicted his set of prejudices by dint of his Muslim characters. His first Muslim character in “Titus Adronicus” is presented asserting that he has a hand in each one felony committed in the city. Painting Muslims as uncivilized, Shakespeare in his work “Othello” presents a young Muslim man Othello who kills his wife – a Christian whom he eloped with on mere manipulation and made into believing herself an adultress. In his innuendo to Islamic Prophet in Henry VI, Shakespeare demonstrates his sparse knowledge of Islam by dissemination of a myth which reads that the Islamic Prophet trained a Dove in eating grain from his ear and then claimed the Dove to be Holy spirit inspiring him.
Voltaire (21 November 1694- 30May 1778) a French Enlightenment writer, historian and philosopher wrote a play titled “Mahomet” and himself described the play as “written in opposition to the founder of a false and barbarous sect.” The subject of the play is religious fundamentalism and the play is an incursion on the character of the Islamic Prophet. Said Voltaire, “I tried to show in it into what horrible excesses fanaticism, lead by an imposter, can plunge weak minds.” It is expressed that Voltaire wrote this play to gladden and win the favor of a Pope. Stamping Islamic Prophet as an ‘imposter’ is found in ampleness in senior Western literature.
Many acclaimed Islamic scholars have fell into the trap of excerpting Thomas Carlyle (4 December 1795 – 5 February 1881) a Scottish philosopher, satirical writer, essayist, translator, mathematician and teacher for his meager praise of the Islamic Prophet and preferring him for “The Hero as Prophet” while for Carlyle, Holy Qur’an is a “toilsome reading, a wearisome confused jumble, crude, indite.” Further in his lecture, in comparison to Shakespeare in “The Hero as Poet,” Carlyle puts Islam, its Prophet and its Holy Book to dust. Equally like Francis Bacon, Carlyle also denies himself the notice of crusades and says, “The sublime forgiveness of Christianity, turning of the other cheek when the one has been smitten, is not here: you are to revenge yourself.”
As it is said that the ‘literature is the reflection of life,’ what life in subsequent years after the crusades down to the nineteenth (19th) century grasped Islam and Muslims to be is evident in aforewritten discourse. Profanation and abuse strike one as being primary ambitions while the amelioration of Church, society and people by commencement of myth making and distortions identified with Islam, its Prophet and Muslims have the appearance of secondary desideratum. However a few contemporary thinkers and critics accuse Popes for documenting out of animosity such incorrect Islamic histories and fabrications for masses while exonerating the men of letters but inquisition catechized the writers eschewing themselves the even handed research into Islamic world in connection with their lands since eighth 8th century when Offa, the Anglo-Saxon King of Mercia, made into coinage a coin with an Islamic inscription, extensively a copy of coins issued by Caliph-Al-Mansur, his contemporary Muslim ruler.
Moreover there exist several downright fabrications which are discerned in the works of these writers and nowhere to be found demonstrating clear exertion of manipulation in lieu of pursuance of fact folio. Veritably, 9/11 exclusively assumed the role of the fuel in the fire and it could be established that the West has extravagantly contributed in the clash of civilizations.
Hariz Aftab is a student of MA English can be contacted at aftabhariz@gmail.com