muslims & social change in the atlantic basin

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Muslims and Social Change in the Atlantic BasinAuthor(s): Sean FoleySource: Journal of World History, Vol. 20, No. 3 (Sep., 2009), pp. 377-398Published by: University of Hawai'i PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40542804Accessed: 07-03-2015 15:26 UTC

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2/23

Muslims nd

Social

Change

in

the

Atlantic

asin*

SEAN FOLEY

Middle

Tennessee tate

University

The inhabitants

f he

Maghrib

North

frica]

ave t

on

authority

f hebooks

f

prediction

hat

heMuslimswill

. .

make successful

ttack

gainst

heChristiansnd

conquer

the

ands f

European

hristians

eyond

he

ea.

This,

t s

said,

will

ake

place

by

ea.

-

Ibn

Khaldun,

he

Muqadimah1

It seems o

me

f

we

must ave

any

Turkish

ar,

we

ought

o

beginwith urselves.nvainwewage arnalwarswithout,

while

t home

we are

conquered y piritual

attles

. .

Now

that he

RomanCuria

Catholic

Church]

s

more

yrannical

than

ny

Turk

. .

there s no

hope

of uccessful ar r

victory.

As far s

I can

see,

God

fights

gainst

s; first,

e must on-

quer

himwith

ears,

ure rayers,

oly,

nd

pure

aith.

-

Martin

uther,

orrespondence

* Thisarticles dedicatedo thememoryfPaul Claussen1942-2007).Earlier er-

sions

f

this

aper

were

eadbefore heAnnual

Convention ftheAmerican istorical

Association

n

Atlanta,

eorgia,

n

January

007

and theConference

ftheAssociation

for he

tudy

f heWorldwide

frican

iaspora,

t.

Michael, arbados,

n October

007.

The author hanks

auldu

Quenoy,

harles

eatherstone,

ouis

Haas,

York

Norman,

ol

Silversmith,

ohn

Voll,

ndone

anonymous

eader or heir

elpful

omments.

1

Ibn

Khaldun,

he

Muqadimah,

rans.

ranzRosenthal

Princeton,

.J.:

Princeton

University

ress,

967),

.

213.

2

Martin

uther,

Luther o

George palatin

Wittenberg,

ecember

1,

15

8),

Luther's

orrespondence

nd

Other

Contemporary

etters,

rans, nd ed. Preserved

mith

(Philadelphia:

utheranublication

ociety,

91

),

vol.

1,

no.

106,141.

Journal

f

World

istory,

ol.

20,

No.

3

©

2009 byUniversity

fHawai'i Press

377


http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp


3/23

378

JOURNAL

OF

WORLD

HISTORY,

SEPTEMBER

2OOÇ

the fallof 1

765

a

young

man visited he

printing

ffices f the

Virginia

azette

n

Williamsburg,irginia,

nd

purchased eorge

Sale's

English-language

ranslation

f the central extof the Islamic

faith,

he

Qur'an.

The

young

man

hoped

hat he acred ext nd foun-

dation f slamic aw would

better

elp

himunderstand

ow

religious

beliefs ransfercross

ultures.n his

eyes,

he

Stamp

Act,

mposed

y

Britain

n colonial

North

Americanswithout heir

onsent,

nder-

mined

he

heritage

f

English

onstitutionalaw and natural aw

as

specified

n

the

Qur'an

and other

criptures.nspired

n

part

by

his

reading f theQur'an,ThomasJeffersonioneered conception f

human

rights

hatrevolutionizedhe

history

f the

Atlanticworld.

His intellectual ebtto Islamwas

sufficiently

learthat

John

Quincy

Adams,

n

a

1791

pamphlet

esponding

o ThomasPaine'sdefense f

theFrench

evolution,

ompared

efferson

nfavorably

o the

prophet

Muhammad.3

n

the ame

pamphlet,

dams urther

ought

o discredit

Jefferson

y magining

hathe and hisfollowershanted

phrase

nal-

ogous

o the Muslim hahada: There s butone

Goddess

f

Liberty

and Common ense s her

prophet. 5

Though

Atlantic

history

nd Islamic tudies ave been

dynamic

fieldsn recent ecades,Muslims' ontributionso Atlantic asin oci-

eties,

slam's nfluence n

Jefferson

nd other

imilar hinkers

n

the

Euro- merican

radition,

nd the linksbetween he

Atlanticbasin

and the slamicworldhave received

omparatively

imited

overage.

By

and

large,

slamic

cholars ave

focused

n

the Islamic

world,

or Dar al-Islam: he beltof

Muslim

ocieties

romWestAfrica o the

Pacific. here s a similar earth f

coverage

n

the iterature

ealing

withAtlantic

istory:

he

history

f the continentshat urroundhe

Atlantic

Ocean

and the

peoples

ontained

herein

rom he fifteenth

century

ntil

he

nineteenth

entury.6

3

Adamsmade he

comparison

n

a

widely

istributed

amphlet

rittennder he

pseudonym

ublicóla.

he

pamphlet

as

designed

o rebut

aine's

nalysis

ftheFrench

Revolutionontained

n

his

book

Vindication

f

he

ightsf

Man.Americans

idely

aw

he

book t the ime s an attack n Adams's

ather,

henU.S. vice

president

ohn

dams. or

more

n this

ncident,

ee David

W.

Lesch,

The Middle ast

and

àie United

tates:

A

Historical

and Political eassessment

Boulder,

Colo.:

Westview

ress,

003), p.

493.

4

The Shahada is the recitation f the slamic witness f faith nd the first f slam's

five

illars:

There s no

god

but God and Muhammad s the

messenger

f God. For more

on

the

Shahada,

see The

Oxford

ictionaryf

slam,

.v. Shahadah.

5

Thomas S.

Kidd,

Is It Worse to Follow Mahomet Than the Devil?

Early

American

Uses of slam, Americanociety fChurch istory 2,no. 4 (2003): 788.One couldsaythat

thiswas the rhetorical

equivalent

f

regularlyeferring

o the

44th

president

fthe

United

States

by

his Muslimmiddlename: BarackHussein Obama.

b

For an excellent overview f recenttrends

n

Atlantic

history,

ee Allison

Games,

Atlantic

History:

efinitions,

hallenges,

nd

Opportunities,

merican istorical eview

in,

no.

3

(2006):

741-757-




4/23

Foley:

Muslims

nd ocial

Change

n

the

Atlantic asin

379

My

rticle sks wo

uestions

hathave

rarelyppeared

n slamic r

Atlantic

istory.

irst,

an

we

conceptualize

tlantic

istory

s a

viable

component

f

Islamic

history?

econd,

do

Muslims

either s

indi-

viduals

r as

representatives

f

an intellectual

radition

ifferent

rom

that fChristian

uropeans

merit nclusion

n mainstream

istories

of

ll societies

n theAtlantic

asin?While

scholars ave

longrecog-

nized he

mportance

f

slam nd

Muslims

o African

nd berian

is-

tory,

here

emains

imited

cholarship

n Muslims

n

other

arts

f he

Atlantic

asin

before

he

nineteenth

nd twentieth

enturies.

xplor-

ing slam's ole n these ocietiessproblematicalecausemainstream

Euro-

merican

onceptions

f

Islam

have

long

been

based

largely

on misinformation

nd

distortions

nd

becausethere

were

few

ecog-

nizably

Muslim

ommunities

n the

Atlanticbasin

outside

f Africa

since

1500.

Can

we

discuss uro-

merican iews

f slam

without,

or

these

urposes,

eferencing

estern

igotry

r

mperialism?

sn't

ven

misinformation

kindof

nformation?

oesn't

t

imply

ome sort

f

relationship?

I believe

hat

he answer

o these

uestions

s

yes

nd

that

xplor-

ing

hem

rovides

cholars

ith series

fuseful

nsights

ntoAtlantic

historyndIslamichistory.n particular,argue hat nsweringhese

questions

llows

us

to see

thatthe

inheritance

f the United

States

and other

nations

f the

Atlantic

asin

extends

eyond

he

confines

of

Europe

o

the slamic

world.

AfricanMuslims

were

mportant

em-

bers

of communities

n North

nd West

Africa s

well

as the

global

Islamic

ommunity

hose

members

nd

intellectual

radition

eft

n

important

ut

often verlooked

mprint

n

Europeans

nd

those of

their

escendants

n

the

Americas.

hat

imprint rovided

tableau

for

hem

ot

only

o redefine

heir

elationship

ith

he slamic

world,

butalso,more mportantly,odefine heir wn national dentitynd

relationship

o

other ations

n the Euro-

tlantic

amily.

ithin his

framework,

slamic

deas

and

power

unctioned

s an

engine

fsocial

change

nd

helped

o

ustify

niversal

eligious

nd

political

ights.

In this

rticle

will

xplore

ow this

process

ccurred

n

three

ru-

cial

turningoints

n Atlantic

istory

rom

hefifteenth

entury

ntil

the

ighteenth

entury:

he

Reformation,

herise

f

European

ational-

ism,

nd the

mergence

f

Anglo-American

otions

fnatural

aw and

universal

uman

ights.

hroughout

hese

hree

eriods,

he

reality

f

Muslim

militaryower

haped

eligious,

iterary,

nd

political

iscourse

in Euro- tlantic ocietiesndwonwidespreadespectfMuslimsnd

their

ivilization.

ntellectuals

s diverse

s

Martin

uther,

ohn

ocke,

and

Thomas

Jeffersonxpended

onsiderable

nergy

ducating

hem-

selves

nd

others bout

slam.

They

also

employed

slam nd

Muslims

as

a vehicle

o

ustify

eforms

ithin heir

wn societies.

n

fact,

hese




5/23

380

JOURNAL

OF

WORLD

HISTORY,

SEPTEMBER

2OOÇ

men'suse of slamwas

sufficiently

lear thattheir

pponents

from

Catholic

theologians

o

Federalist

Americans

sought

o

discredit

Luther,

efferson,

nd

others

y

rguing

hat

hey

were

eally

romoting

Islamic

deas.

Ultimately,

n

analysis

f

hese

ypes

f

debates llows s

to

better

lace

Muslims nd

their

eligion

n

the

history

f

Atlantic

societies nd

ultimately

n

contemporary

merica.

Luther and

the

Reformation

Throughout

he ixcenturies

receding

olumbus's

oyage

n

1492

to

the

Americas,

slamic

ulture

ominatedhe

Mediterranean

orld nd

parts

f

Asia and

Africa.

While

Mongol

nd Crusader

nvasions

nd

the

Reconquista

ad

tested

slamic

ower,

o

European

tate

qualed

the

strength

f

the

major

arly

modern

Muslim

mpires,

articularly

the

Ottoman

mpire.

ttoman

rmies

ad seized

Constantinople,

he

ancient

enter f

Eastern

hristianity,

n

1453

after

hey

had

taken

much of

the

restof

southeastern

urope

n

the

fourteenth

entury.

Thereafter

hey

xpanded

nto he

Balkans

nd

Central

urope, ain-

ing ontrol fHungaryn1526andbesieging ienna n1529.

For

many

Christian

uropeans,

slamic

xpansion

nd the

fall

of

Constantinopleignaled

God's

displeasure

ith

Christendom

nd

the

Roman

Catholic

Church.

Among

he

firsto

make hese

rguments

as

the

fourteenth-century

xford cholar

John

Wycliffe.

e

contended

that slam's

uccess

was

inked o the

growth

f

greed,

ride,

iolence,

materialism,

nd

the

lust for

power

within

he

European

Christian

church.

n

De

ChristotSuo

Adversario

On

Christ nd His

Adversary),

Wycliffe

tates

hat he

defining

haracteristicsf

slam

re

dentical

to

those f

Western

hristianity.

e

highlights

hese

bservations

y

referringo himselfnd the otherEuropeanWestern hristians y

the

arcastic

nd

rhetorical

hrase

We

Western

Mahomets. 7

e also

berates

uropeans'

rrogance:

we think

he

whole

worldwillbe

regu-

lated

by

our

udgments

nd tremble

efore

ur

ommand. 8

ccording

to

Wycliffe,

his

ttitude,

he

Islamic

pirit,

ould

grow

n

Europe

and n

the slamic

world

ntil

uropean

hristians

eturnedo

thereal

spirit

f he

gospels

nd

Christianity.9

7

Celia M. Lewis, History,Mission,and Crusade in the Canterburyales Chaucer

Review

2,

no.

4

(2008):

373.

Karen

Armstrong,

uhammad:

iographyf

Prophet

San

Francisco:

HarperCollins

San

Francisco,

903), pp. 32-33.

9

Ibid.




6/23

Foley:

Muslims

nd ocial

Change

ntheAtlantic

asin

381

Wycliffe's

rguments

ttainedn

unprecedented

lace

n

European

life

during

he

century

fter

is death

n

1384

because

of

the inter-

section

fthree

actors.

irst,

he

Ottomans

eized

Constantinople

n

1453

nd

formally

bsorbed

ungary

nto

heir

mpire

n

1543.

For he

firstime

ince

he

Barbarian

nvasions

f thousand

ears

arlier,

ne

of

Europe's

major

tates

ad fallen

nder

xternal ontrol

A

powerful

Muslim

tate

wasnow

effectively

member

fthe

continent's

alance

of

power

nd able

to

influence

he

continent's

olitical

ffairs.

ec-

ond,

he

printing

ress

llowed

or

apid

issemination

f

nformation,

especiallyamphlets,ravel eportsn foreignands, ndwhatwould

become

newspapers.

ews

on

the Ottoman

Empire,

ts

peoples,

nd

its

religious

raditions

ominated

hese

publications.

he

first nown

occurrence

n

print

f

the

German

word

or

ewspaper

zeitung)

the

1502

Newe

zeitung

on orient

nd

auff

ange

discussed

enice's

losses

to the

Ottomans

n

1501

and

1502.

0

Further,

ass-produced

woodcuts

epicting

ttoman

uxiliaries

nslaving

ermans

enerated

widespread

ublic

utrage

n Protestant

nd Catholic

Germanygainst

Muslims.11

Third,

German

monk,

Martin

uther,

ent

ninety-five

heses riti-

cizing arious spects f theCatholicChurch oArchbishop lbert

of

Meinz

n

1517.

That action

began

the

Reformation,

n event

hat

reshaped

uropean

politics

nd

influenced

ocieties

hroughout

he

Atlantic

world.

From he

start,

slam

and

the success

of the

Otto-

man

Empire

ramed

uther's

worldview

nd

were

ntegral

o

his call

for

oth

ocial

action

nd

reform

fthe

Catholic

Church.

n

Luther's

eyes,

t

was

mperative

or

uropeans

o understand

slam

o

they

ould

understand

hat

heOttoman

mpire

was

not

only

military

hreat

ut

10

Kenneth

M.

Setton,

Lutheranism

nd

the Turkish

eril,

n

Europe

nd the

evant

in the

Middle

Ages

nd the

Renaissance,

y

Kenneth

M Setton

London:

Variorum

eprints,

11

ror

moreon these

ssues,

ee

Konstantin

Mihailovic

Memoirs

j

a

Janissary.

n

par-

ticular,

ook

at the

two

sixteenth-century

oodcuts

n

pages

174

and

175.

The first ne

is

of

Turkish aiders

with

German

peasant

captives.

The second

is

from

502

and discusses

Germans

eing

transformed

nto

Janissaries.

onstantin

Mihailovic,

Memoirs

f

Janissary,

trans.

Benjamin

Stolz

(Ann

Arbor:

Joint

ommittee

n

Eastern

Europe,

American

Coun-

cil

of Learned

Societies,

the

Department

f Slavic

Languages

and

Literatures,

niversity

ofMichigan,1975), pp. 174-175; BenediktKuripesic,tinerarium:erGesandschaftönig

Ferdinand

.

von

Ungarn

ach

Konstantinopel

530,

ed. and translit. recko

Dzaja

and

Jozo

Dzambo

(Bochum,

Germany:

tudienverlag

r. N.

Brockmeyer,

983);

and David

Brion

Davis,

Inhuman

ondage:

The Rise

and Fall

of

Slavery

n theNew

World

Oxford:

Oxford

University

ress, 006),

p. 78.




7/23

382

JOURNAL

OF

WORLD

HISTORY,

SEPTEMBER

2OOÇ

also indicative f

deep spiritual

roblems

n

Europe

nd the Catholic

Church

problems

o

heinous s to merit

od's wrath.

In

a series

f

widely

irculated

amphlets,

uther ied

the

corrup-

tion f

heCatholicChurch

o the

uccess fMuslims

whom

he

inac-

curately

alled

Turks )-12

uther awthe Turks

s the

nstruments

f

God'swrath

gainst

inning

hristians a

schoolmaster

o

discipline

and teach he

Christians

f

Europe

o

fearGod in

much he

ame

way

that

he

Babylonians

ad

schooled

srael13 ne

can find

his iew s

early

s his

15

18

defense fhis

ninety-five

heses,

n which

he

asserts:

TofightgainstheTurks sthe ame s resistingod,whovisits ur

sin

upon

us

with hisrod.

H

Luther

aterwrote

hatChristian

uro-

peans

had earnedGod's wrath

nd

disfavor,

o that

He

justly ives

s

into hehands

fthedevil

nd theTurk.

5

As

great

s theOttoman

military

hreat

as,

Luther sserted

t was

necessary

or

uropeans

o

cleanse heir

oulsfirst

efore

oing

o war

against

he

Turks r

nyone

lse.

n

a

15

18

etter o

George

Burkhardt

(George

palatin),

ecretary

nd

chaplain

f

the elector

ohn

reder-

ick,

Luther

emarked:

If rightlynderstandou, ou skwhethernexpeditiongainsthe

Turks an be

defendednd

commanded

y

me on

biblical

rounds.

Even

upposing

hewar hould

e undertakenor

ious

easonsather

than or

ain,

confess

hat cannot

romise

hat

ou

sk,

ut

ather

the

pposite

..

It seems o

me

f

wemust

ave

ny

urkish

ar,

e

ought

o

begin

with urselves.n vain

we

wage

arnalwars

without,

while t

homewe re

onqueredy piritual

attles

. .

Now hat he

Roman uria

Catholic

hurch]

s

more

yrannical

han

ny

urk

theres no

hope

f uccessful

ar r

victory.

s far s

I

can

see,

God

fights

gainst

s;first,

e must

onquer

im

with

ears,

ure rayers,

holy,ndpure aith.16

Equally

important,

hristian

Europeans

could

not

expect

to

be

absolved

f heir ins n

battle even

n

a

war anctioned

y

heCath-

olic

Church

since t had

falsely

romised

hat

Christianity

ccepted

12

Luther'snaccurateeferenceo

Muslimss Turks

as common

uropean

on-

flationf he wo

roups

t the ime.

ne sees similaronflationn

thework f

Luther's

famous utch

ontemporary,

hehumanist

ndChristian

heologian

esideriusrasmus.

u

SarahHenrich nd

James

.

Boyce,

Martin

uther

TranslationsfTwo

Prefaces

on slam: refaceo theLibellus eRitu t Moribus urcorum1530), ndPrefaceo Bibli-

ander's dition f

he

Qur'an 1543),

Word World

6,

no. 2

(1006): 255.

14

Ibid.,

. 252.

15

Ibid.

16

Luther,

uther's

orrespondence,

.

141.




8/23

Foley:

Muslims

nd ocial

Change

ntheAtlantic asin

383

martyrdom

ndcrusades.If

nyone

lsewants o

go

to war nanother

way,

utherwrote

n

1529,

letthem ake

heir hances.

7

As Luther

riticizedhe

Catholic

Church,

e

simultaneouslyio-

neered

new

European

onception

f slam

within n

eschatological

frameworkhat

reinforced

is

pastoral

mission.While

Edward aid

correctly

dentifies

imilaritiesetween

atinmedieval

heologians

nd

Luther,

t s

mportant

o bear

n mind hatLuther ived

n a time nd

sociocultural

ontext

ar emoved

rom hose

heologians.18

or aver-

age

Christian

uropeans

n

the

ixteenth

entury,

ho ived

n

a world

in which slam ppearedscendantnd tohold God'sfavor,t wasnot

enough

o rehash

ld assertions

hat

slamwas a Christian

eresy.

Luther

esponded

o these

fears

y asserting

hat he

Turks ere

the

agents

f

the Devil

who,

long

with he Antichrist

ocated

n

the

heart

f heCatholic

Church,

ome,

would sher

n

theLast

Days

nd

the

Apocalypse.19

n

this

nvironment,

utherwarned

hat he chief

danger

or hristians

ould

e that

hey

would e fooled

y

heDevil's

agents

nd

convert o

Islamen

masse: Since we now

have the Turk

and

his

religion

t our

very oorstep,

ur

people

must e warned

est,

either

moved

y

the

plendor

ftheTurkish

eligion

nd the external

appearance ftheir ustoms,roffendedythemeager isplay four

faith r

the

deformity

four

customs,

hey eny

heir hrist

nd fol-

low

Muhammad. 20

mong

hosevulnerable

o the

splendor

f the

Turkish

eligion

r to the

powers

fthe

Devil was Luther

imself.

n

a section

f

his Selected salms

e describes

ow close he

had come to

succumbing

o

the

temptations

fthe

Devil:

Whoever

s

nterested

ay

arn lesson

rom

my xample,

hich

shall

now onfess.

few imes

when did

notbear his

rincipal

teaching

nmind the

Devil

aught p

withme nd

plagued

ewith

Scriptureassagesntil eaven nd earth ecame oosmall orme.

17

Desiderius

rasmus,

heErasmus

eader,

d. Erika ummel

Toronto:

niversity

f

Toronto

ress, 000),

. 315.

18

Edward

aid,

Orientalism

New

York:

intage

ooks,

978),pp.

61-73.

F°r more

on Luther's

ebt o medieval

hristiancholars'

oncepts

f

slam,

ee David

Choi,

Mar-

tinLuther's

esponse

o the

Turkish hreat:

ontinuity

nd Contrast ith

heMedieval

Commentators

iccoldaDa

MonteCroce

and Nicholas f Cusa

PhD

diss.,

rinceton

University,

003).

19

Luther

rovidedpecific

nstructions

o hisfollowerss to how

hey

hould ehave

were hey o becapturednd enslaved yOttomanMuslimrmies.Whilehe counseled

hisfollowersot

o

fight

ther hristians

even

f hatmeant

eath),

e advised hristian

women

o

ccept

exual ubmission

oMuslim

men f

ecessary.

gil

Grislis,

Luthernd

he

Turks,

art &

II,

Muslim orld

4 (1974):

278.

20

Henrich

nd

Boyce,

Martin

uther,

.

260.




9/23

384

JOURNAL

OF WORLD

HISTORY,

SEPTEMBER

2OO9

Then all the words nd lawsofman were

ight,

nd not an error as

to

be

found n thewhole

papacy.

n

short,

he

only

ne who had ever

erred

was Luther.All

my

best

works,

eachings,

ermons,

nd books

had to be condemned.

he

abominable

Muhammadlmost ecame

my

prophet,

nd bothTurks nd

Jews

were n the

way

o

pure

ainthood.

Therefore,

ear

brother,

e not

proud

r sure nd certain hat

you

knowChristwell.You hearwhat confess o

you,

dmitting

hat he

Devil was able to do

against

uther,

ho s

supposed

o be a doctor

n

this

rt,

whohas

preached,

omposed,

ritten,aid,

ung,

nd

read

o

much

n

thesematters.o take

my

dvice,

nd do not celebrate oo

soon. Watch out thatyour killdoes not desert ou.Be concerned,

be

humble,

nd

pray

hat

you may

grow

n

this

rt nd be

protected

against

he

crafty

evil.21

It is

important

hatLuther's oncernswith slam were not

grounded

solely

n the craftiness f the Devil or the Turks. As he

clearly

ndi-

cates,

they

also reflected

is belief that

Europe's

Catholic

theologians

were too

intellectually

nd

spiritually

eak

to

protect

rdinary

urope-

ans from

he

allure

of

the

Devil and conversion to Islam.

In

his intro-

duction to the Tract

on

the

Religion

nd Customs

f

the

Turks,

he asserts

thatCatholictheologians ould onvert o Islam f hey spent hree

days mong

heTurks.

2

Luther

upported

hese ccusations

ypubli-

cizing

exts

n

Islam,

ncluding

he

Qur'an,

nd the

works

f

Europeans

whohad visitedMuslim erritories.

his wasan unusual

tep nywhere

in

sixteenth-century

urope,

where

rotestant

nd Catholiccommu-

nities anned exts

ealing

with slam s a threat o

Christianity.23

n

1542,

Luther ad

to use considerable

olitical ressure

efore

he

city

councilof Basel lifted

ts ban on

publishing

uther's

referred

atin

translation

f

he

Qur'an.24

Nor did Luther's

nterestn Islam

go

unnoticed

y

his

adversaries

intheCatholic

Church,which,

nthewords f he

papal

nuncio ran-

cesco

Chieregati,

elieved utherwas a

greater

vil

to Christendom

21

Minou

Reeves,

Muhammadn

EuropeReading,

K:

Garnet,

000),

pp.

1

19-135;

andFranco

ardini,

urope

nd

slam,

rans. aroline eamish

Maiden,

Mass.:Blackwell

Publishers,

001),

pp. 147-150.

L

Henrichnd

Boyce,

Martin

uther,

.

259.

23

Many

fthetexts n Islam hat uther

romoted

ere n theCatholic hurch's

officiaiist fbanned

ublications,

he ndex ibrorumrohibitorum.usanR.

Boettcher,

German rientalismn theAgeofConfessionalonsolidation:acobAndrea's hirteen

Sermons n the

urk,

568, Comparative

tudies

f

outh

Asia,

Africa,

nd theMiddle ast

24,

no.

2

(2004): 103.

24

Henrichnd

Boyce,

Martin

uther,

.

255.

Zürich

hreatenedo

uppress

he ame

translationf he

Qur'an

s well.




10/23

Foley:

Muslimsnd ocial

Change

n

theAtlantic

asin

385

than theTurk. 5

Throughout

he first alfofthe sixteenth

entury,

various

atholic

thinkers

ought

o

prove

hat

herewere lose simi-

larities etween

utheranismnd

Islam

n

areas s diverse

s freedom

of

worship

o

celibacy

f

priests.

ne Catholic

writer,

ohannes

och-

laeus,

ccusedLuther

f

preferring

urkish uleto that

of

the

Catho-

lic

Church,

praising

he

Qur'an,

and

seeking

o confuse

uropean

Christians

bout he true

nature fthe Ottoman hreat.26

therwrit-

ers tressed

hat he Ottoman

ultan

n the first alf f the sixteenth

century,uleyman

he

Magnificent,

aw Luther s

a valuable

lly

to

theempire'sause.WhileCatholic riticismsften ttributediews o

Luther

e didnot

hold,

he

nonetheless elieved t

necessary

o

publicly

beseechGod

to

preserve

im rom

iving

nder

uleyman's

ule.27

In

light

f

hese

riticisms,

hy

id Luther nd

his

contemporaries,

whowere

lready

hallenging

he

egitimacy

f he hief

eligious

nsti-

tution

n

Europe,

he Catholic

Church,

nvest ime

nd resources

n

promoting

nowledge

bout

slam,

Christendom's

hief

nemy uring

his lifetime?

he answer

s that

demonstrating

slam's

trength

nd

superiority

ver

Roman

Catholicismwas

central o the

key

tenets f

Luther's

iews: heCatholic

Churchwas

not fit o lead

Christendom,

and the uccess fthe Turks as God'sway f rticulatingis desire

for

uropeans

o

repent

nd to

reform.or

Luther,

nderstanding

slam

offered

he urest

ath

for

hristian

uropeans

o

see the

veracity

fhis

contention

egarding

he

moral nd

spiritual

ankruptcy

f

heCatho-

lic Church'seaders

nd

the

urgent

eed to

find ew

eadership.28

The Emergence

of European

Nationalism

Ottoman ower lsodrove mportantolitical hange nEuropedur-

ing

the sixteenth

nd seventeenth

enturies,

ontributing

o the

rise

ofnation-states

nd new

national dentities

n two

keyways.

irst,

he

25

Setton,

Lutheranism

nd heTurkish

eril,

.

147.

26

Ibid.,

p. 158-159.

27

When

Lutherwas informed

f the sultan's

Suleyman

he

Magnificent]

ender

regard

or

im,

e crossed

imselfnd

besought

od to

preserve

im

from his

racious

lord.'

bid.,

.

148.

28

It should e noted

hat uther

asnot he

nly

rotestanteader

o discussslam

n

the ixteenthentury.uther'sontemporarynd ntellectualompanion,hilipMelanclv

thon,

wrote uke

Johann

rnst

f

axony

n

1537

it s of he

very reatestmportance

or

our

rinces

o

get thorough

cquaintance

ith

urkish

ffairs.

bid.,

.

162.

John

alvin

also

discussed

slam,

s did

Jacob

Andrea. ormore

n Andrea's ermons

n

Islam,

ee

Boettcher,

German

rientalism,

p.

105-

10.




11/23

386

JOURNAL

OF WORLD

HISTORY,

SEPTEMBER

2OOÇ

Ottoman

mpire's

resence

n

European olitics

llowed eaders rom

England

o the Balkans

o use

allianceswith

stanbul o counter

he

policies

f

arger

nd

more

owerful

hristian

uropean

ivals.

econd,

Muslimmariners

ttacked

uropean

oastal reas

nd seizedmore han

a

million

uropeans.

hese attacks

ecimated

oastal

regions,

nder-

mined he

authority

f some

governments,

edefined ational

denti-

ties,

nd

compelled

ome

governments

o

extend

nprecedented

ights

and

guarantees

o their

ubjects rights

hatbecamecornerstones

f

theEuro-Atlantic

egal

radition

oday.

One saw this wo-trackrocess nfoldcross urope rom he six-

teenth

entury

ntil

the mid

eighteenth entury.

While one

might

question

tephen

ischer-Galati's

ontention

hat heOttoman

hreat

guaranteed

he survival

f the Protestant

eformation,29

here

s no

doubt

hatthe simultaneous

hallenges

f the Ottoman

Empire

nd

of

the Protestant

eformation

axed the resources nd

complicated

the

strategic

alculations f Catholic

leaders.On

multiple

cca-

sions

including eriods

whenOttoman rmies

ppeared

o threaten

Europe

Protestanttates

n

Germany

efused o contributeoldiers

to

participate

n

militaryperations

gainst

he Ottoman rmies30r

discuss unding ars gainst he OttomanswithCatholicHabsburg

officials

efore

ll internal

eligious

ssues

had been resolved.31

or

all of their

ower

nd

wealth,

atholic eaders CharlesV

of

Spain

and Ferdinand

ofAustria had ittle

hoicebut o

negotiate irectly

with maller erman

tates

nd

respect

heir

eligious

iews,

o mat-

terhow

objectionable

hey ppeared

o be to Catholic

udiences. his

was a

major

low o

states hat aw themselves

s absolute

monarchies

beholden

o no one

except

God.

Nor were Catholic

resources

tretched

nly

in

Germany.

n

its

many rotractedonflicts ith heNetherlands,rance,ndEngland,

Spain

always

ad to

allow for hefact f

military

llianceswith he

Ottoman

mpire,

hich ould trike

panish

possessions

ar emoved

fromWestern

urope.

utchCalvinists

sedOttomanmarketso

cir-

29

Stephen

A.

Fischer-Galati,

ttoman

mperialism

nd

German

Protestantism,

521-

I555

Cambridge,

ass.:

Harvard

niversity

ress,

959), . 117.

30

For

nstance,

n

1532

well-equippedrmy

f

Germans,

ncluding

any

rotestants,

assembledt Vienna

nd refused

o

pursue

retreating

nd much maller ttoman

orce

beyond

he

Habsburg

mperial

rontiersecause

heir

overnments

ad madeno commit-

ment o

offensive

ilitaryperations.

ormore n this

ncident,

ee

John

W.

Bohnstedt,

The nfidelcourgefGod:The Turkish enaces s SeenbyGermanamphleteersf he

Reformation

ra,

Transactions

f

the

American

hilosophicalociety 8,

no.

9 (1968): 7.

31

Ofcourse

erdinandrCharles

ould void heheadache

f

eeking

rotestant

up-

port

nd

buy eace

with he

Ottoman

mpire.

ut,

s

Ferdinandound ut

n

1562, eace

carried

steep rice

oo:

30,000

ucats

nnually

nd the

renunciationf erritoriallaims

in theBalkans.

oettcher,

German

rientalism,

.

102.




12/23

Foley:

Muslims

nd ocial

Change

n

theAtlantic asin

387

cumvent

Spanish

mbargo

nDutchtradewith beria an

embargo

meant o

punish

Holland for

eeking

ndependence

rom he

Spanish

crown.Thanks

n

part

to Ottomanmarkets nd

military

ssistance,

the

Dutch

won

their

ndependence

n

1609.

Protestant

ngland

nd

CatholicFrance lso usedOttoman

ower

s a vehicle o assert heir

national

dentity

nd interests

gainst pain's power

n

Europe.32

n

one

instance,

pain

was

compelled

o release rance's

ing,

rancis

,

shortly

fter

panish

rmies eizedhimand

defeated he

French

rmy

at

Pavia

in

1525:

the Ottoman

mpire

ad

signaled

tsdesire or he

immediate elease fthe French ing. ubsequently,rancis dmitted

to a Venetian

iplomat

hathe saw the Ottoman

mpire

s the

only

force

apable

of

guaranteeing

he combined xistence fthe tates

f

Europe

gainst panish ower.33

Importantly,

he Ottoman

bility

o strike t

Spanishpossessions

far

emoved rom astern

urope

reflectedts

arge rmy

nd formi-

dable

formalnd nformalaval

power.

ulfilling

he

prediction

fthe

fourteenth-century

rab historian

bn Khaldunthat

North

African

mariners ould attack

he Christians nd

conquer

he lands of the

European

Christians, 34 oroccans, unisians,

nd

Algerians

eized

Christiansnd wreaked avoc on Europe'smaritime ommerce nd

coastal

communitiesrom he easternMediterraneanea to Iceland.

Cornwall,

evon,

and other

nglish

ommunitiesost

a fifthf their

shipping

nd thousands fsailors

n

the

first

hird

fthe seventeenth

century

lone.35

et,

the

impact

f

Muslim

marinersn

Italy

was far

greater.

obertDavid notes

n

Christian

laves,

Muslim

Masters,

hat

large

stretches f

Italy's

once

populous

coastline

were uninhabit-

32

In the1

80s,

Queen

Elizabeth

ecured

rofitable

radingrivileges

or

nglish

mer-

chants romheOttoman mpirehathad beenpreviouslyeservednly or renchmen.

She

won hese

rivilegesy tressing

o Ottoman fficialsommon

nglish

nd Ottoman

religiousractices

strictconoclasm

nd

vigorous

onotheism

and

deological ostility

toCatholic

absburg

ower.

lizabeth as o successfulhat ttoman fficialselieved hat

the

nglish

ere n the

erge

f

onverting

o slam

n

the ate

1580s;

ll

they

ad odo

was

recite he onfessionsf aith. ormore n

Anglo-Ottomaniplomacy

uring

he ixteenth

century,

ee Bernadette

Andrea,

Women nd

slam

n

Early

Modern

nglish

iterature

Cam-

bridge: ambridge

University

ress,

007),

pp.

20-24.

33

Lord

Kinross,

he Ottoman

enturies

New

York:Morrow

Quill

Paperbacks, 977),

pp. 174,183-185.

34

Khaldun,

he

Muqadimah,. 213.

The

following

s

the

full

uotation:

The rank

(of

dmiral)

asbeen

preserved

o this

ay

n

the

dynasties

f he

Maghrib

North frica].

There,

he

dentity

of

he

dmiralty

s still

reserved),

ndhow o take are f

fleet,

ow

tobuildhipsndnavigatehem,sknown. erhapsome oliticalpportunityill risen

the

ostal

ountries,

ndthe

Muslims ill sk he

wind o blow

gainst

nbeliefndunbe-

lievers. he nhabitantsf he

Maghrib

ave ton

authority

f hebooks f

prediction

hat

theMuslims

ill

yet

ave omake successful

ttack

gainst

heChristiansnd

onquer

he

lands f

European

hristians

eyond

he ea.

This,

t s

said,

will ake

laceby

ea.

J5

Linda

Colley, aptives

New

York: andom

ouse, 002),

p.

49.




13/23

388

JOURNAL

OF WORLD

HISTORY,

SEPTEMBER

2OOÇ

able

continually

nfested ithTurks

hroughout

he ixteenthnd

seventeenthenturies.

ishing

nd

farming

even

ten to

twenty

miles

inland)

remained

angerous ursuits

ell ntothe

eighteenthentury

along

muchof the Italian

coast,

especially

n

Sicily

and other reas

closeto NorthAfrica.36

Among

the

many

eizedChristian esidents

f

Europe

nd other

regions

ftheAtlanticworld37

as the

Spanish

writer

iguel

de

Cer-

vantes.He was

a

leading igure

n

Spain's

cultural

lourishing

n

the

sixteenth

entury,

he

Sigio

de Oro

( Golden

Century ),

nd

an

archi-

tectofSpain'sthenemergingational dentity.s a Spanish oldier

he was

captured

n

1575

while

on a boat

in

the Mediterranean ith

his brother. e

spent

ive

ears

s a slave

n

theNorthAfrican

ity

f

Algiers

ntil friar

rom he

Trinitarianatholic rder

ventually

on

his

release.Cervantes's ime

n

captivity

as a seminal

eriod

n

his

life nd

iterary

evelopment.

n

the

words f

eading

ervantes

xpert

Juan

autista

valle-Arce,

he

captivity

s the

hinge

hat

forcefully

organizes

ervantes'sntire

iterary

ife.38he late

Spanish

historian

Américo

Castro nd the

Spanish

novelist

uan

Goytisolo

ave simi-

larly

dentified

ervantes's

aptivity

n

Algiers

s the central

xperi-

ence ofhis life nd a decisivemomentnhis formations a writer.39

Indeed,

ne cannot

ruly

nderstand

he

meaning

fCervantes's ork

without

oming

o terms

ith

his

experience

n

Arab-Muslim

ulture

in NorthAfrica.

One neednot ookfurtherhanDon

Quixote,

is

mostwell-known

work nd an

important

ovel in the

Western

iterary

anon,

to see

the

importance

f

captivity

orCervantes.

n

The

Captive's

Tale,

the chief

haracters a

Spanish

oldier

who,

ike

Cervantes,

s

cap-

tured t sea and

spends

ears

nslaved n the

Baño,

prison

n

Algiers.

Throughouthetale,he discusses isdespair t hisfate, is desire o

win his freedomt

any

cost,

nd

negative

nd

positive elationships

withmale and femaleMuslims. he

captive's scape

an

experience

thathe assertss without

omparison

n

Earth is made

possible

y

he

generosity

f

everalMuslim

riends,

ncluding young

emale onvert

to

Christianity.pon returning

o

Spain,

he

captive

nd his

compan-

ionsreceive n enthusiastic elcome rom hewhole

population

f he

36

Robert

Davis,

Christian

laves,

MuslimsMasters:White

lavery

n the

Mediterranean,

the

Barbary

oast,

and

taly

New

York:

Palgrave

Macmillan,

2003), pp. 139-140.

37For nstance, 1 ofthe390 English risonersansomednAlgiers n 1680 werefrom

New

England

and New York.Michael B.

Oren, Power,Faith,

nd

Fantasy:

America n the

Middle ast

1776

to the resent

New

York:W.

W.

Norton,

2007), p.

19.

38

Antonia

Garcés,

A

Captive's

ale: Cervantes

n

Algiers

Nashville,

Tenn.: Vanderbilt

University

ress,

003),

p.

15.

39

Ibid.




14/23

Foley:

Muslimsnd ocial

Change

n

theAtlantic asin

389

city

fVêlez

Málaga.

Cervantes otes hat

hereturn f

freed hris-

tian was an

important

ut still

regular

spect

of

daily

ifeon

Spain's

coast:

Vêlez

Malaga's

nhabitantsweren't

urprised

o see freed

rison-

ers or

everyone

ho ived n that

oasthad

ong

ince een hem.40

Furthermore,

ervantesinks The

Captive's

ale

to theAtlantic

nd

wider slamicworlds: he

aptive

nd

others

n

the

tory

ad

spent

ime

in the

Ottoman

apital,

stanbul,

nd the

captive's

rother

raveled o

the

Americas o seekhis fortune.41

Although

on

Quixote

s a fictional

tory,

ervantes's

epiction

ofthereturnffreed uropean aptivesshistoricallyccurate. reed

Europeans

s

important

s

Cervantes r

simply

rdinary

ndividu-

als often

articipated

n

publicparades

fter

hey

eturnedo

Europe.

These eventswere

meant

o

symbolize

heir

eintegration

nto Euro-

pean

society

nd to win

more unds or he

Trinitariansnd other

rga-

nizations edicated o

freeing

uropean aptives.

n

somenations he

parades

were normous

pectacles,

s

formerlaveswore heir

hains

and tattered

lothing. 42

Equally mportant,uropean aptives,

Muslim

attacks,

nd the

publicity

ied o them

parked

ew

national

onsciousnesses,

ational

missions,ndultimatelyocialchange nEngland nd laterFrance.43

In

both,

his

process

emented

he

principle

hat

nly

non-Europeans

should e

enslaved,

nd as

such

they lorified

free

abor nd efforts

to combatMuslim

lavery.

ne can

see thismission s

early

s

Shake-

speare's epiction

f

a

defining

oment

n

British

istory:

enry

V's

victory

ver he French nd his

marriage

roposal

o

Princess ather-

ine,

he

daughter

fthe

king

fFrance.

Henry

ries o win

Katherine's

heart

by

promising

er

thattheir utureon will

iberate onstanti-

nople

from

heOttomans:44

If

ver houbeest

mine,Kate,

s

I

have a

saving aithwithinme tellsmethou halt, gettheewith cambling,

and thoumust

herefore

eeds

prove

good

soldier-breeder.hall not

thou nd

I,

between aint Denis and

Saint

George,

ompound boy,

half

rench,

alf

nglish,

hat

hall

go

to

Constantinople

nd take he

40

Cervantes,

on

Quixote,

ol.

1,

hap.

1.

41

Ibid.,

ol.

1,

hap.

9.

t

s

worth

oting

hat

ervantes eaves id

Hamete enen-

geli,

fictional

rab

historian,

nto arious

arts

f

Don

Quixote

s a narrator

nd haracter.

Cervantesven

mplies

hat

Benengeli

s thereal

uthor f he

tory

nd

that

t

was

origi-

nally

writtenn Arabic. or

more

n

the

Spanish

uthor'sse

of

Benengeli,

ee

bid.,

ol.

1,

chap.

9

and Howard

Mancing,

ervantes'on

Quixote:

A

Reference

uide

Westport,

Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2006), pp. 41-42, 109-115, 120-122, and 147.

42

Davis,

Inhuman

ondage, . 78.

43

Nicholas

Hudson,

'Britons ever

Will Be Slaves':

National

Myth,

onservatism,

and he

Beginnings

fBritish

ntislavery,ighteenth-Century

tudies

4,

no.

4

(2001):

564.

44

William

hakespeare,

enry

. ed. A. R.

Humphreys

New

York:

enguin

ooks,

1996), :2.201-209.

eferencesre o

act, cene,

nd

ine.




15/23

39O

JOURNAL

OF WORLD

HISTORY,

SEPTEMBER

2OO9

Turk

y

thebeard? hall we not?What

say'st

hou,

my

fair lower-de-

luce? Yet it

is

unlikely

hatthe real

Henry

made such

a

promise

o

Katherine

ince

Constantinople

id not fallto

the Ottoman

Empire

until

1453

three ecades fter

enry roposed

o Katherine

n

1420.

Nonetheless,

he

tory

r

myth

f

Henry's

romise

o Katherine as

sufficiently

entral

n

English

ational onsciousnessnd

identity

y

the sixteenth

entury

hat

hakespeare

elt

ompelled

o use it

in

his

play

on

Henry's

ife

egardless

f tshistorical

alidity.45

iterary

as-

terpieces,

uch s

Henry

,

bear

estimony

o

the

needof he

English

even at themost ntense eriod fnationalism to define hemselves

in relation o theMuslimworld.46

The

Islamic lement f

English

ational onsciousnessvidenced

n

Henry grew

till

tronger

n

the eventeenth

entury,

s

Muslimmari-

time

ttacks

hallenged

hecornerstone

f he

slandnation's ational

mythology:

he ocean was

the source f

English

conomic,

military,

and

political

itality.

s Linda

Colley

observes

n

Captives,

heStuart

kings'

ailure o

stop

Muslim ttacks nd enslavement f

Englishmen

was an

important

actor hatrobbed hemof

egitimacy

nd

helped

to

provoke

hecivilwars hat ore

ngland

nd ts

djacent

ountries

apart fter 642. 47 ubsequent overnmentsoughto avoid the Stu-

arts' ate

by strengthening

he

English

avy,

aying

Muslimmariners

notto attack

nglish hips,

nd

publicly mphasizing

he

government's

fullcommitmento

preventing

he

enslavement f

Englishmen

n

the

high

seas.

By

the

eighteenth entury,

hisnationalmission nd

the

government's

ommitment

o it had become

nstitutionalized,

s

evidenced

n

the

words f

James

homson's

oem

Rule,

Britannia :

Rule,

Britannia,

ule he

waves;

Britons ever

will

be slaves. 48

45

Cardini,

Europe

nd

slam,

p.

117.

46

There are still

regularly erformed

peras

bout the

captive phenomenon

hatwere

written

enturies fter

hakespeare's

nd Cervantes's ifetimes. wo

examples

re

Wolfgang

Amadeus

Mozart's heAbduction

romeraglio

Die

Entführung

us

dem

erail)

1782)

and

Gioachino ntonio

ossini's he talian irl

fAlgiers

L'Italiana

n

Algeri)1813).

thank

Pauldu

Quenoy

or

eminding

eof hehistorical

ignificance

f hese wo

lays.

47

Colley, aptives,. 50.

Anotherritical actor

n the

English

ivilWarwasCharles

I's decision

o

impose ship

money

n

the

English eople

withouthe onsent

fParlia-

ment.

Ship

money

as

tax

mposed

n

all

English

ountiesobuild

navy

nd o

protect

merchantsndcoastal

ommunitiesromeaborne

ttacks,

ncluding

rom uslim

irates.

Such tax

hadbeen

mposed

n

English

oastal ommunities

n the

past

utnot n nland

communities,hich aced ittle angerf ttack.48

Patricia

Meyer

packs,

ighteenth-Century

oetryEnglewood

liffs,

.J.:

rentice-

Hall,

nc.,

1964),

p.

142;

and

Davis,

nhuman

ondage,

.

78.

In a revised ersion fthe

poem,

homson

dded he ines that ruel

rade

Which

poils nhappy

uinea fher

sons.

udson,

'Britons

everWillBe

Slaves,'

.

566.




16/23

Foley:

Muslims

nd ocial

Change

n

theAtlantic

asin

391

Across he

channel,

Muslimmaritimettacks nd enslavementf

Christian

uropeans

n the Mediterranean

ed to

significant

hanges

in

how

theFrench

onceived

f heir

elationship

o

their entral

ov-

ernment

nd basic

rights

s

subjects

f the

French

king.

As Gillian

Weiss

observes

n her

tudy

f

petitions

orwarded

y

French

aptives

in North

Africa

rom

500

to

1800,

Barbary aptivity

nd theFrench

Idea

of

Freedom,

rench

monarchs

gnored

he

plight

fFrench

ap-

tives

n

North

Africa

efore he

late seventeenth

entury.49

rench

men

and

women

caught

n

slavery

n North

Africa nstead

ought

the aidofprominentamiliesntheir ome communitiesndadmin-

istrative

nstitutions,

uch

as town

ouncils,

he

Marseilles

hamber

of

Commerce,

nd Catholic

orders.50

ecause

these nstitutions

ere

focused

n

preserving

ocal

society,

hey

ocused heir

ffortsn

freeing

those

with ocal

ties nd

thosewho

supported

amilies.

lthough

he

French

pheld

he

principle

hat ll those

who

were rom he

kingdom

were

uaranteed

reedom

there

reno slaves

n

France ),

n

reality

French

aptive's

bility

o secure

reedom

rom

lavery

n North

Africa

hinged

n

hisorher

ocal

dentity

n

France

nd social

role here

ather

than

his orhernational

dentity

s

French.

But thepublicityurroundinguslim aptives nd thegrowing

might

f the

French tate

n the

Mediterranean

ade t

appear

hat

the nslavement

fFrenchmen

asno

longer purely

local concern.

It

was now seen

as a serious

ffront

o the

French

monarch's

ower

and

his

glory.51

hereas

eventeenth-centuryetitions

rom nfortu-

nate

merchants

r

sailorsmore

ften tressed

regional

onnections,

eighteenth-century

ppeals

were addressed

irectly

o the

king

and

often

offered

aeans

to the

patrie. 52

uring

he

final

years

f Louis

XIV's

rule nd

thoseof

his

successors,

he

French tate

paid

ransoms

andtook ggressive easuressingtsmost dvancedweapons gainst

Muslim tates

o both

protect

nd free

rench

aptives.

y

doing

o,

Louis solidified

wo

principles

f French

aw and later

Euro-

tlantic

life: ll

subjects,

egardless

f

ocial tatus

nd

geographic

rigin,

hould

be

free,

nd

twasthe

responsibility

fthe

tate o

guarantee

hat ree-

dom.

t no

longer

mattered

here

ou

were

rom ithin

rance r

what

your

ocial

rolewas.

And out of

these

promises

n

part

would

merge

French

ational

dentity.

49GillianWeiss, Barbary aptivity ndthe French dea ofFreedom, rench istorical

Studies

8,

no.

2

(2005): 239.

50

Ibid.

51

Ibid.,

pp.

247-248.

52

Ibid.,

p.

255.




17/23

392

JOURNAL

OF

WORLD

HISTORY,

SEPTEMBER

2OO9

Islam,

Natural

Law,

Universal

Human Rights

Those

principles,

n

turn,

would also

play

an

integral

ole

in

two

groundbreaking

ociopolitical

movements

n

the Euro-Atlantic

n

which slam nce

againplayed

n

important

ole: heWarof heAmer-

ican

Revolution nd the riseof universal otions f human

rights

n

the

English-speaking

orld. or

philosophers

uchas

John

ocke and

Thomas

Jefferson,

uslimswerenot a

signal

of God's disfavor r a

serious trategichreat equiringationalunity nd immediatetate

action.

nstead,

Muslims unctioneds a central lement

n

a

political

debate

n

whichtheir nclusion

n

Euro- tlantic

ociety

nd

politi-

cal structures

elped

o demonstratehe

universality

ftheir

ision f

human

ights

nd

political

reedoms.

At first

lance,

owever,

slam's

entrality

o a

political

ebate

rig-

inating

n

English-speakingurope

nd NorthAmerica hould ome

as a

surprise.

hile

many

fthe eaderswho firsted

European xplo-

rations

n

theAmericas ad

experience

ighting

uslims nd

brought

Muslim

arming

echniques

i.e.,

rice

nd

sugar

lantations)

o British

NorthAmerica,Muslimsacked presencehere quivalento theone

they

maintained

n

the

Mediterranean.

merican oastal ettlements

were

never infested ithMuslimsnor

attacked

y

them.

Muslim

populations

ere

verwhelmingly

laves nd situated

n

the

American

south,

specially

n

the Carolinas nd

Georgia.53

n

Charleston nd

other ities

n

theCarolinas

nd

Georgia

ne couldfind rabic

peak-

ers,

nd some

Muslims

erformed

slamic

ituals,

uch

as

fasting

ur-

ing

Ramadan nd

preparing

araka,

sugar

ake used

by

West

African

Muslims or

oluntary

lms.54

Making

araka urvived s an African-

53

Peter

.

Wood,

anielC.

Littlefield,

udith

.

Carney,

nd ther cholars ave

ong

argued

hat

hese

opulations

eflected

he

reference

f uro' mericansor

enegambians,

experts

t

growing

hechief

rop

n theCarolinas nd

Georgia,

ice.This

thesis,

r the

BlackRice

Thesis,

asbeen

widelyccepted

mong

cholars utwas

recently

hallenged

by

David

Eltis,

hilip

Morgan,

nd David Richardson

n

the

Americanistorical

eview.

In

the

rticle,

hey rgued

hat tatistical

nalysis

f lave

voyage

ata

uggested

hat he

presence

f

Senegambians

ad

to

do

with multitudeffactorsnd not

olely

with he

preferences

f outhern

lanters

or laves

rom

particular

egion

fAfrica. ormore n

this

ontroversy,

ee David

Eltis,

hilipMorgan,

ndDavid

Richardson,

Agency

ndDias'

pora

n

Atlantic

istory: eassessing

heAfrican ontributiono RiceCultivation

n

the

Americas, mericanistoricaleview12,no.5 (December007): 1329-1358.

4

Sylviane

A.

Diouf,

Servants

f

Allah:

African

Muslims nslaved

n

theAmericas

New

York:

New

York

University

ress,

998), pp.

65-66

and

75-80.




18/23

Foley:

Muslimsnd

ocial

Change

n

the

Atlantic

asin

393

American raditionnto thetwentieth

entury

nd

appears

n Toni

Morrison's ovel

Song f

Sobmon.)55

espite

these

everal

nstances,

there

were

ery

ew

dentifiably

uslim

ommunitiesn

the

Carolinas,

Georgia,

r

anywhere

lse

n

colonial

British

orth

America.56

The

absence f clear

Muslim

resence,

owever,

id

notmean

hat

Anglophile

orth

Americans ere

unaware f

slam,

he

accounts f

Europeans

and

some

Americans)

nslaved n

Muslim

ocieties,

rot-

estant

ermons,

nd other

writings

n

Islam

gave

Anglo-Americans

the

confidencehat

hey,

ike

Martin

uther,

ad

sufficient

nowledge

of slam ouse t as a tool toestablish hesuperiorityftheir eligious

beliefs

ver ll

challengers

nd to

underminehe

egitimacy

f slam.

Referenceso

Muslims

pepper

he

public

ocumentsf

arly

merica

and

were entral

o the ollective

dentity

f

olonial

Americans.57

or

them,

rotestant

hristiansived n

free

ocieties

nd were

ntitled

o

liberty,

hileMuslims

ived

n

despotic

ocieties

hat

hindered

iberty

and

progress

nd were

ssentially

efined

y

slavery.

he once

flour-

ishing

ocieties f

the Muslim

Middle

East also

provided

cautionary

tale for

many

Americans f

whatcould

happen

f

they

hindered

he

progress

f

iberty.58

s

Timothy

Marr nd

other

cholars

ave

noted,

this Orientalist erspectiveontinues odefinemuch f hecontem-

porary

merican

iscussionsf slam

nd

Muslim

ocieties.59

Such

Orientalist

eliefs

llowed olonial

Americans o

maintain

their

rejudices,

ut

even

misinformation

ay

retain

n

element f

truth,

f

nformation.t

least olonial

Americans ere

not

completely

ignorant

f slam.

Jefferson

ouldnot

have

purchased

eorge

Sale's

55

In

the

novel,

he

haracter ilkman

ears

group

f

hildren

inging song

hat

specificallyefersomakingaraka ake.ToniMorrison,

ong

f

olomonNewYork: en-

guin

ooks

USA,

1987),

. 303.

56

Norwere

Muslimsonfined

o southern

olonies.

nthony

ansen

an

Vaes,

ften

called

Anthony

he

Turk,

ived n

whatwould

ecomeNew

York n the

seventeenth

century.

e

appears

requently

n

court ecords

s a

prominent

andlordnd

may

ave on-

verted isDutchwife

o slam. ew

York's

eterogeneous

opulations

ost

ikely

ontained

someMuslims

uring

he

ighteenth

entury,

specially

ince he

ity's

merchantsarried

out

profitable

rade n

slaves nd

other

oods

with

Madagascar,

hich

ad an

important

Muslim

minority

opulation.

ormore n

these

ssues,

ee

MichaelA.

Gomez,

lack

res-

cent: he

Experience

nd

Legacy fAfrican

uslims

n

the

mericas

Cambridge:

ambridge

University

ress,

005),

pp. 128-142,

48-149.

5/

Kidd,

s t

Worse o Follow

Mahomet

han heDevil?

p. 766-767.

58

Robert

.Allison,

he

Crescent

bscured: he United

tates nd

theMuslim

World,1776-181$ Chicago:Universityf

Chicago

ress,

995),

.

46.

Timothy

arr,

he Cultural

oots

f

American

slamicism

Cambridge:

ambridge

University

ress,

006),

pp.

1-19.




19/23

394

JOURNAL

OF WORLD

HISTORY,

SEPTEMBER

2OOÇ

translationo the

Qur'an

had he not read Freiherron Pufendorfs

Of

the aw

of

Nature nd

Nations,

whichobserves hatthe

Qur'an's

teachings

n

murder,

evenge,

nd a host f

other ssues re

consistent

withGreco-Roman eliefs nd

natural aw. n

addition, ale,

in

the

introductiono the

Qur'an

that

Jefferson

ought, rgues

assionately

that

gaining

n

understanding

f

the

Qur'an

constitutedn element

of

contemporarynowledge:

To

be

acquainted

with

hevarious aw

and constitutionsfcivilized

ations,

specially

hose fwho

flourish

in ourown

time, s,

perhaps,

hemost seful

art

f

knowledge. 60

Nor were ale'sargumentsr a positive iewof slamuncommon

or

necessarily

ntithetical

o mainstream

uro-American

hought

in

either he seventeenth

r the

eighteenth

entury.

uropeansmay

have

not consideredslam

qual

to

Christianity,

ut,

s

Colley

rightly

observes,

hey

viewed ts achievements

nd urban

civilizationwith

enormous

espect

if

not awe at times.61

he

English

exicographer

Samuel

Johnson

rticulatedhis

viewpoint:

There re two

objects

f

curiosity

the

Christian

world,

nd the

Mahometan

Muslim]

world.

All therest

may

e considereds barbarous. 62n A

Letter

oncern-

ing

Toleration,

ohn

ocke,

the

English

hilosopher,

ent

o far s

to argue hatMuslimshouldnot be excluded romnjoying nglish

civil

rights olely

ecauseof their

eligion

a

right

e

did not

extend

to Christian

atholics):

Nay,

f

we

may

penly peak

the

truth,

nd

as becomes ne man

to

another,

either

agan,

nor

Mahometan

Mus-

lim],

nor

Jew,

ught

o

be excluded rom

he civil

rights

f the

com-

monwealth,

ecause of his

religion.

he

Gospel

commands o such

thing.

he

church,

which

udgeth

ot those hat re

without,'

Cor.

V.

11

wants t not. And the

commonwealth,

hich

mbraces ndif-

ferently

ll menthat

re

honest,

eaceful,

nd

industrious,

equires

t

not. 63 ocke'swords eflected is ownacquaintancewith slam:heread

Arabic,

wned

Qur'an,

nd knew

eading nglish

rabists.64

60

The

Koran,

rans.

George

Sale,

5th

ed.

(Philadelphia:

J.

W.

Moore,

1856),

p.

iv.

61

Colley,Captives,

.

106.

6

Albert

Hourani,

Islam

in

European Thought,

in Islam n

EuropeanThought,

y

AlbertHourani

Cambridge:CambridgeUniversity

ress,

991),

p.

11.

63

John

ocke,

A Letter

oncerning

oleration,

n

Two

Treaties

f

Governmentnd a

Letter

Concerningoleration,d. Ian Shapiro (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University ress, 003),

p. 249.

64

G.

A.

Russell,

The

Impact

f he

Philosophus

utodidactus:

ocokes,

John

ocke,

and

the

Society

of

Friends,

n The Arabick nterest

f

theNatural

Philosophers

n

Seventeenth-

Century ngland,

d. G.

A.

Russell

Leiden:

E.

J.

Brill,

1994),

pp. 231, 238-239, 247.




20/23

Foley:

Muslimsnd

ocial

Change

ntheAtlantic asin

395

As

Jeffersonought

o reconcile aturalawwith he

Stamp

Act,

he

embraced

he vision

of slamadvocated

y

Locke.65 e learned

Ara-

bic,

purchased

translation

fthe

Qur'an,

nd

befriendedwo

eading

scholars f

heArab

world,

. E

Volney

nd

Samuel

Henley.66

efferson's

Notes

n

Religion,ublished

n

1776,directlyuotes

Locke's

ssertion

that

Muslims hould ot

be denied

ivil

rights

ecause

f

heir

eligious

beliefs.

efferson

pplied

imilar

alues when he

proposed

Virginia's

Bill

for

stablishingeligious

reedom

n 1

77c-67

ecades after hebill

became

aw,

Jefferson

ecalled

n his memoirs

hatthe bill

protected

therightsf theJew,hegentile,heChristian ndMahometani.e.,

Muslim],

he

Hindoo,

nd infidel

f

every

enomination. 68

ogether,

Jefferson's

otes n

Religion

nd his

commentsn the

Billfor stablish-

ingReligious

reedom

ignal

conscious nclusion

f Muslims

n his

notions

ftoleration

nd

political

quality.

What

was thebasis

ofthis

notion?

Jefferson's

niversalistic

ision

of human

rights

hallenged

he

Anglo-Americanrinciple

hat

reedomslowed

rom

specific

roup's

identity

Britons

ever

willbe

slaves).69

efferson

id not believe

hat

Americans

ere ree

ecause

hey

wereAmericans

rProtestant

hris-

tians.He couldnotcrediblylaim thatthe valueshe promoted ere

truly

niversal

nlesshe showed

hat

hey

pplied

o Muslims

s well

as to all

othermen.

For

Jefferson,

econstructing

rientalist

onstructs

was a

precondition

or he

success f

iberty

n the UnitedStates.

For

him,

t was self-evident

hat all

men recreated

qual.

65

Jefferson

id not

adopt

the

negative

view of Muhammad

and Islam

that Voltaire

presents

n Mahomet u le

Fantaisme r even the

slightly

morenuanced

version f Muham-

madthe French uthor resentsn L'Essai sur esMoeursdesNations.Formoreon Voltaire's

viewsof slam

and

Muhammad,

ee

Cardini,

Europe

nd

slam,

pp.

1

5-161.

66

Kevin

J.

Hays,

How Thomas

Jefferson

ead the

Qur'an,

Early

American iterature

39,

no.

2

(2004): 257-258,

261.

0/

Ihomas

Jetterson,

he

Complete efferson:

ontaining

is

Major Writings,

ublished

and

Unpublished,xcept

His

Letters,

d. Saul

K. Padover

Freeport,

.Y.: Books for ibraries

Press,

969),

p.

945.

68

Denise

A.

Spellberg,

Could a Muslim

Be President? n

Eighteenth-Cen

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