Table Of ContentChristian-Muslim Relations
A Bibliographical History
History of Christian-Muslim Relations
Editorial Board
David Thomas, University of Birmingham
Tarif Khalidi, American University of Beirut
Gabriel Said Reynolds, University of Notre Dame
Mark Swanson, Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago
Volume 17
Christians and Muslims have been involved in exchanges over matters of faith and morality
since the founding of Islam. Attitudes between the faiths today are deeply coloured by the
legacy of past encounters, and often preserve centuries-old negative views.
The History of Christian-Muslim Relations, Texts and Studies presents the surviving
record of past encounters in authoritative, fully introduced text editions and annotated
translations, and also monograph and collected studies. It illustrates the development
in mutual perceptions as these are contained in surviving Christian and Muslim writings,
and makes available the arguments and rhetorical strategies that, for good or for ill, have
left their mark on attitudes today. The series casts light on a history marked by intellectual
creativity and occasional breakthroughs in communication, although, on the whole beset by
misunderstanding and misrepresentation. By making this history better known, the series
seeks to contribute to improved recognition between Christians and Muslims in the future.
The titles published in this series are listed at brill.nl/hcmr
Christian-Muslim Relations
A Bibliographical History
Volume 4 (1200-1350)
Edited by
David Thomas and Alex Mallett
with Juan Pedro Monferrer Sala,
Johannes Pahlitzsch, Mark Swanson,
Herman Teule, John Tolan
LEIDEN • BoSToN
2012
front cover illustration: This shows the Gate of the two Baptisms at the Mar Behnam
Monastery near Mosul. The overall design of this Christian monument and decoration
bear close similarities to the Mausoleum of Imām ʿAwn al-Dīn in Mosul, built by the Shīʿī
ruler Badr al-Dīn Luʾluʾ in 1248.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Christian Muslim relations : a bibliographical history / edited by David Thomas & Alex
Mallett; with Juan Pedro Monferrer-Sala . . . [et al.].
p. cm. — (The history of Christian-Muslim relations, ISSN 1570-7350 ; v. 17)
Includes index.
ISBN 978-90-04-22854-2 (hardback : alk. paper) 1. Christianity and other religions—
Islam. 2. Islam—Relations—Christianity. 3. Christianity and other religions—Islam—
Bibliography. 4. Islam—Relations—Christianity—Bibliography. I. Thomas, David.
II. Roggema, Barbara. III. Monferrer Sala, Juan Pedro. IV. Title. V. Series.
BP172.C4196 2009
016.2612’7—dc22
2009029184
This publication has been typeset in the multilingual “Brill” typeface. With over 5,100
characters covering Latin, IPA, Greek, and Cyrillic, this typeface is especially suitable for
use in the humanities. For more information, please see www.brill.nl/brill-typeface.
ISSN 1570-7350
ISBN 9789004228542 (hardback)
ISBN 9789004228559 (e-book)
Copyright 2012 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands.
Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Global oriental, Hotei Publishing,
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CoNTENTS
Foreword ....................................................................................................... vii
Abbreviations ............................................................................................... xi
Herman G.B. Teule, Christian-Muslim religious interaction
1200-1350. A historical and contextual introduction ........................ 1
Daniel G. König, Medieval Western European perceptions of
the Islamic world. From ‘active othering’ to the ‘voices in between’ 17
Sharon Kinoshita and Siobhain Bly Calkin, Saracens as idolaters
in European vernacular literatures ..................................................... 29
David M. Freidenreich, Muslims in Eastern canon law, 1000-1500 ...... 45
Works on Christian-Muslim relations 1200-1350 ................................. 59
Index of Names ............................................................................................ 1011
Index of Titles ............................................................................................... 1020
FoREWoRD
David Thomas
Christian-Muslim relations. A bibliographical History 4 (CMR 4) is the
fourth volume of a general history of relations between Christians and
Muslims as this is recorded in written sources. Earlier volumes cover
the years 600 to 1200, and this volume continues from 1200 to 1350.
Volume 5 will take it further to 1500, and it is planned to continue from 1500
to 1900 in further volumes in coming years. This and the other volumes
up to 1500 cover the geographical area of what can loosely be called the
extended Mediterranean basin, while later volumes will follow Muslims
and Christians through all parts of the world as they have recorded their
attitudes about one another and their mutual encounters in a multitude
of new circumstances and in almost every society.
The intention of this project is to include documented accounts of all
the known works written by Christians and Muslims about one another
and against one another. These accounts are designed to provide a starting
point for scholarly investigation into the works and their authors, and
into whatever relationships exist between them, paving the way for a full
and detailed history of Christian-Muslim relations, with all the currents
and influences comprised within it. of course, this is more than a single
individual or group could accomplish. The project leaders have drawn
upon the expertise of the scholarly community, which has been readily
and generously given, and have been assisted by leading authorities. The
result is a succession of entries that reflect the latest scholarship, and in
many instances take it forward. Naturally, this scholarship does not stand
still, and so updates on details of the entries are invited, together with
additions and corrections where, despite all our best efforts, there are
omissions and mistakes.
In this volume, like its predecessors, a series of essays covers writings
that are of major importance to Christian-Muslim relations but do not fit
easily into the format adopted for entries on individual works. While the
topics covered in these essays include information of basic importance
for the attitudes of Muslims and Christians towards one another, the
individual elements of which they are made up – scattered mentions
in historical and geographical works, single clauses in treaties and
commercial agreements, and isolated legal statements amid large bodies
viii foreword
of other rulings and regulations – each present a single tiny part of a
picture that only becomes more complete and comprehensible when they
are all brought together. The introductory essay surveys relations between
the faiths in the whole period 1200-1350.
Following these essays come the entries that make up the bulk of
the volume. The basic criterion employed was to choose works written
substantially about or against the other faith, or containing significant
information or judgements that cast light on attitudes of one faith towards
the other. Thus, by their very nature, apologetic and polemical works are
included, while with some exceptions large historical and geographical
works are usually not, even though they may refer to the other in passing.
only works that contribute in a major way towards building the picture of
the one as seen by the other and of attitudes between them are included.
This principle criterion is easily applicable in many cases, but it proves
difficult in a significant minority of instances. An inclusive approach has
therefore been adopted, especially with respect to works that may contain
only small though insightful details or only appear to touch obliquely on
relations, and also to works that are no longer extant and whose contents
can only be inferred from a title or a reference by a later author. It is
possible that future discoveries will either confirm these decisions or show
that they have made too many concessions. Another criterion that should
be explained is that inclusion of works within this volume was decided
according to the date of their author’s death, not according to the date
when the works appeared. This is because many works from this period
give no indication of a date, though our adoption of this approach has led
to evident anomalies at either end where authors are mainly or almost
entirely active in one century but have died at the beginning of the next.
If this seems arbitrary, it is balanced by the consideration that any other
criterion would also involve decisions that might easily be challenged.
Each entry is divided into two main parts. The first is concerned with
the author, and it contains basic biographical details, an account of his
(as far as can be told, all authors were male) main intellectual activities
and writings, the main primary sources of information about him, and
the latest works about him by present-day scholars. Without aiming to
be exhaustive, this section contains sufficient information for readers to
pursue further details about the author and his general activities.
The second part of the entry is concerned with the works of the author
that are specifically devoted to the other faith. Here completeness is the
aim. This part is sub-divided according to the number of the author’s
works included. In each sub-division a work is named and dated (where
foreword ix
possible), and then in two important sections its contents are described
and its significance in the history of Christian-Muslim relations is
appraised. There follow sections listing: the manuscript witnesses of the
work (although where a recent edition or study provides an authoritative
list of these, this list is cited instead of a complete list being given);
published editions and translations; and lastly studies. It is intended that
these will be completely up to date at the time of going to press.
With this coverage, CMR 4 should provide sufficient information to
enable a work to be identified, its importance appreciated, and its earliest
witnesses and studies on it located. Each work is also placed in order, as
far as is possible, in the historical progression of relations between the
faiths, allowing it to be seen in the context of other works from the same
time. Thus, a work written in Greek may be found next to a work written
in Syriac, which may be followed by a Muslim Arabic work, which in turn
will be followed by a Latin, Armenian or Georgian work. This arrangement
makes it possible to discern some sort of development in dealings between
the faiths. of course, proximity between works in the bibliography is
definitely not an indication of any necessary direct relationship between
them, let alone influence (though this may sometimes be discernible).
What it does provide is a gauge of relations between the faiths over a
particular period of time. But it must always be considered only a rough
guide, and its limitations should be particularly borne in mind in the case
of anonymous works or works by little-known authors, which can only be
allocated to a general period, and even more in the case of works whose
dating is debated and disputed.
The composition of this history has been undertaken by many
contributors, who readily and often enthusiastically accepted the
invitations of the editors. The project was led by Alex Mallett (Research
Fellow and minor languages), Juan Pedro Monferrer Sala (Iberian Arabic
texts), Johannes Pahlitzsch (Greek texts), Mark Swanson (Christian Arabic
texts), Herman Teule (Syriac texts), David Thomas (Director, and Muslim
Arabic texts), and John Tolan (Latin texts). In addition, Carol Rowe gave
practical help in the form of careful copy editing, while the staff editors at
Brill gave constant encouragement. The project team are deeply indebted
to everyone who has contributed in one way or another.
The project was funded by a grant made by the Arts and Humanities
Research Council of Great Britain, and this is acknowledged with
gratitude.
As has been said, strenuous efforts have been made to ensure the
information given in each entry is both accurate and complete, though it
