8/9/2019 Muslims & Social Change in the Atlantic Basin
1/23
University of Hawai'i Press is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Journal of World History.
http://www.jstor.org
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
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at http://www.jstor.org/page/ info/about/policies/terms.jsp
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of contentin a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship.For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].
This content downloaded from 152.118.24.10 on Sat, 07 Mar 2015 15:26:27 UTCAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
http://www.jstor.org/http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=uhphttp://www.jstor.org/stable/40542804http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/stable/40542804http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=uhphttp://www.jstor.org/
8/9/2019 Muslims & Social Change in the Atlantic Basin
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
This content downloaded from 152.118.24.10 on Sat, 07 Mar 2015 15:26:27 UTCAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp
8/9/2019 Muslims & Social Change in the Atlantic Basin
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-
This content downloaded from 152.118.24.10 on Sat, 07 Mar 2015 15:26:27 UTCAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp
8/9/2019 Muslims & Social Change in the Atlantic Basin
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
This content downloaded from 152.118.24.10 on Sat, 07 Mar 2015 15:26:27 UTCAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp
8/9/2019 Muslims & Social Change in the Atlantic Basin
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.
This content downloaded from 152.118.24.10 on Sat, 07 Mar 2015 15:26:27 UTCAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp
8/9/2019 Muslims & Social Change in the Atlantic Basin
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
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.
This content downloaded from 152.118.24.10 on Sat, 07 Mar 2015 15:26:27 UTCAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp
8/9/2019 Muslims & Social Change in the Atlantic Basin
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.
This content downloaded from 152.118.24.10 on Sat, 07 Mar 2015 15:26:27 UTCAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp
8/9/2019 Muslims & Social Change in the Atlantic Basin
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.
This content downloaded from 152.118.24.10 on Sat, 07 Mar 2015 15:26:27 UTCAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp
8/9/2019 Muslims & Social Change in the Atlantic Basin
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.
This content downloaded from 152.118.24.10 on Sat, 07 Mar 2015 15:26:27 UTCAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp
8/9/2019 Muslims & Social Change in the Atlantic Basin
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.
This content downloaded from 152.118.24.10 on Sat, 07 Mar 2015 15:26:27 UTCAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp
8/9/2019 Muslims & Social Change in the Atlantic Basin
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.
This content downloaded from 152.118.24.10 on Sat, 07 Mar 2015 15:26:27 UTCAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp
8/9/2019 Muslims & Social Change in the Atlantic Basin
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.
This content downloaded from 152.118.24.10 on Sat, 07 Mar 2015 15:26:27 UTCAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp
8/9/2019 Muslims & Social Change in the Atlantic Basin
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.
This content downloaded from 152.118.24.10 on Sat, 07 Mar 2015 15:26:27 UTCAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp
8/9/2019 Muslims & Social Change in the Atlantic Basin
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.
This content downloaded from 152.118.24.10 on Sat, 07 Mar 2015 15:26:27 UTCAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp
8/9/2019 Muslims & Social Change in the Atlantic Basin
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.
This content downloaded from 152.118.24.10 on Sat, 07 Mar 2015 15:26:27 UTCAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp
8/9/2019 Muslims & Social Change in the Atlantic Basin
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.
This content downloaded from 152.118.24.10 on Sat, 07 Mar 2015 15:26:27 UTCAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp
8/9/2019 Muslims & Social Change in the Atlantic Basin
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.
This content downloaded from 152.118.24.10 on Sat, 07 Mar 2015 15:26:27 UTCAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp
8/9/2019 Muslims & Social Change in the Atlantic Basin
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.
This content downloaded from 152.118.24.10 on Sat, 07 Mar 2015 15:26:27 UTCAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp
8/9/2019 Muslims & Social Change in the Atlantic Basin
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.
This content downloaded from 152.118.24.10 on Sat, 07 Mar 2015 15:26:27 UTCAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp
8/9/2019 Muslims & Social Change in the Atlantic Basin
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