The early sources of Edward Gibbon (1737-1794)‎ : about Islam

Abstract EN

The study of Islam in Europe has been eondueted subjectively for many eenturies.

The main reason was that Islam was presented by Christian clergymen, who were not anxious to celebrate the triumph of the Saracens,(so they called Muslims) over the Byzantines.

It was only in the early modem Europe when Edward Gibbon came from outside of the realm of the Church and re-introduced Islam somewhat differently.

This paper offers a critical reading of Edward Gibbon’s treatment of Islam.

It studies Gibbon’s early sources particularly those in the field of Islamic History.

It, further, emphasizes on how Gibbon utilizes the early sources of Islam.

It identifies these sources, evaluates them, and highlights some critical points in which Gibbon was struggling or so he seems ;probably because of the misleading translations, or he fails to apply the law of historical criticism to which he was devised.

Finally, this paper is an attempt, therefore; to reassess Gibbon’s contributions to the study of Islam in Early Modem Europe.