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'''Criticism of''' or '''opposition to ]''', in the narrow sense is theological criticism of Islamic ] and the ], but in the wider sense may also refer to political criticism of Islamic society, the ] and political ] and militant ], and opposition to a perceived 'Islamic' agenda. Negative views of Islam are sometimes termed with the ] ].

==History==
Criticism of the central beliefs of Islam predate Islam, as the religion shares many characteristics of other earlier religions and of religion itself. In this sense, criticisms against belief in the supernatural, or in the omnipotent creator God of Islam - in other words, atheism - date back to the writings of the ancient Greek philosophers, such as ]. Medieval Islamic scholars would indeed struggle to reconcile with or to reject the works of the ancient Greeks, just as Christianity did.

The earliest recorded, explicit criticisms and oppositions to Islam come from what the early Muslims wrote of their pagan Arabian adversaries, as well as the ] inhabitants of south Arabia at the time (particularly the Jewish tribes of ]).

The earliest non-Muslim sources of criticism and opposition come from ] ] ] writings of Eastern Christians, such as in ], who had come under the dominion of the ], or their fellow coreligionists in Europe who were becoming increasingly aware of the growing Islamic Empire (see ], ]). At first they saw Islam as a military threat, a pagan scourge sent by God as a punishment against Christians for their sins. Eventually the Islamic empire conquered present day ] (see ]) and the Church became increasingly aware of the religion of Islam itself. As a result, Islam began to be seen as not just a military threat but as a religious threat as well. Many medieval ecclastical writers began to portray Islam and ] as a "precursor of the ]" or the Antichrist himself, and Muhammad was frequently described as having been possessed by ]. In later centuries, criticism and opposition to Islam would continue to be expounded by Christian writers. Other religions, particularly ], would also develop similar criticsms of their own, as a result of the increasing Islamic conquests outside of Arabia.

In the modern era, European and American ] would examine the claims of Islam from a ], ] perspective. In the 21st century, political and military conflicts have caused Islam and Islamic practices to come under increased scrutiny around the world and have generally been the focus of greatly increased attention in the non-Muslim media.

==Theological Criticism==
Criticism of Islamic theology may come from within Islam (in which case it does not qualify as opposition to Islam as such, of course, but as ] or ]), from a ] viewpoint, or from the point of view of another religion.

===Muhammad===
The '']'' (1911) states that he was inspired by an imperfect understanding of ] and ], and that he was prone to epileptic fits. Many medieval and early modern critics are either motivated by extreme hatred, or extreme admiration of Muhammad. Outspoken as always, ] refers to Muhammad as "a devil and first-born child of ]". The Catholic Encyclopedia goes on to state that Luther's ] is itself rather similar to Muhammad's theology, and that such indiscriminate abuse is unsupported by facts and that later scholars, such as Sprenger, Noldeke, Weil, Muir, Koelle, Grimme and Margoliouth, give a more unbiased estimate of Mohammed's life and character, and substantially agree as to his motives, prophetic call, personal qualifications, and sincerity.
According to Sir William Muir, Marcus Dods, and some others, Muhammad was at first sincere, but later, carried away by success, he practised deception wherever it would gain his end. Koelle "finds the key to the first period of Muhammad's life in Khadija, his first wife", after whose death he became prey to his evil passions. Sprenger attributes the alleged revelations to epileptic fits, or to "a paroxysm of cataleptic insanity". Zwemer (1907) goes on to criticize the life of Muhammad by the standards, first, of the ] and ]s, both of which Muhammad acknowledged as Divine ]; second, by the ] morality of his ]ian compatriots; lastly, by the new law of which he pretended to be the "divinely appointed medium and custodian". According to this author, the prophet was false even to the ethical traditions of the idolatrous brigands among whom he lived, and grossly violated the easy sexual morality of his own system. After this, it is hardly necessary to say that, in Zwemer's opinion, Muhammad fell very far short of the most elementary requirements of Scriptural morality. Quoting Johnstone, Zwemer concludes by remarking that the judgment of these modern scholars, however harsh, rests on evidence which "comes all from the lips and the pens of his own devoted adherents".

=== The Qur'an ===
Modern ] is just beginning to be carried out on the ]. This scholarship questions some traditional claims about its composition and content, contending that the Qur'an incorporates material from both the ] and the ], and that the text of the Qur'an developed both during and after ]'s lifetime. For example, Islamic history records that ] collected all variants of the Qur'an and destroyed those that he did not approve of. Parts of certain ] collections refer to chapters (suras) that are no longer extant in the Qur'an. {{ref|theatlantic}}

=== Hadith ===
Secondary in importance to the Qur'an for most Muslim schools of thought are the oral traditions of Muhammad, called hadith. After ] was performed on Christian texts, a set of scholars began to focus on those of other religions. ] is the best known of these turn-of-the-century iconoclasts, who also included D.S. Margoliuth, Henri Lammens, and Leone Caetani. Goldziher writes, in his ''Muslim Studies'',

:''... it is not surprising that, among the hotly debated controversial issues of Islam, whether political or doctrinal, there is not one in which the champions of the various views are unable to cite a number of traditions, all equipped with imposing ''isnads''.

The next generations of Western scholars were also sceptics, on the whole: ], in his ''Origins of Muhammadan Jurisprudence'' (1959), argued that isnads going back to Muhammad were in fact ''more'' likely to be spurious than isnads going back to the companions. ], in the 1970s, and his students ] and ] were even more sweeping in their dismissal of Muslim tradition, arguing that even the Qur'an was likely to have been collected later than claimed.

Contemporary Western scholars of hadith include:
* Herbert Berg, ''The Development of Exegesis in Early Islam'' (2000)
* Fred M. Donner, ''Narratives of Islamic Origins'' (1998)
* ], ''Succession to Muhammad'' (1997)

although Madelung is less critical than the rest.

A very minor Islamic sect that maintains a ] view has rejected hadith not ony because of suspected invalidity. Some members of this belief system cite that the Qur'an calls itself complete(11:1) and that it would be ] to take another source of guidance other than it.

===Relation to Christianity===
The theology of the Qur'an is strictly ], and denounces the Christian ] as ] (]). Naturally, this view has been rejected by Christians, who claim that it is based on an imperfect understanding of the concept of the Trinity. A result of this difference is the Islamic reverence for ] (]) but the rejection of Jesus as the "Son of God" as a blasphemous concept.

Islamic theology has been compared to ] or ] Christianity, and in this sense Christian criticism of Islam may be considered as based on common ] religious principles, and Islam as typologically belonging to a number of Christian sects declared ] by the post-] Christian ].

Atheist criticism of Islam is naturally much more fundamental, disputing the ], and applicable to Christianity and other religions just as much as to Islam.

==Ethical Criticism==
Critics of Islam claim that it falls short of providing acceptable ethical values according to ] ] standards. {{ref|Spencer1}}

===Jihad and Human Rights===
Critics such as ] believe that it is not only extremist Islam that preaches the violence encompassed in Jihad, but also in Islam itself, though deep within the Qur’anic text. He argues that though Islam does not explicitly preach the violent form of Jihad, the primary problem lies in moderate Muslims’ denial that violence practiced by those extremist Muslims can indeed be read in Qur’an. According to Spencer, a move toward human rights and peaceful assimilation in the west calls for moderate Muslims’ rejection of traditional aspects of Islam such as jihad, ], and shariah. {{ref|Spencer2}}

==Political Criticism==
] and militant ], especially ], are sometimes criticized as outgrowths of Islam rather than political phenomena.

] attempt criticism of Islamic society from within, typically differentiating religious issues from issues of traditional society.
Points often mentioned in critical discussion of Islamic society are ] and ].

===Contemporary Critics===
*US conservatives
**]
**]
*Jewish
**]
*ex-Muslims
**]
**]
**]
**] (pseudonym of a self-described Iranian ex-Muslim expounding his views on his website)
**] (pseudonym of an ex-Muslim, author of bestselling books critical of Islam)

==References==
# {{Note|theatlantic}} Lester, Toby. ''What Is The Koran?''., <http://theatlantic.com/issues/99jan/koran.htm>
# {{Note|Spencer1}} Spencer, Robert. ''Onward Muslim Soldiers: How Jihad Still Threatens America and the West''., 299&ndash;300
# {{Note|Spencer2}} Ibid., 299&ndash;300

==See also==
*Topics of Islam and controversy
**]
**]
**]
**]
**]

*Criticism of other religions
**], ]
**]
**]
**]

*]
**]
**]

==Literature==
*Zwemer ''Islam, a Challenge to Faith'' (New York, 1907)
*], '']'' (1995)
* &mdash;, '']''
{{catholic}}

==External links==

*Christian academic sources
**Catholic Encyclopedia
***
***

*directories of anti-Islamic sites
**
**

]
]

Revision as of 00:16, 16 August 2005

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