:: Volume 10, Issue 40 (Cultural History Studies 2019) ::
CHS 2019, 10(40): 133-154 Back to browse issues page
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)
Yasaman Yari * 1, Alimohammad Valavi2
1- Postdoctoral researcher of Al-Zahra University and support fund for national researchers and technologists, Tehran, IRAN , y.yari@alzahra.ac.ir
2- Professor of History Department of Al-Zahra University, Tehran, IRAN
Abstract:   (2274 Views)
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: William Muir, Life of Muhammad Book, Evangelism, British Colonialism, Western Islamology
Full-Text [PDF 244 kb]   (482 Downloads)    
review paper: Research | Subject: Special
Received: 2019/06/19 | Accepted: 2019/06/23 | Published: 2019/09/1



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Volume 10, Issue 40 (Cultural History Studies 2019) Back to browse issues page