Muṭāli̒āt-i tārīkh-i farhangī(Cultural History Studies)

Reproduction of the Principles of Protestant Christianity in the Victorian Colonial Period, Imagining the Prophet of Islam (Case Study of the Life of Muhammad by William Muir)

Authors

Yasaman Yari
Alimohammad Valavi
Abstract
This study attempts to reproduce the principles of Protestant Christianity in the Victorian colonial period by imagining the character of the Prophet of Islam (PBUH) in the book “The Life of Muhammad” by William Muir. This article answers the question that as one of the earliest texts written in the nineteenth century in a form close to modern academic and methodological research, why Muir’s book still reflects the religious attitude of Protestant Christianity? And basically, how is this reflection recognizable? As an employee of the colonial government as well as a Protestant missionary, Muir is a good example of the intellectual atmosphere of his time. Despite the extensive use of Islamic sources in the processing of ideas about the Prophet of Islam, he still reproduced Protestant religious traditions. By comparing the Prophet of Islam (PBUH) with Jesus (PBUH), Muir reflected ideas that make Islam harsh, anti-civilized, and false. A study of such texts shows why, despite dramatic scientific developments in the Western world, until the middle of the twentieth century, religious attitude still had the strongest influence on the ideas developed about the Prophet.

Keywords

Keywords: William Muir
Life of Muhammad Book
Evangelism
British Colonialism
Western Islamology
Muṭāli̒āt-i tārīkh-i farhangī(Cultural History Studies)
Volume 11, Issue 40
Summer 2019
Pages 133-154

  • Receive Date 25 August 2024
  • Publish Date 21 April 2019

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