Abstract
In order to analyse the impact of these ideological disagreements between Islam and the West on international political behaviour and international relations, this paper highlights the different visions of Western societies’ understanding of the meaning of divinity and prophecy compared with that of Muslim societies. Accordingly, the paper focuses on exploring multiple opinions of Western intellectual elites in regards to this issue in addition to the approach by the media and common traditions in the West. However, the paper assumes that, despite the existence of a misconception in Western societies toward the meaning of prophecy, there are positive aspects in that some intellectual elites have dealt with prophecy respectfully, particularly in terms of the Prophet Muhammad, PBUH. Therefore, the paper wishes to illustrate some of these elites, especially the poets and novelists, scientists and philosophers. Other elites, however, in addition to the popular and traditional dominant perception, dealt with prophecy with a kind of disdain, contempt and ridicule. The paper uses comparison methodology to discuss this issue in our contemporary reality, particularly between Islam and the West; Muslim societies and Western societies. In this paper I seek to examine the possibility of finding a means of communication between both sides through addressing the West equitably and rationally to relieve and deal with the anger in the Muslim world and to deepen the mutual understanding and dialogue between the two cultures and civilisations. Unquestionably, this will have a positive impact on the relationship between Muslim and Western societies and on international relations.
Keywords: International RelationsPolitical TheoryIslamic SocietiesWestern SocietiesProphet MohammadDivinity
Introduction
Divinity is the basis of prophecy, as agreed upon in both Islamic and Western Christian visions. It
means that the concept of prophecy follows the concept of divinity. However, a substantial difference
exists between the two visions in terms of structure and nature, which is expressed in the frame of
focusing. In the Islamic vision, the relationship between divinity and prophecy focuses on the divine
(Allah) concept, while the focus in Christian vision is on the individual. Thus, the two visions differ in
their view of divinity. In the Islamic vision, for example, prophets are human beings assigned by Allah to
guide the human race to the path of belief in Allah and in applying his All Mighty policy on earth, as well
as following his orders, prohibitions, rewards, punishments and accounts, from the instance of propulsion
and decision (Rahman, 2009, pp. 56-73) in saying, according to His All Mighty, “whosoever will, he may
accept it and whosoever will, he may reject it" (Quran, Al-Kahf, 29). On the other hand, in the western
Christian vision of divinity there is a denial of the prophecy of Mohammad while there is a deification of
Jesus (Issa), considering him the god who was incarnated as a human and allowed himself to be crucified
to forgive human sins. However, the Islamic vision does not approve that and considers it mere political
and party opinions, but it does recognise Jesus as a prophet sent by god, and respects him and his mother,
thus, considering him a human not a god, typically like Mohammad and other prophets and messengers,
as according to His All Mighty, "We do not discriminate against any of His Messengers.”
Consequently, many Europeans think that Muslims worship Mohammad as a Lord, just as they
worship Jesus, while Muslims consider the true Christianity, which they esteem and recognise as a divine
celestial religion, no longer exists anymore because it has been distorted. Thus, it is natural that Christians
would not recognise Islam or the Prophet Mohammad, because, by doing so, they are contradicting all
their religious beliefs. Thus, the two visions stand on opposite sides, as there is an Islamic vision that
focuses on Allah the creator, and another vision that focuses on the individual man, a fact that has
instigated economic, political, social and ideological reflections. For instance, Europe witnessed the
evolving of Capitalism that focuses on individual benefits, exploiting others, plundering their resources
and making servitude of them, out of an overbearing colonial attitude towards other nations, especially
the Islamic world, as well as sexual permissiveness, absolute freedom and prejudice of the holy items in
the name of freedom of opinion and expression. In general, this article indicates that the western Christian
vision towards Allah, the all mighty, was a disturbed vision, which has its reflections in their mistaken
understanding of the meaning of prophecy (Jaques, 2002, pp. 63-83; See also: Rahman, 2011, pp. 30-91).
This disturbed vision concluded values and behaviours that instigated, in turn, European political
and economical greed towards Arab countries in the Levant and North Africa, since the time of the very
early eras of Islam. Loss of their assets in this area as a result of the advent of Islam and its spread to their
doorsteps is another factor that pushed them to fuel the conflicts and assume permanent hostility against
Arabs and Muslims. Examples of these conflicts are the Arab-Byzantine and the Crusades wars, the
eradication of the Islamic state from Andalusia, the Portuguese attack led by Afonso de Albuquerque,
European colonisation in the Islamic World, the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, and planting the Zionist
entity as a spine in the throat of the Islamic nation. There has been continuous control of the Arab and
Islamic worlds, preventing and eradicating any attempt for advancement, just as happened in Egypt during the reign of Mohammad Ali and in Iraq at the time of Saddam Hussein, in addition to targeting
Islam and distorting its image whenever opportunity was afforded.
The disturbed western Christian vision of Allah and meaning of prophecy, in addition to the
political and cultural clashes with the Islamic world, the spread of Islamic conquests, the prevailing of
Islam as a superpower, and the collapse of, first. the Byzantine empire and then the western Roman
empires, has formed the main reasons for the appearance of negative western practices against Islam, the
Holy Quran, and the Prophet Mohammad. Examples include constant offences against the Prophet
Mohammad throughout history, attacking the Holy Quran, and distortion of Islamic values and
questioning its beliefs, assuming Islam as their permanent opponent. It was natural, then, that Samuel
Huntington’s claims about the clash of civilisations with Islam and the necessity to defeat and counterfeit
it became famous (Huntington, 1993, pp. 22-49). In addition, the appearance of the cartoon of the Prophet
Mohammad in the Danish and European press, the continuous support of the Zionist entity, controlling
the fate of the Islamic nation, plundering its wealth through colonisation in various forms,and invoking
creative chaos in the Arab world. However, there were a number of western ideologists, scientists,
philosophers, poets, artists and politicians who took a positive, fair stance toward Islam. Thus, one finds
attempts by the two parties to give priority to dialogue in the clash of civilisations, such as the Arabic-
European and Islamic-Catholic dialogues, Euro-ME partnership and GCC-European dialogue.
Problem Statement
This highlights the different visions between Islamic and Western societies towards the meaning
of divinity and prophecy in order to analyse the impact of ideological disagreements on international
relations.
Image distortion
After the Quraish infidels and the Jews of Medina, John of Damascus was one of the first people
who offended the Prophet Mohammad, PBUH, in the pre-medieval centuries. He said in his book,
“Sergius the Monk”, helped him in writing the Quran. He also alleged that he quoted some of the writings
of Waraqa ibn Nawfal, who was a Nestorian priest who translated some distorted bibles into Arabic. In
some Byzantine resources, shortly after the death of Mohammad, one Jew wrote his brother a letter
saying: “a deceitful prophet appeared among the eastern.” Another wrote: “you will not discover anything
about this mentioned prophet but shedding human blood.”
In the medieval centuries, during the presence of Islam in Andalus, Eulogius, a Spanish
churchman, alleged that the prophet was a fake, claiming prophecy, because he considered the Christ as
just a human being, and that, as he was the last prophet, no prophet would follow; he focused on the
Islamic rejection of the triad concept. In his writings, he described the prophet as a wolf hiding between
sheep. From the ninth century onwards, extremely negative Latin biographies were written about the
prophet. For instance, Alvarus wrote a biography in which he alleged that Mohammad was the antichrist.
These two people had an enormous role in the emergence of the so-called Christian martyrs, who
performed suicidal operations against Muslims (Wolf, 1999).
The Spanish church promoted writings depicting the prophet as a devil-haunted man and
antichrist. These ideas spread throughout Europe and had a vital role in the unity of European troops
during the crusade campaigns. Later, in the twelfth century, Peter the Venerable considered Mohammad
as a form of antichrist and ordered the Quran to be translated into Latin and to gather information about
the Prophet Mohammad so that Christian scholars could refute Islam. During the thirteenth century,
European biographers completed their writings about the Prophet Mohammad through a series of
writings, such as those of Pedro Pascual, Ricoldo de Monte Croce and Ramon Llull. These works
depicted Mohammad as a juggler, and Islam as just Christian heresy. One of the most abusive writings
about the prophet is Martin Luther’s allegation that: “Mohammad is a devil and first-born child of Satan.”
He also claimed that the prophet was affected by epilepsy and the voices he heard were as a result of his
illness (Setton, 1992, pp. 4-15; Wikipedia, n.d. a).
Western medieval scholars and churchmen thought that Islam was a creation of Mohammad, who,
in turn, was inspired by Satan. Muhammad was frequently calumniated and made a subject of legends
taught by preachers as fact. An example showing their contempt of Islam is that they misrepresented his
name from Mohammad to Mahound, the devil incarnate. Others assured the Orthodox that he had a bad
death. According to one tale, they say that he was drunk when a group of pigs preyed upon him. This
myth was used to explain the prohibition of eating pork and drinking wine. Another story held that a
Christian criminal broke out of a church jail in the Arabian Peninsula and met the prophet. There, he
taught him the black arts, and the prophet selectively established a false religion through forging the
scripts of the Holy Bible and the Old Testament to establish Islam. Another explained the Friday holy day
of Muslims in terms of the day of the Greek goddess of love, instead of the Saturday (Sabbath) of Jews
and Sunday of Christians. This explanation was used to claim the immorality of Muslims through
polygamy. The Dutch Hugo Grotius even wrote an article about the Prophet Mohammad in which he
accused him of training pigeons to pick grains from his ears so he could create the illusion that the Holy
Spirit came to him as a pigeon to tell him the message of Allah, which he then wrote in his holy book
which he named the Quran (Birch, 2015, pp. 149-173).
A highly negative depiction of Muhammad as a heretic, false prophet, renegade cardinal or
founder of a violent religion also found its way into many other works of European literature, such as the
by John Lydgate in the medieval centuries. It was common to depict the prophet as tortured by Satan in
hell, as mentioned in Dante's
circle of hell, the realm of those who have caused schism and religious discord in spreading false
teachings in order to satisfy their own desires (Wikipedia, n.d. b).
Some Christians also believe that Muslims worship Mohammad, just as Christians worship the
Christ. This is the reason behind the spread of the term Mohammadians instead of Muslims in the west.
Muslims were denoted as heathens or paynim foe in the writings of European medieval centuries, such as
were calling him Mahom or Mahumet. In general, medieval Europe embraced the concept of "the great
enemy" in the wake of the rapid success of the Ottoman through a series of conquests shortly after the fall
of the Western Roman Empire (Setton, 1992, pp. 4-15; Winn, 2004). The abuse did not extend to the Prophet Mohammad alone, but also Christianity and the Christ
himself, PBUH, especially during the period of conflict between the authority of the Church and the
authority of the state, as well as in the period before and during the French Revolution. One of the
philosophers and artists with atheist tendencies was Voltaire who, in his
Thus, in his article
“Voltaire used Islam as an excuse to attack all religions, including Christianity and especially Catholics.”
In his article published in
carefully, the attack on Muhammad conceals another one: the one aimed at the Messiah of Christians and
Biblical prophets.” The contemporaries of Voltaire themselves recognised that the concealed criticism in
the play was not directed at the prophet of Islam, but the Christian religion; as proof of this, of the
Jansenists aggressively fought the play when presented at the theatre of La Comedie Francaise in 1742, as
they recognised Voltaire’s true purpose (Wikipedia, n.d. a; Wikipedia, n.d. b).
Many other depictions of the Prophet Mohammad are evident in old historical books. Among the
famous depictions are the first page of
published in 1719 in London, a page in the
1699, a depiction in the library of California State University in which a woman is cuddling a child,
resembling Amenah bent Wahab and the Prophet Mohammad, with no facial features, and a depiction
from 1570 in San Francisco Museum that resembles “Israa and Meraaj” but does not show facial features.
Another portrait from Iran goes back to the fourteenth century in which a winged person is talking to a
sitting man with no facial features. Another was a portrait painted in Tabreez, in Iran, in 1315 and can be
found in a book entitled
depiction on page 13 of a booklet by Jack Chick published in 1988 with the title
1986; Chick, 1988; 123HelpMe.com). In 1997, an Israeli woman called Tatiana Soskin drew a cartoon of
the Prophet Mohammed as a pig with a head cover and the name of Mohammad on its back, holding a
pen writing on a book the word “Al Quran” in Arabic (Bruke. 2015; Aljazeera, 2008a; Aljazeera, 2008b).
Additionally, in the 1911 Italian silent film
Mohammad. There was also a picture of the prophet in the American animated series
4, 2001 and another in a video game called
were also different cartoons in the 1990s in various Dutch and French Press (Aljazeera, 2008a; Aljazeera,
2008b).
Following the collapse of the former USSR and the disintegration of socialism and the Warsaw
Pact in favor of the capitalist camp led by the United States and Europe, and a shift from a bipolar system
to a unipolar system, Willy Claes, the then Secretary General of NATO, declared that Islam was now the
first enemy of the West. Following the events of September 11, 2001, George Bush Jr. talked about a
crusade that had begun. A new wave of organized abuse directed at the character of Prophet Mohammad
has subsequently appeared and the world has witnessed an escalation in writings targeting his character.
There have been many books written on the matter, including
described the prophet as a bandit, who oppressed people and committed assassinations and deception to
achieve absolute power (Winn, 2004). In 2004, the Dutch writer Ayaan Hirs Magan announced her intention to produce a film about the
life of the Prophet Muhammad that would, according to her, be “filled with colors”. She confirmed that
there would be an actor to represent the prophet and that she would mention aspects that she assumed
Muslims do not want to reveal about the Prophet Mohammad. She cited what she claimed to be his love
for his son’s wife, and how he went to the cave and came back with a magic solution to marry her.
On September 30, 2005 the famous Danish newspaper
third page titled “Muhammeds ansigt” that included 12 satirical cartoons (Aljazeera, 2008a; Aljazeera,
2008b). The article stated: "Some Muslims reject the secular society and demand a special treatment in
terms of dealing with their religious feelings, and this does not comply with the modern concepts of
democracy and freedom of expression imposed on everyone to accept criticism and satire.” The satirical
cartoons were chosen from a competition organised by the newspaper for artists when they heard about an
article posted in the famous
criticism of Islam.” The latter article spoke about the difficulties that faced Kare Bluitgen who wrote a
children’s book about the Prophet Mohammad titled:
encourage cartoonists to add cartoons about Mohammad to his book. The newspapers refused the request
of the Muslim community to stop publishing the sarcastic cartoons. The government and the Danish
Prime Minister, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, supported the newspaper under the pretext of freedom of
expression.
comments about others, with a negative view towards Islam and Muslim immigrants. It earlier led a three-
year aggressive campaign against them and, thus, the Federation of European anti-racism associations
accused the newspaper of marketing militant comments to create conflict between different ethnicities
and cultures (Aljazeera, 2008b.
In February 2008, 17 Danish newspapers reprinted the cartoons and showed the prophet as a
terrorist, including the pronounced conservative
a 26-page satirical booklet titled
Aziz” who portrayed the Hadith and the Sunnah in an offensive manner, not to mention cartoons which
depicted the prophet in a ridiculous manner in order to convince Afro-Americans not to convert to the
Islamic Nation organisation.
After that, many European and American news articles followed in the steps of
On January 10, 2006, the Norwegian
newspapers all reprinted these cartoons. As did five famous German newspapers, including
which reprinted two of these cartoons on January 31, 2006, while
reprinted all the cartoons in early February 2006.
addition, the Italian
in early February 2006. The following day, the American
reprinted two of the cartoons. On February 4, 2006, the New-Zealander
Wikipedia, n.d. b).
With regard to the French press, the
February 1, 2006.
sarcastic political news magazine with an anarchistic leftist concern with guilds, religions, the extreme
right, political Islam, politics and culture, reprinted the cartoons on February 8, 2006 and added a new one
with a narration that read: ”It is hard to be loved by idiots” (BBC, 2015; Lefigaro, 2015). On November 3,
2011, on the front-page, they reprinted a cartoon of the Prophet Mohammad and then reprinted the
cartoons later in 2015 (BBC, 2015).
Consequences
It is undoubted that abuse of the Prophet in this intensive manner by the West, resulting from the
disturbed vision of god and the contradicting understanding of the concept of prophecy and, then, the
focusing on the individual rather than god – has led to a continuous state of political tension and conflicts
as well as wars between the two parties. One of the modern aspects of that tension and conflict is the
reactions of Muslims towards people who committed the abuse, as well as their countries, as
demonstrated by denouncing and official condemnations, protests, strikes, recalling of ambassadors,
attacks against embassies, boycotts, bombing and killing, as well as reprisals (BBC, 2006a; BBC, 2006b).
This has led to a state of mutual tension between Muslims and the West, and consequently, upscaling in
the state of Islamophobia, as well as the escalation of racist reprisals against Islam and Muslims in an
unprecedented manner.
It is noticeable among this that there is a relative closeness between the reaction of political and
religious elites towards the abuse against the Prophet Mohammad and the reprisals it led to from the two
parties. On the part of Muslim elites’ statements, the Malaysian Prime Minister viewed the crises as
deliberate abuse against the Prophet Mohammad. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the Prime Minister of Turkey,
considered it an attack on the spiritual values of Muslims. Singapore’s secretary of state mentioned the
need of the mass media to respect religious beliefs and racial attributes. Meanehile, among the western
elites, Bill Clinton considered the publishing of these cartoons to be a mistake that would negatively
affect intercultural dialogue. Additionally, Putin criticised the Danish government position, pointing out
that they had used the freedom of speech to defend the news article that offended Muslims, and that this
was an unethical act. The Polish Prime Minister affirmed that it is not right to hurt Muslims’ feelings
under the pretext of freedom of expression. The Vatican, on the Christian religious level, criticised the
issue of the cartoons, while the Patriarch Gregory III Laham considered it a crime (BBC, 2006b).
Contrary to this, the Danish Prime Minister, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, was supportive of the
magazine that had published the abusive cartoons, considering that freedom of speech covers cartoonists
too (BBC, 2008). European deputies also condemned the protests against the cartoons (BBC, 2006c).
However, the Rightist Italian Minister, Roberto Caldiroli, who is a member of the xenophobic and anti-
immigrant Northern League, distributed T-shirts with the satirical cartoons printed on them. He himself
was seen wearing one of these T-shirts (BBC, 2006a).
Instability
It is in the nature of countries and governmental systems to discriminate in terms of their practices,
behaviours and internal and external policies, as well as their ultimate goals, between what they do in
public, and essentially use every possible means to affirm it, and what they do in secret and keenly hide.
What happens in secret reveals the actual goals and intents, while what happens in public might be either
real or unreal, aiming at hiding the actual intended goals, as these might be linked to the supreme interests
of the nation and which may be harmed if revealed. Or they could simply be unreal because they may
unveil intents that are not accepted by others because they threaten their interests or just because they are
unethical. This can negatively affect the reputation of that nation and its position according to what they
perform in terms of practices unaccepted by others. Thus, they prefer to undertake their practices secretly
to avoid protests or harm to their interests, the interests of their political system, or their ruling elite. This
principle appears predominantly in international relationships, especially on the level of relationships
between nations that belong to a given culture and others belonging to another, different culture in terms
of cultural ideologies and political, economic and social values, or even in their view of the universe, live
and man fait, or it may be in complete contradiction to it. Then, the conflictual opposition nature
overrides collaborative dialogue, specifically from the strongest part or the part whose ideology or values
demand the necessity to maintain conflicts or oppositions with the other to sustain motivation for work,
evolvement, building power and superiority.
The relationship between Islam and the West, since the dawn of Islam till now, is a clear example
of this kind of international and intercultural dynamic in which conflicts are mixed with collaboration and
mutual benefit. Since the Byzantines and Romans lost their resources in the Arab world in the MENA,
and with the rise of Islamic conquests reaching Europe, expanding the Arabic Islamic nation until they
reached, within fifty years, from the Great Wall of China in the east to the Atlantic Ocean in the west. The
west and Europe hated the idea of Islam spreading in the world, and even to Europe itself through the
emergence of the Islamic nation in Andalusia and the collapse of the Byzantine Empire, coupled with, on
the other hand, the recession of their beliefs and the weakness of their political and social entities. As
such, they remained in continuous conflict with Arabs and Muslims. They initiated the Crusades,
eradicated the Islamic presence from Spain, and the western attack movement (Kaegi, 1969, pp. 139-149)
Then, they initiated their modern colonial attacks that were crowned by the collapse of the Ottoman
Caliphate which lost its possessions in the Balkans and Eastern Europe, in addition to planting the Zionist
entity in Palestine as a spine in the throat of the nation, controlling the Islamic world, occupying and
dividing the Arab region. This saw the emergence of malformed regionalities that the West controlled in
terms of structure, regulations, decisions and policies while keeping them politically, socially,
economically, militarily and culturally weak.
Thus, it is logical to understand that the different provocations and campaigns that aim at
provoking Islamic feelings by targeting its sacred symbols are based on political goals. Following the
incident of the satirical cartoons in Denmark, there were escalations in the provocations and campaigns
that provoked the feelings of Muslims through targeting their sacred symbols, including the Holy Quran
and the Prophet Mohammad. It is noticeable that whenever the fire of one campaign sets, another is
flamed, a fact that confirms that targeting Islam is not a mere arbitrary act, but rather part of a plan that
aims at setting a conflictual relationship between the West and the Islamic world. This plan is part of the
strategic vision that started to circulate in the 1990s, immediately following the collapse of the Socialist
camp, when actual enabling of Islamophobia started by conceptualisation of the so-called Green Peril that
the West must counteract following the collapse of the Red Menace! This clarifies that the campaign of
abuse against Islam is motivated by political factors not related to intellectual criticism or freedom of
speech or expression. They are, rather, mere provocative acts. The views of the American politician
Samuel Huntington in his article about the “Clash of Civilizations” published in 1993 in the American
magazine, Foreign Affairs, and then in his book, Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order
concurred with the collapse of the former USSR, the twilight of communism in the world. A reason for
fame, renewed following the events of September 11, 2001, that were related to Al-Qaeda (Huntington,
1993; 2011).
The views of Huntington focus on the fact that the conflict will not be ideological or economic, as
these two conflicts ended with the collapse of the socialist camp. The next conflict will be cultural. The
main conflicts in international policies will flare up among a set of different cultures, and the main
tension borders between these cultures will become the main firing lines in the future. So, the West, from
Huntington’s perspective, should achieve the highest rate of unity and collaboration between its cultural
components as well as reinforcing the collaboration with Russia and Japan, while, at the same time, not
working on a reduction of weapons to maintain military superiority over the Chinese and the Islamic
League, whose spread should be limited by exploiting the dispute between the countries within it. In the
long run, the West should maintain economic and military superiority in order to stay secure and protect
its culture, while, simultaneously, working on the conquering and containment of these cultures by
penetrating them from both inside and from outside. In fact, Huntington addresses Islam as the major and
most dangerous threat. Inclusion of Chinese culture in his theory as an enemy to the West was a deception
to disguise the actual goal of this theory, of promoting the New Liberalists Anti-Islamic and Anti-Islamic
culture policy.
This would all clearly explain two things. First, the actual purpose of a clash of cultures is to
provide an external western policy built on the maintained presence of an enemy in western political
ideology, as mentioned above, and second, the frequent negative stance of Europe and the West towards
Islam and the Islamic culture throughout history. The abuse against the Prophet Mohammad, the Holy
Quran, and the Islamic culture, values and teachings is an important example of that abuse. It is
noticeable, herein, that the Zionists among Western Jews and non-Jews, especially the extreme
protestants, are always pushing in that direction.
Research Questions
The main question is: Are the ideological and religious disagreements between Islamic and
Western societies considered the main reason to perpetuate the instability in global politics and
international relations since the emergence of Islam?
Put another way, it includes the following hypotheses:
�The greater the ideological disagreements between Islam and the West, the greater the
escalating of the crisis and instability in international relations.
�The greater the nature of disturbed western understanding of divinity and prophecy, the greater
Western societies’ abusive practices against the Prophet Mohammed, PBUH, throughout
history.
�The greater the focusing of the western vision of the earth and the universe around the
individual, the greater the materialistic, permissive, capitalistic, exploitative, colonial and
overbearing nature.
�The greater the political, economic and military assurance of Western control over Muslim
countries, the plunder of their resources and the control over their political regimes, the greater
the crisis and instability in international relations.
Purpose of the Study
To examine the possibility to find a means of communication between Muslim societies and
Western societies today through addressing the West, equitably and rationally, to relieve and deal with the
anger in the Muslim world and to deepen a mutual understanding and dialogue between the two cultures
and civilisations.
Redressing
The West’s stance was not solely an abusive and satirical one, In fact, the source of abuse and
satire was either extremists who dealt with Islam in an aggressive, hostile manner or those with rightist or
Zionist attitudes. There have been, on the other hand, positive attitudes among some of the intellectual
elite philosophers, scientists, artists and poets, such as: Michael Hart, Thomas Carlyle, Karl Marx,
Lamartine, Maurice Bucaille, Gustave Le Bon, Bernard Shaw, Zwemer, Thomas Arnold, Edward Monte,
Hans Kong, John William Draper, Goethe, Jules Masserman, Homs, Letsin, Tolstoy, William Muir,
Gibbon, to Ittens, Carl Hirsch, Max van Berchem, Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Pushkin.
Michael Hart is an American astrophysicist and author, most notably of
persons most influential on humanity, depending on the degree of influence, describing them according to
their order of influence from number one to one hundred. He put the Prophet Mohammad in the first rank,
justifying that by saying: “Muhammad was the only man in history who was supremely successful on
both the religious and secular levels…. It is this unparalleled combination of secular and religious
influence which, I feel, entitles Muhammad to be considered as the most influential single figure in
human history.”
In describing the Prophet Mohammad, Karl Marx said: “Anyone with a sane mind must recognize
his prophecy and that he was a Prophet from God on Earth”. He added: “With his message, this Prophet
inaugurated an era of light, science and knowledge. His sayings and actions should be written in a special
scientific way. And since his teachings were a revelation, he had to erase all the changes and alterations
of the previous messages” (Itani, 2012; Masserman, 1974).
Jules Masserman, an American psychoanalyst and professor at Chicago University, said: “Perhaps
the greatest leader of all time was Muhammad, who combined all three functions: provide for the well
being of the led, provide them with a set of beliefs, and provide a social organization in which people feel
relatively secure” (Masserman, 1974).
Thomas Carlyle said, in his book,
atheists claim that Muhammad was after nothing but personal fame, luxury and power. By God! The heart
of this poor, hard-toiling man who had radiant eyes and a great spirit was so full of mercy, divinity,
tenderness and wisdom. His ideas were so far from worldly greed and his intentions were so far from
seeking any power or fame. This is a pure soul and a man of such character cannot help but be seriously
sincere!” He added: “Mahomet had been wont to retire yearly, during the month Ramadan, into solitude
and silence; as indeed was the Arab custom; a praiseworthy custom, which such a man, above all, would
find natural and useful. Communing with his own heart, in the silence of the mountains; himself silent;
open to the "small still voices:" it was a right natural custom! Mahomet was in his fortieth year, when
having withdrawn to a cavern in Mount Hara, near Mecca, during this Ramadan, to pass the month in
prayer, and meditation on those great questions, he one day told his wife Khadija, who with his household
was with him or near him this year, That by the unspeakable special favor of Heaven he had now found it
all out; was in doubt and darkness no longer, but saw it all.” He continues, “Alas, such theories are very
lamentable. If we would attain to knowledge of anything in God's true Creation, let us disbelieve them
wholly! They are the product of an Age of Scepticism: they indicate the saddest spiritual paralysis, and
mere death-life of the souls of men: more godless theory, I think, was never promulgated in this Earth. A
false man found a religion? Why, a false man cannot build a brick house!” (Sorensen, 2013, p. 10).
Regarding the topic of Islamic influence, he said: “Allah has directed Arabs to Islam, from
darkness to light, reviving a lifeless nation, who were nothing but roving nomads, idle, scouring the
deserted lands, since its existence, voiceless, motionless. Allah, then, sent them a messenger by his word,
and the message of his precedents, making laziness into fame, ambiguity into eminence, inferiority into
superiority, and weakness into strength. His light covered the earth. Not more than a century afterwards,
the Arab nation had presence in India as well as Andalus, in the light of virtue, nobility, chivalry, valor,
help, guidance and right Luster. The Arab world is still in advancement to the summits of glory as they
follow the doctrine of certainty and the curriculum of faith” (Almond, 1989, p. 69).
In On Heroes, Hero-Worship, and the Heroic in History, Carlyle (1841) laments his people’s
hostility towards Mohammad and their ignorance of his position: “shame it became on anyone these days
to listen to what is said that the Islam is false and that Mohammad is scheming Impostor or a Falsehood
incarnate. It is now the time for us to fight what is made popular of these ridiculous shameful says. The
message that the prophet held is still the lighting lantern for thirteen centuries.” Carlyle dismissed many
allegations about the Prophet Mohammad. He stressed that the sincerity of the Prophet is unquestionable,
that he was aware of the meaning of sincerity and honesty, as well as the great transparent soul, that he
was not a smooth-tongued man. About the allegation of deception, Carlyle said: “no false man can
establish a religion”. All crowns and sovereignties whatsoever, where would they in a few brief years be,
To be Sheik of Mecca or Arabia, and have a bit of gilt wood put into your hand, will that be one's
salvation? I decidedly think, not. We will leave it altogether, this impostor hypothesis, as not credible; not
very tolerable even, worthy chiefly of dismissal by us” (Carlyle, 1840).
The French poet, Alphonse de Lamartine, one of the greatest nineteenth century poets and French
Minister of Foreign Affairs, tried to conclude the genius of Mohammad saying: “If greatness of purpose,
smallness of means, and astonishing results are the three criteria of a human genius, who could dare
compare any great man in history with Muhammad? The most famous men created arms, laws, and
empires only. They founded, if anything at all, no more than material powers which often crumbled away
before their eyes. This man moved not only armies, legislations, empires, peoples, dynasties, but millions
of men in one-third of the then inhabited world; and more than that, he moved the altars, the gods, the
religions, the ideas, the beliefs and the souls. On the basis of a Book, the Noble Quran, every letter, which
has become law, he created a spiritual nationality, which blend together peoples of every tongue and race.
He has left the indelible characteristic of this Muslim nationality the hatred of false gods and the passion
for the One and Immaterial God. This avenging patriotism against the profanation of Heaven formed the
virtue of the followers of Muhammad” (Lamartine, 1854, pp. 276-277; Ballandalus, 2012).
Dr. Homs said: “some people say that the Quran is the words of Mohammad, and nothing but pure
fabrication. The Quran is the words of Allah revealed on the lips of his prophet Mohammad, that illiterate
who cannot, in those ancient times, come up with words that dazzles that minds of the wise, guiding
people from darkness to light”. In response to those who questioned his attitude, he added: “you may be
astonished that a European man confesses to this truth. I studied the Quran, and found these supreme
meanings, elaborate systems, and rhetoric that I have never seen in my entire life, a sentence of which
weigh out folders of scripts, this is undoubtedly the biggest miracle Mohammad came with.”
The French writer, Dr. Maurice Bucaille, said: “the Quran is far beyond the beyond the level of
knowledge of Arabs of its time, the scientific level of the world, beyond the knowledge of scientists in the
latter era, and beyond our advanced scientific level in the era of science and knowledge in the twentieth
century, this cannot be the work of an illiterate, proving the prophecy of Mohammad and that he is a
messenger to whom revelation is made.”
In his book,
by Muhammad in the Arab territories went beyond those of all religions before Islam, including even
Judaism and Christianity. This is why the credit of Muhammad on the Arabs was extremely great.”
Describing the Prophet, George Bernard Shaw said, “Prophet Muhammad must be called the Savior of
Humanity. I believe that if a man like him were to assume the dictatorship of the modern world, he would
succeed in solving its problems in a way that would bring it much needed peace and happiness”
(WikiIslam). In praise of Prophet Muhammad, Edward Monte, the French Philosopher, said:
“Muhammad was famous for his pure intents, amiability, fair judgment and clear and eloquent speech. In
a nutshell, Muhammad was the most faithful, religious and compassionate Arab of his time. He was the
best ruler that guided his followers to a life they never dreamt of before. He built for them a transient and
religious State that still exists today.”
In his book, Tracing the Way: Dimensions of the World Religions, Hans Kung, the author, priest, d
denier of the Catholic papal infallibility and a professor emeritus in ecumenical theology at the University
of Tuebingen, said: “It is wrong to renounce Islam on the grounds that it is a religion of hell and sword
without knowing its religious article, it is no doubt that the Arabs through the Prophet Muhammad may
have risen to high rank of morality and religion based on the belief in one God, humanity and basic
ethics.” He added: “There is no doubt that Muhammad was an authentic prophet, in many respects not
dissimilar to the prophets of Israel. But Muslims attach great importance to the fact that Muhammad does
not stand at the center of Islam as Jesus Christ stands at the center of Christianity. For the Muslims, God's
Word did not become a man but a book. And the Qur'an, which in its original version lies with God
himself, forms the center of Islam” (Kung, 2006).
John William Draper (May 5, 1811 – January 4, 1882),an American (English-born) Professor of
Chemistry and Physiology in the University of New York, said: “Four years after the death of A.D. 569,
was born in Mecca, in Arabia, the man who, of all men, has exercised the greatest influence upon the
human race, To be the religious head of many empires, to guide the daily life of one-third of the human
race, may perhaps justify the title of a Messenger of God, Mohammed, by Europeans surnamed "the
Impostor". He raised his own nation from fetishism, the adoration of a metric stone, and from the basest
idol-worship; he preached a monotheism which quickly scattered to the wind the empty disputes of the
Arians and Catholics.” (Draper, 1875; 2016).
The great German poet, Goethe, said: “If this is Islam, then are we not all Muslims, but the
religion of Muhammad is a religion of sincerity, unity, morals and care of human.” He also added: “He is
a prophet and not a poet and therefore his Koran is to be seen as Divine Law, and not as a book of a
human being made for education or entertainment” (oocities.org, 2009).
“Undoubtedly, the Prophet Muhammad is one of the greatest reformers who served the social
community. It suffices him for pride that he guided an entire nation to the light of truth, made his people
inclined to peace and tranquility,” says Tolstoy, the most famous Russian novelist (asharqalarabi.org,
2003).
In 1882, British writer John Davenport, ashamed of the crimes of his people against Islam and
Muslims, authored a book titled
hearsay about the prophet of Allah, PBUH. In the book he says: “It is foolish to think that Mohammed
propagated his religion by the sword, this religion forbids bloodshed, and enjoins what is good and
forbids evil, it has ordered advisory and forbade tyranny, it gave civil rights to humans, shall Europe
remember that they owe its whole civilization to Muslims themselves” (Hurgronje, 2016).
Dr. Grenier, a Dutchman, announced his converting to Islam and belief in Mohammad as he said:
"I thoroughly studied the Quranic verses that are relative to natural, health and medical sciences that I
studied during my youth, and understood them well, I found them all in accordance with our current
scientific knowledge. That is why I became Muslim, as I became sure that Mohammad PBUH came with
the absolute truth one thousand years ago, without being taught by humans” (asharqalarabi.org, 2002).
The Dutch scholar Hurgronje talked about the influence of the Prophet Mohammad in upgrading
the human mind saying: “So, Mohammad appeared five hundred seventy years after the Christ. His job,
too, was the upgrade of human minds by feeding them the fundamental of aspects and virtues, restoring
them to believe in one god and the afterlife. The Islamic religion made a great advancement in the
religious ideology throughout the world. Islam salvaged human minds from the burdens that confined
them around the temples in hands of clergymen’s various religious dogmas. Then, minds were upgraded
by Islam to believe in the afterlife; a faith that is more powerful than the materialistic human efforts, to
submit to one god who they can worship by themselves, without intercession between them and their
creator, and to ascend in the elevations of his mighty to the space of his glory without the intercession of
intermediaries” (Zwemer, 1932; Khilafatworld, 2011).
The British playwright and philosopher, George Bernard Shaw speculated that Islam would
become the religion of Europe after the latter exonerated Islam from the false accusations of European
medieval ecclesiastics. He wrote: “I have always held the religion of Muhammad in high estimation
because of its wonderful vitality. It is the only religion, which appears to me to possess that assimilating
capacity to the changing phase of existence, which can make itself appeal to every age. I have prophesied
about the faith of Muhammad that it would be acceptable to the Europe of tomorrow as it is beginning to
be acceptable to the Europe of today.
“The medieval ecclesiastics, through either ignorance or bigotry, painted Muhammadanism in the
darkest colours. They were in fact trained both to hate the man Muhammad and his religion. To them
Muhammad was Anti-Christ. I have studied him – the wonderful man and in my opinion far from being
an anti-Christ, he must be called the Savior of Humanity.
“I believe that if a man like him were to assume the dictatorship of the modern world, he would
succeed in solving its problems in a way that would bring it the much needed peace and happiness. To
proceed, it was in the 19th century that honest thinkers like Carlyle, Goethe and Gibbon perceived
intrinsic worth in the religion of Muhammad, and thus there was some change for the better in the
European attitude towards Islam. But the Europe of the present century is far advanced. It is beginning to
be enamored of the creed of Muhammad. In the next century it may go further and address the benefits of
that religion in solving its problems and issues. With this spirit, you shall conceive my prophecy.
Currently, many of my people and of Europe have already entered the religion of Muhammad. Thus, it is
possible to say that the conversion of Europe to Islam has begun” (Zahoor, 1999; Laurence, 1988, pp.
305-306, 323; Al-Amal, 2006; Leow, 2008).
In his book,
Oriental Languages at the University of Geneva, said: “Mohammad was known for his honest intentions,
mildness, fairness, impartiality, an invariable purity and a note of sure conviction. With its sheer piety and
sincerity, the religious nature of Muhammad puzzles every scrupulous and honest scholar. Muhammad
was primarily a religious reformer with a staunch religious belief. He did not rise before much meditation
and reached a state of perfection with this great religion that made him one of the most pronounced
enlightenments in the human history. In fighting tyranny and oppression as well as ugly habits among his
contemporaries, he was in Arabia very like one of the prophets of Israel, who were highly important
figures in the history of their people. Many people did not recognize Muhammad, because he was a
reformer who introduced people to the details of phases of their lives.”
Dr. Wilson, in one of his lectures, mentioned: “If we do not consider Muhammad, peace be upon
him, a prophet, we cannot deny that he is a messenger of Allah, as there was and will not be anyone
except for him who explained the First Christianity in a great honest way. The religion he came with does
not oppose Christian religion, all he came with was good.”
In The Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire, in the chapter Fall In The East, Stanley Gibbons
wrote: “The creed of Mahomet is free from suspicion or ambiguity; the Koran is a glorious testimony to
the unity of god. The prophet of Mecca rejected the worship of idols and men, of stars and planets.” To
sum up, the secrets of the creed of Mahomet are greater than our modern minds can apprehend.
Oppression of Mahomet or his religion is nothing but irrationality or fanaticism. The best quality of a man
is to be modest in his opinion and honest in his actions.
Carl Heinrich Becker, the Dutch orientalist and politician, wrote in his book,
“He made mistake who said that the Arab prophet was an imposter or deceitful because he did not
understand his higher creed. Muhammad is worthful of respect and his creed shall be followed. We
cannot judge without knowing. Mohammad is the best man who came to earth with the true religion and
faith of perfection. We also saw that the Islamic religion is not far from Christianity” (Hemaya, 2011, pp.
123-160, 157).
The Russian, Jouhan Michaelis, in his book
was not imposter or deceitful as accused by the foolish in his era, he was a man of statesmanship,
leadership, management, championship, ethics, and doctrine. He preached to his religion with all
characters of perfections, and gave Arab what exalted them. We learned from his religion nothing that
cannot accommodate all times whatever developed they are. Whoever accuses him or his creed with the
opposite is stray of ideals and all nations shall follow his teachings.”
The British Army Colonel, Bodley, in his book
summed up that it is a call for peace and recognition of the will of God and monotheism. He said: “One
greatest sin in Islam is Polytheism”, adding, “Mohammad did not claim a divine nature of himself; he
frequently declared that he is just a man with revelation. The reason for the rapid spread of Islam
compared to other creeds is that he did not claim divinity, and not ordering that he being worshiped, in
addition to the fact that Quran made it clear that other formerly revealed divine religions were true.”
Bodley, then, blames fanatic writers and the untruths and myths they have promoted since the Crusade
wars. He also describes them as not understanding Mohammad and his creed, summing up that the
Islamic doctrine is a call for Islam and peace and recognition of the will of God and monotheism
(asharqalarabi.org, 2003).
The Swiss orientalist, Max Van Brechem, in the introduction of his book,
“Muhammad, the prophet of Arab is one of the great Philanthropists. Sending Muhammad to the whole
world is the effect of a divine mind, if Asia is to be proud of its people, they should be proud of this great
man. It is gross injustice to overlook Muhammad, who came from the land of Arab to the Arab, who was,
as we know, of obnoxious hatred before his mission, then, how their moral, social and religious status
changed following announcement of his prophecy. In general, as much one learns about his biography
and mission in promoting whatever can exalt humanity, there should not be mal attributions to him, as
well as understanding the reasons behind the admiration by millions to this man, and apprehend the
reason of their love to him and his glory in their eyes. Generally, Muhammad, peace be upon him, is a
pride of all humanity, he who came with the absolute mercy, so his mission was titled: “We sent, you not,
but as a Mercy for all creatures”” (slideshare.net, 2006).
Brenton said: "There is no sin greater than denying this divine man after I studied his contributions
to humanity” (Hemaya, 2011, pp. 123-160, 157).
Pushkin, the prince of Russian poetry, writes about the Prophet and his biography, quoting stories,
examples and phrases from the Holy Quran, swearing “by evens and odds, stars and dawn, till you may
think he is merely a Muslim or Sufi, and who can say he was not!” In a poem he follows the picture of the
Prophet, PBUH, telling him his spiritual burdens, following him while he follows Gabriel in the heart of
sky, or as he hugs or shakes, till he is exhausted, or as he opens his chest blowing the words of wisdom on
his tongue, washing his heart with light, putting the seeds of wisdom into it. Then, in a clear note of the
light that descended to the Prophet, PBUH, he said: “He the merciful has revealed, to Muhammad the
bright Quran, we shall too walk to the light, and remove the blurry from our eyes” (Pushkin, 2007;
Yaqout, 2007).
Research Methods
Comparative methodology was used to address the relationship between two variables: ideological
disagreements as an independent variable and international political behaviour as a dependent variable.
The main hypothesis is: The greater the ideological and religious disagreements, the greater the instability
and conflict between both sides. The paper will use case study method to apply to Islam and the West.
This article uses the comparative approach and applies it at the level of comparing between both
the Islamic and Western vision in general, and on four sublevels in particular: the comparison between
intellectual elites, who committed abuse against the Prophet, and those who were fair towards him; the
comparison between the views of political elites, who committed abuse against the Prophet, and those
who were fair toward him; the comparison between western societies and the reactions in the Islamic
ones; and, finally, the comparison between the views and conflictual practices, views and dialogic
practices between the two parts (Rabie, 1971, p. 220).
The aim behind the use of comparative approach was to verify the three hypotheses of this article.
It is understood that such a comparison is adequate to verify such hypotheses and draw beneficial
conclusions.
Findings
Exploring multiple opinions of Western intellectual elites toward this issue, in addition to
media attitudes and common traditions in the West, is useful and important. However, the paper assumes
that, despite the existence of a misconception in Western societies regarding the meaning of prophecy,
there have been positive aspects of some intellectual elites who dealt respectfully with prophecy,
particularly as regards the Prophet Muhammad.
Solution
The condemnatory and denunciatory statements of the European Union, United Nations, the
Vatican, the Islamic Conference Organization and others are not the solution to the crisis. On the other
hand, the dialogue of civilisations can be the optimum solution to various dimensions of the crisis. This is
the mission of the rational, intellectual and political elite of the two sides of the crisis. Following the steps
of extremists, radicals and exaggerators is inappropriate. In this article, we point out three ways that can
help in overcoming the crisis between the Islamic world and the West; positive experiences, intellectual
projects and legislations.
A current positive experience is the Arab European Dialogue that commenced following the war
of October, and, two years ago, the European Parliament sponsored it with an initiative from Kuwaiti Al-
Babtain Cultural Foundation (Latif, 2013). Another is the Muslim-Christian interfaith dialogue from
which the Islamic-Catholic Liaison Committee emerged and included representatives of global Islamic
agencies and organisations. Also, the Representatives of the Pontifical Council for Interfaith Dialogue in
the Vatican (Islamic-Catholic Liaison, 2013), a committee which aims at reinforcing the dialogue
between civilisations, discusses issues concerning both Christians and Muslims and explores methods of
religious values participation in solving the difficult issues between them.
Another experience is the EUROMED partnership that focuses on the issue of hostility against
Arabs and Muslims, which has never been an issue between Islam and Christianity as two religions, but
rather a conflict occurred between the North and the South over interests and resources. In this conflict,
the cross and the crescent were used to recruit supporters. Some European literature and writings about
Arab and Islam became biased and hostile in the name of freedom of expression. It is noticeable that
those who attack Islam in Europe are not essentially Christians, but rather atheists who do not believe in
God or his prophets and messengers (Baioumi, 2015). The Gulf-European (GCC-EU) Aviation Dialogue
is another example of these experiences. This is a good start, as mutual collaboration in such aspects
represents a better way to overcome different aspects of dispute (Doha hosts, 2015).
The Dialogue of Civilizations Project, one of the purposeful intellectual projects introduced by the
political researchers in the Rand Graham Fuller Corporation, can be a positive idea for an acceptable start
in this context. The Fuller project focuses on three issues: reviewing the western values and concepts to
make them more compatible with new developments; leaving the third world countries to develop in the
way they each choose; and dealing positively with countries that approach economic improvement in the
western framework, and helping countries that cannot achieve such improvement so they do not drag the
international system into a conflict between the West and other systems. Despite the fact that the Fuller
project is still built on the very same basis that the future will witness the flourishing of an ideology that
discourses the West, it calls for dialogue rather than conflicts and wars (Amro, 2012).
Legislative methods to overcome the discourse include making laws against abuse of religious
symbols effective. Such laws exist in the criminal laws of Austria, Finland, Germany, Holland, Italy, the
UK and the USA. Another method is to use the legal pathways to prosecute those responsible for the
discourse. In addition, another method is to call for laws that prevent blasphemy; a defamation of
religions and prophets and religious sanctities law. The president of the World Islamic Council for Da'wa
and Relief demanded the United Nations and Security Council to sanction a law that prevents defamation
of religions and prophets and religious sanctities. He also asked the civil community organisations, as
well as various world populations, to stand against the fierce campaign against Islam and Muslims, taking
every peaceful step in order to sanction a law that incriminates whoever abuses any religion or prophet.
Conclusion
Despite the existence of misconception in Western societies about prophecy, while some elites and
popular and traditional dominant perceptions have dealt with prophecy with disdain, contempt and
ridicule, there are positive aspects of intellectual elites who have dealt respectfully with prophecy,
particularly some poets, novelists, scientists, and philosophers. Such work, through fruitful dialogue, will
enrich a positive impact on international relations.
Finally, it is possible to address the following conclusions. Firstly, there is a positive correlation
between the nature of the disturbed western understanding of prophecy and their abusive practices against
the Prophet Mohammed, PBUH, throughout history; secondly, there is a positive correlation between the
focusing of the western vision of the earth and the universe around the individual and their materialistic,
permissive, capitalistic, exploitative, colonial and overbearing nature, and, finally, there is a positive
correlation between their political, economical and military assurance of control over other nations, the
plunder of their resources, the control over their political systems, and their abusive practices against the
Prophet Mohammed, PBUH, throughout history.
It is plausible to assure the importance of serious and effective political decisions and legislations,
as well as cultural, intellectual and practical activities to deepen a mutual dialogue, whereas aggressive
hostile declarations, as well as terrorism and violence, will only exacerbate the problem.
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AbulQaraya, B. (2017). Impact Of Ideological Disagreements On International Relations: A Study On Islam And The West. In Z. Bekirogullari, M. Y. Minas, & R. X. Thambusamy (Eds.), Political Science, International Relations and Sociology - ic-PSIRS 2017, vol 21. European Proceedings of Social and Behavioural Sciences (pp. 34-54). Future Academy. https://doi.org/10.15405/epsbs.2017.02.4