Christian Martyrs under Islam : Religious Violence and the Making of the Muslim World / Christian C. Sahner.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Sahner, Christian C., author.

Series:

Princeton scholarship online.

Princeton scholarship online

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Christian martyrs--Islamic countries.

Christian martyrs.

Christianity and other religions--Islam.

Christianity and other religions.

Islam--Relations--Christianity.

Islam.

Martyrdom--Christianity.

Martyrdom.

Martyrdom--Islam.

Violence--Religious aspects--Christianity.

Violence.

Violence--Religious aspects--Islam.

Islamic Empire--History.

Islamic Empire.

Genre:

Electronic books.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xiv, 335 pages) : illustrations, map

Edition:

Hardcover edition.

Place of Publication:

Princeton, NJ : Princeton University Press, [2018]

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

How did the medieval Middle East transform from a majority-Christian world to a majority-Muslim world, and what role did violence play in this process? Christian Martyrs under Islam explains how Christians across the early Islamic caliphate slowly converted to the faith of the Arab conquerors and how small groups of individuals rejected this faith through dramatic acts of resistance, including apostasy and blasphemy.Using previously untapped sources in a range of Middle Eastern languages, Christian Sahner introduces an unknown group of martyrs who were executed at the hands of Muslim officials between the seventh and ninth centuries CE. Found in places as diverse as Syria, Spain, Egypt, and Armenia, they include an alleged descendant of Muhammad who converted to Christianity, high-ranking Christian secretaries of the Muslim state who viciously insulted the Prophet, and the children of mixed marriages between Muslims and Christians. Sahner argues that Christians never experienced systematic persecution under the early caliphs, and indeed, they remained the largest portion of the population in the greater Middle East for centuries after the Arab conquest. Still, episodes of ferocious violence contributed to the spread of Islam within Christian societies, and memories of this bloodshed played a key role in shaping Christian identity in the new Islamic empire. Christian Martyrs under Islam examines how violence against Christians ended the age of porous religious boundaries and laid the foundations for more antagonistic Muslim-Christian relations in the centuries to come.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Preface

Acknowledgments

Abbreviations

A Note to Readers

Maps

Introduction: Christian Martyrs under Islam

1. Converting to Islam and Returning to Christianity

2. Converting from Islam to Christianity

3. Blaspheming against Islam

4. Trying and Killing Christian Martyrs

5. Creating Saints and Communities

Conclusion: Making of the Muslim World

Appendix 1. Comparing Christian and Muslim Accounts of Martyrdom

Appendix 2. Glossary of Names and Key Words

Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Previously issued in print: 2018.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 23. Mai 2019)

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

9780691184186

9780691184180

0691184186

OCLC:

1053885781