Product Description

This book examines the impact of Islam on early modern Britain. Christian-Muslim interaction at this time was not, as is often thought, primarily adversarial; rather, there was extensive cultural, intellectual and missionary engagement with Islam. Professor Matar investigates the impact of the Qur'an and sufism on the people of Britain, showing that the British interacted widely with Islamic religion, culture and people through travel, in London coffee houses, in church, among converts to and from Islam, in sermons and in plays.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1242497 in Books
• Published on: 1998-10-13
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 240 pages

Review
'The origins of both British attitudes to Islam are charted in Nabil Matar's brilliant and gripping study, an astonishing compendium of groundbreaking research whose very title is a measure of quite how original and surprising this book is ... but it is also warmly and wittily written and, unusually for a heavyweight academic book, enormously readable and accessible. It is certainly the most surprising book I have read for many months. William Dalrymple, The Sunday Times ' ... a treasure trove of a book ... this will appeal not only to scholars, but also to those who like their history to consist primarily of facts and evidence, and only secondarily of theories.' Noel Malcolm, Sunday Telegraph 'I recommend you beg, borrow or steal a copy of this book, not just for yourself to read, but to send to anyone whose anti-Turkish prejudices overcome their intelligence.' David Carter, Cyprus Today

Review
"Matar offers a carefully annotated new assessment of the steady impact of Islam on British thought and its ultimate influence on Britain's early modern culture... His grasp of Islamic culture, which enables him to point out the misunderstandings of several famous seventeenth-century writers, also gives a modern student the proper context of a culture which in that earlier period was not properly discovered." Albert J. Loomie, Albion

"Matar's book will interest historians and literary scholars concerned with the religious and cultural history of Britain and its relationship with other societies in the early modern period. Unlike many books on cultural encounters, it is jargon-free and suitable for assignment to advanced undergraduates. Cambridge University Press should be honored for including proper, bottom-of-the-page footnotes and an extensive bibliography." William E. Burns, Sixteenth Century Journal

"...a splendid work of scholarship, and one wishes it the readership it deserves." Religious Studies Review

"...The book is a wonderful corrective to the notion that Islam and Muslims had very little impact on Britian and Britons during this time period." Religious Studies Review

Customer Reviews

"Turning Turke"
Relations between Christians and Muslims in the 16th and 17th centuries are usually described as overwhelmingly hostile. Despite the groundbreaking research of historians like Fernand Braudel on the overlapping of Christendom and Islam in the Mediterranean and the rich hybrid culture that emerged, most people today are either totally ignorant of this part of history or consciously choose to ignore it. One of the most intriguing aspects of early modern Europe is the encounter between Britons and Muslims, both on the Mediterranean and on the British home turf itself. In "Islam in Britain", Nabil Matar shows how the interaction of these two cultures was never rigidly antagonistic. In fact, many Britons expressed a deep admiration for Islamic culture, and often became Muslims themselves.

In the first two chapters, Matar explores the phenomenon of British conversion to Islam ("turning Turke" as it was called in those days)......Matar describes some of the many different reasons why Britons "turned Turke" in the first place. He takes issue with the traditional allegation that converts simply sought financial success, freedom from slavery, or the right to marry a Muslim woman.

The author also examines the representation of British Muslim converts in late-Elizabethan and Jacobean drama (focusing on lesser-known plays by the likes of Thomas Kyd, Philip Massinger, and Robert Daborne). In the last half of the book, Matar looks at the impact of Qur'anic studies at Oxford and Cambridge, the work of some early British Arabists, and the earliest English translations from Arabic.....

Finally, Matar touches on Islam's impact on British Rosicrucianism and alchemy, the conversion of Muslims to Protestantism, and "Eschatology and the Saracens" ...

The book is extremely well written and should be accessible to readers without much background in this area. It is rich in historical detail and literary analysis and avoids faddish theoretical claptrap. However, Matar does put this subject into the context of some of the more important historiographical and cultural debates of recent years, such as Edward Said's critique of "Orientalism" and Martin Bernal's theory about the Egyptian/Semitic roots of Western civilization in "Black Athena".

A "captivating" and eye-opening read. Five stars.