Blaspheming against Islam

Abstract

This chapter investigates the history of Christian blasphemy against Islam. It argues that blasphemy emerged as a specific form of social and theological protest against Islam among heavily assimilated but unconverted Christians in the early Middle Ages. Some of the Christians most likely to blaspheme were, paradoxically, those who were closest to Muslims. These included the children of religiously mixed families, Christian officials of the Muslim state, and residents of religiously mixed cities. Thus, it was precarious proximity to the religious other—coupled with the attendant feeling of suffocation and loss—that seems to have compelled some Christians to “take a stand” by blaspheming.