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Luther and the Challenge of Islam

J. Paul Rajashekar

In the wake of September 11 events, a remarkable upsurge of interest has surfaced in studying and understanding the world of Islam. Predictably, Newspapers, Magazines and Television coverage have all begun to explore the faith and beliefs of Muslims in order to make sense of a senseless tragedy and prevent a potential conflict between Muslim and Christian communities around the world. Despite statements and assurances from political leaders that the present conflict is not a religious one, but rather a war against terrorism, the historical interaction between Christians and Muslims for over 1000 years makes it difficult for many to understand the present conflict in other than religious and political terms. In the Western Christian world, Islam has often been seen from a standpoint of suspicion and fear. A glance back into an earlier period of Christian-Muslim encounter could be instructive in understanding the present situation.

Islam as an Enigma

Since its birth in the seventh century, the religion of Islam has always been an enigma. Its existence has posed a profound theological problem for Christians. In much of Christian history, until late Middle Ages, Christians lacked proper resources and information about the religion of Muslims. Early Christian apologetics and polemical literature was primarily directed against Judaism and pagan religions, which preceded the origins of Christianity, and were inadequate or ineffective to address the issues posed by Islam.

How do you effectively refute the claims of a religion that appears centuries after the birth of Christian faith, which incorporated all previous revelations to prophets, from Adam to Jesus Christ (albeit, only as a Prophet and not a Son of God), and claimed to supersede all past revelations of God? Not surprisingly, Islam used similar arguments that Christians had employed against Judaism in its claim to be the full and final revelation of God. Muslims claimed that Muhammad the Prophet became the "final seal of all Prophets," and the Qur’an as the absolute and uncorrupted word of God replacing earlier revelations in Jewish Torah and Christian Gospels.

The medieval Christians from seventh century until the time of Martin Luther, therefore, were puzzled by the role and place of Islam in history: Was it a sign of the apocalyptic end of the world, a heresy or aberration of Christianity, a schism, a new religion, a work of a human or the devil, an obscene parody of Christianity, or a system of thought that deserved respect? In trying to decide among these possibilities, Christian scholars lacked facts about Islam; they were steeped in ignorance compounded by linguistic difficulties, cultural prejudice, fear of contamination—factors that only encouraged a culturally confined view of the world of Islam.

Christians of the West also felt uneasy about Islam as an intellectual system of thought. Islam was an immensely successful religion, and within a relatively short span of three centuries after its inception it experienced an astonishing growth. It acquired power, wealth and profound intellectual maturity and sophistication. Partly as a result of their inheritance of Greek sciences and philosophy, Muslim scholars were ahead in their intellectual development at a time when Northern European Christians were going through a period of stagnation. Muslim scholars like Avicenna (980-1037), Abu Hamid al Gazali (1059-1111), Averroes (1126-1198) and other Muslim philosophers served as conduits for preserving and transmitting Greek thought to later Christian scholars in the West.

Islam as a Political Force

Islam was also a strong political force and perpetual threat to Western Europe. The fear of a Muslim conquest of Europe and the subjugation of Christians under a Muslim rule was real. Beginning with the First Christian Crusades (1096-9) and up to the zenith of Ottoman imperialism in the 16^th century, Muslims and Christians understood themselves to be two mutually exclusive societies at war. The fall of Constantinople in 1453, the capture of Belgrade in 1520 and the conquest of Hungary in 1526 by the Ottoman Turks sent shock waves of terror over Europe. A good measure of medieval Christian perception of Islam was influenced by this factor.

Already in the eighth century Muslims had swept through Spain to threaten France. The persecution of Christians in Spain under the rule of Moors had provoked considerable search for understanding the origins and destiny of Muslim Moors. In the early period of Christian awareness of the Muslim religion, lacking substantial facts about Islam or a close interaction with Muslims, Christian monks often searched the Bible for clues to understand Islam. The existence of Islam was either explained in terms of its origins (the story of Ishmael in the Old Testament) or in terms of its ultimate fate (as a symbol of the Anti-Christ in the Book of Revelations). These biblical explanations of Islam seemed inadequate and were later replaced by highly fictionalized versions of Islam. Following the triumphant outcome of the First Crusades, Islam was looked upon as a religion of idolatry and sexual promiscuity, of frauds and banditry, and Muhammad as a magician, a renegade Cardinal, etc. All this deliberate misrepresentation of Islam has had a lasting impact upon the Christian West.

From the 12^th century onwards, in the wake of several military reversals experienced by the Christian crusaders, a more realistic and scholarly understanding of Islam emerged. Peter the Venerable (1094-1156, the abbot of Cluny in France), Raymond Lull (1232-1315), John of Segovia (circa 1546) Nicolas of Cusa (1401-1464) and others attempted to develop a rational interpretation of Islam, questioning the value of crusades. Others like John Wycliff (1320-1384) and Erasmus of Rotterdam (1466-1536) viewed Islam in a different light, as a mirror for critical reflection of Christendom.

Luther on Islam

The various medieval responses to Islam from 8^th to 16^th centuries appear in one form another in Martin Luther’s writings. Luther’s perception of Muslims was profoundly influenced by the threat posed by "Turk(s)" at his time. His views on Islam went through a number of phases, although remaining consistent with only slight shifts in accent. These views can be examined from various angles, for example, from the perspective of his political thought, touching on the issues of Two Kingdoms theory, his attitudes toward war and peace, his view of nationalism. We can view his understanding from the standpoint of his theological thought, referring to the centrality of justification by faith, law and gospel, his views on work righteousness, etc. We can also survey his thought on Islam from the vantage point of his eschatology, referring to his apocalyptic view of history, the devil and the wrath of God, etc.; or from the perspective of a translator, exegete, apologist or educator; or even from the angle of a vituperating polemicist (in relation to his major opponents).

Historical circumstances forced Luther to deal with Islam in two respects. During his early controversies over indulgences, he had attacked the idea of Christian crusades in his 95 Theses. Following Wycliff and Erasmus, Luther looked upon the visitation of Turks as the well-deserved rod of God for the punishment of Christian transgressions. He did not realize at the time how his statements would be used against him in the Papal bull of excommunication. Luther defended his original statement by arguing that it "did not mean that we are not to fight against the Turk…rather, that we should first mend our ways and cause God to be gracious to us" (Luther’s Works, 32:90). Luther never abandoned this view of the Turkish threat as an expression of God’s wrath, which required prayer and repentance on the part of Christians. His early views advocated some measure of tolerance toward Muslims and opposition to crusades.

With the fall of Belgrade in 1521 and Hungary in 1526 to Sultan Suleiman II, Luther felt compelled not only to clarify his earlier views on the Turkish war but also to undertake an analysis of the Turkish religion in order to educate his fellow German Christians. He now explicitly advocated war against Turks under the leadership of the Emperor.

Luther wrote six different pieces of literature on the subject between 1528 through 1542: On War Against Turk (1529); A Sermon Against the Turks (1529); A Book on Life and Customs of the Turks (1530, originally compiled by one George von Muhlbach between 1475 and 1481, with a preface by Luther); Appeal to Prayer Against the Turks (1541); Refutation of the Qur’an (1542, originally published by Recaldo da Montecroce in 1320 with Luther’s preface and additional refutation); and finally, his Preface to Theodor Bibliander’s (1504-1564) revised Latin translation of Peter the Venerable’s Qur’an, published in Basel in 1543. The publication of the Latin translation of the Qur’an was made possible by the direct intervention of Luther.

These writings of Luther on Turks and Islam, together with numerous references in his other writings, provide us with an astonishing amount of information on Luther’s attitude toward Islam.

Luther’s Understanding of Islam

Luther was conscious of the fact that much information regarding Muslims that he and his contemporaries had inherited was inaccurate. He even acknowledged that some of it was lies and sheer fabrications. Despite a lack of authoritative information (until he read Peter the Venerable’s paraphrased version of the Qur’an), Luther had accumulated a fair amount of knowledge of Islamic doctrines and practices. He often noted similarities between Jewish and Islamic cermonial practices, like abstinence from wine, fasting at certain times of the year, ritual washing, circumcision, etc. Luther keenly observed how much Muhammad the Prophet had borrowed from the Christian faith, including reverence to Christ, Mary, apostles and other saints of the church. He however noted that both Jews and Muslims rejected the doctrines of Trinity and Baptism.

Apart from commenting upon the doctrinal differences between Muslims and Christians, Luther was critical of the claims of Muhammad as the "seal of prophets." Luther does not appear to have had much knowledge of Muhammed’s biography and what little he says about the prophet was based on his information regarding Turkish morals, especially their sexual promiscuity.

Luther also recognized the centrality of absolute monotheism in Islam. But from the standpoint of his theology, such a perception did not amount to much, for one can know the same from nature and human speculation. He further acknowledged how abhorrent idolatry was to Muslims and noted the central Islamic creed, "There is no God but God"; however, he was unwilling to recognize the Muslim "Allah" as a true God, notwithstanding semantic similarities between the Hebrew "Eloha" and the Arabic "Allah." Questioning the logic of the Muslim creed, Luther looked upon "Allah" as nothing but the devil.

This is a logical conclusion to Luther’s belief that the Turk as an "instrument of the devil" must owe allegiance to his master who must also be the devil. In equating the Muslim God with the devil, Luther went far beyond the medieval tradition. Earlier Christian scholars on Islam had generally recognized that Christians, Jews and Muslims share a common perception of God. But Luther, at the height of his rage against the Turks and influenced by his apocalyptic reading of history, was uncharitable about Muslim notion of God.

One central difference between Islam and Christianity, as Luther repeatedly observed, was pertaining to the doctrine of Christ. In his preface to the A Book on Life and Customs of the Turks, he wrote,

Luther thus exhibits a remarkable grasp of Islam despite the paucity of materials at his disposal. He used whatever information he had to judge and evaluate Islam. We should bear in mind that Luther’s evaluation of Islam was undertaken in a polemical context of his thought on the one hand, and his own theological convictions based on his reading of Christian Scriptures on the other. It is the latter that gave him a handle for evaluating Islam, and from the standpoint of his central doctrine of "justification by faith," Islam appeared to Luther to be woefully inadequate. For him it was nothing but a "doctrine of works."

Because Islam denies that Christ is the son of God, Luther believed that Islam is a religion of reason. He would grant no revelatory significance to the Qur’an because it contained only human reason without God’s word and spirit, notwithstanding the amount of Old and New Testament material contained in it. The Turkish threat had colored his perception to such an extent that he saw the Qur’an as a law book and the sword as its noblest work. In order to expose the perversities contained in the Qur’an Luther thought he should translate it to German, but never did.

Despite his constant accusation of Islam as advocating deceit, murder and utter disregard for marriage, Luther was unwilling to recommend the destruction of "Turkish religion." He opposed such views and argued that there was no point in using the sword to destroy "unbelievers and non-Christians" on account of their wickedness. He rejected all forms of crusades and "holy wars" and all forms of violent mission or evangelism. He believed that war in general is against the teaching of Christ, and inciting people to go to war against Turks is contrary to Christ’s doctrine and name. "Christians shall not resist evil, fight, or quarrel, nor take revenge or insist on rights" (LW 46:165).

Furthermore, Luther realized that the vices of which Islam or Muslims were accused were equally rife in Latin Christendom. Luther, therefore, on occasion, would highlight the virtues and aspects of morality found among Muslims, which he thought can indeed put Christians to shame. He praised the disciplined life of Muslims, their orderly government, their piety, their love toward fellow believers, and that they are moderate in regards to food and clothing and abstinence from wine. But ultimately, Luther finds no value in such a moral religion or civil righteousness, and in comparison with Islam, Christianity is more than a matter of good behavior and good works, it is rather a religion of salvation through Christ.

Luther’s role in the publication of the Qur’an in 1543 was motivated by the desire to refute rather than promote its ideas. In his Preface, Luther himself raised the objection whether the publication of the Qur’an would drive weak minds to corruption and away from Christ. His response was that it is better to expose the perversities of an alien religion than to hide it from Christians. Christians need to understand the religion of their enemy, Luther believed, partly to refute that religion with effective arguments and partly to equip themselves to live among Muslims should they ever come under Muslim rule on account of invasion or captivity. He feared that under a Muslim rule Christians may not have the freedom to confess Christ. It was Luther’s conviction that Christians need to be familiar with Islam (or for that matter any other religion), lest they are unwittingly or deceitfully drawn to another faith.

In summary, Luther’s understanding of the challenge of Islam should be understood within the framework of a medieval worldview, the military challenge posed by the Turks, his deep understanding of Christian Scriptures, and his primary concern for the renewal of the Christendom. He lacked a first-hand experience of Turks or Muslims. Luther inherited a certain image of Islam and in many respects reiterated them, adding some of his own views, albeit, from a Reformation perspective. Luther provides us with no particular answer to the challenge of Islam that had plagued the medieval world for centuries. He recognized the theological challenge posed by Islam but offered no new insights. He dismissed Islam as a religious innovation and an aberration of Christianity. His judgements on Islam and Turks may appear today as uncharitable or even offensive to modern sensitivities but they were less harsh when compared to his invectives against the Papacy, Anabaptists and Jews of his day.

And yet, Luther was far ahead of his times in seeking to obtain an accurate knowledge about Muslims and their beliefs. If he had had at his disposal the necessary information, literature and the linguistic competence, Luther no doubt would have done all he could to promote a Christian-Muslim dialogue, despite his cultural prejudice or mono-cultural worldview. The heirs of Luther today cannot reiterate what Luther said or believed without a critical analysis. Nonetheless, we may take a cue from Luther and seek to understand Islam in its own terms and not succumb to inherited prejudices and political fears in our encounter with contemporary Islam or the Muslim world. Fortunately, we have better resources at our disposal than Luther did, which may help us understand our Muslim neighbors and engage with them in a religiously pluralistic world.

Rev. Dr. J. Paul Rajashekar is Luther D. Professor of Systematic Theology and Academic Dean of The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia.