Chapter 3 - Prejudice, polemics and proselytes

Islam was an error, that was something on which Christians agreed. However, many Protestants considered Catholicism to be even worse and Catholics in turn felt the same about Protestantism. In their reciprocal polemics, they accused each other of giving comfort to the religion of the ‘false’ prophet Mohammed. Being aware of Muslim’s loyalty to their faith, they directed their zeal to convert above all at Christians in the Middle East. In that respect, they regarded Islam as a serious rival.

The image of the Muslim or ‘Turk’ in folk tales and prints has its origin in the time of the crusades. It was not realistic, but met the appetite for sensation and exotic stories. The ‘Turk’ (including the ‘Arab’) was renowned for his refinement as well as his obsession with sex, he was both wise and foolish, noble and deceitful. Stereotypes like these were put into perspective by the Turkish and Arabic travellers who came to the Netherlands.

Wealthy and dictatorial

Paul Rycaut, Verhaal van de tegenwoordige staat van het Turcksche kaizerrijk […] [The Present State of the Ottoman Empire], Amsterdam 1670; orig. London 1666

The British diplomat Rycaut wrote on the basis of personal experience and from a remarkably objective point of view. Nevertheless, according to him any Turkish success was the work of God, who wanted to punish the divided Christendom by strengthening its enemy.

University Libraries, Amsterdam.

Download HD image (59.9 MB) >

Cruel and sensual

Jan Struys, The voiages and travels of John Struys [...], London 1684; orig. Amsterdam 1676

Struys’s travel book was very popular, but not very realistic. As a sailor, he actually travelled widely. The book, however, was written by a ghost-writer and based on earlier stories. The fascination with cruelty was home-grown.

University Libraries, Amsterdam.

Download HD image (67.8 MB) >

Poetic and erudite

O. Dapper, Asia of Naukeurige beschrijving van het rijk des grooten mogols [...] [Asia or an accurate description of the empire of the great moguls], Amsterdam 1672

Dapper, on the basis of hearsay, declared that poetry was held in the highest esteem by the Persians, since they were the heirs of the culture of ancient Greece. The Persian poets are depicted here according to the stereotypes of Plato and Aristotle: the one pointing up, toward the divine, the other down, toward the material world.

University Libraries, Amsterdam.

Download HD image (57.9 MB) >

Koran invented by a false prophet

André DuRyer, L’Alcoran de Mahomet, Paris 1647

DuRyers’s French translation of the Koran sold well throughout Europe. In his preface, he presents Muhammad as a writer adept at literary tricks, but a false prophet. ‘His’ book is absurd, in the opinion of the translator:

This book is a long disquisition on God, the angels and Muhammad, and is rather coarsely invented by this false Prophet. Sometimes he presents God, who will speak to him and teach him his Law, sometimes an angel, sometimes the prophets. He often has God speak in the plural, in an unnatural style. He rants against those who worship idols, in particular with the population of the city Mecca, and with the Quraysh, who opposed his project. […] Various Muhammadan scholars have written commentaries on the book and their commentaries are as ridiculous as the text itself. They assure us that the original version of the Alcoran was written on a tablet that is being kept in heaven; that the angel Gabriel brought this copy to Muhammad, who could neither read nor write, and bestowed on him the honourary title Prophet or Apostle. […] You will be amazed that these absurdities have infected most of the world, and admit that knowledge of the contents of this book makes this Law contemptible.

University Libraries, Amsterdam.

Download HD image (26.5 MB) >

Box of tricks

Anonymous, Historie van den oorspronck, geslacht, geboorte, opvoedinge enleere des grooten valschen propheets Mahomets [...] [History of the origin, lineage, birth, education and teachings of the great false prophet Mohammed], Amsterdam 1627

According to a Christian legend, the prophet Muhammad was placed, upon his death and at his request, in an iron coffin, in the mosque of Mecca. He previously had a powerful magnet put in the ceiling. The coffin floated upward under the influence of the magnet, making it appear that God raised Muhammad up: a ‘sign’ of his authenticity as a prophet.

University Libraries, Amsterdam.

Download HD image (57.9 MB) >

‘Better Turkish than papist’

Crescents on the Leiden city hall, built at the end of the 16th century, refer to the slogan ‘Better Turkish than papist’ or: better Islamic than Catholic. This slogan was very popular during the Protestant Dutch Revolt against Catholic Spain. The sultan of Turkey was deemed to be more tolerant of other religions than the king of Spain.

Photo: Pieter Jan de Vos

Gospels in Arabic

Johannes Theunisz copied this Arabic translation of the Gospel of John. Originally, the translation was intended for missionary purposes, but Theunisz made this copy to promote the study of Arabic. Since the Latin text was familiar, the Arabic would be more accessible.

University Libraries Amsterdam. [OTM: III E 19.]

Download HD image (38.6 MB) >

Private study of Armenian

This vocabulary is attributed to Dionysius Vossius (1612–1633), but is composed in the handwriting of Johannes Theunisz. It contains words and expressions that appear in the Armenian translation of the New Testament, together with the Latin translation. Theunisz produced the list with a view to the translation of other Christian texts into Armenian. University Libraries, Amsterdam.

[OTM: III D 25a.]

Download HD image (44.7 MB) >

Heidelberg Catechism

After the Synod of Dort (1618-19), the Heidelberg Catechism was one of the most important educational texts of the Reformed Church in the Dutch Republic. Golius produced this Arabic translation to familiarise Christians in the Middle East with Protestantism. On display is the first question: ‘What is thy only comfort in life and death?’

University Libraries, Leiden.

Download HD image (17.8 MB) >

Dogs in the church

Pieter Saenredam, Mariakerk Utrecht, 1641

Al-Hajari wrote a rare account of his experiences in France and the Dutch Republic, The Supporter of Religion against the Infidels (transl. Van Koningsveld et al., Madrid 2015) He admired the beauty and the architecture of Amsterdam and praised the Dutch because they ‘chose the side of the Muslims’ against the ‘idolaters’. But he had trouble with the Christian doctrine of the Trinity and with the dogs wandering through the churches.

Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.