Why the Quran Was a Bestseller Among Christians in 18th Century America (and Thomas Jefferson)

History.com ^ | Jan 2019 | Becky Little

[CondoleezzaProtege]

“The Quran gained a popular readership among Protestants both in England and in North America largely out of curiosity,” says Denise A. Spellberg, a history professor at the University of Texas at Austin and author of Thomas Jefferson’s Qu'ran: Islam and the Founders. “But also because people thought of the book as a book of law and a way to understand Muslims with whom they were interacting already pretty consistently, in the Ottoman Empire and in North Africa.”

When Jefferson bought his Quran as a law student in 1765, it was probably because of his interest in understanding Ottoman law. It may have also influenced his original intention for the the Virginia Statute of Religious Freedom to protect the right to worship for “the Jew and the Gentile, the Christian and Mahometan, the Hindoo, and infidel of every denomination,” as he wrote in his autobiography.

This professed religious tolerance was probably mostly theoretical for Jefferson. At the time, he and many other people of European descent likely weren’t aware of how far Islam extended into parts of Africa not controlled by the Ottoman Empire; which means that, ironically, they might not have realized that many enslaved people in North America held the very faith they were studying.

Jefferson’s Quran was a 1734 translation by a British lawyer named George Sale. It was the first direct translation of the Quran from Arabic to English (the only other English version was a translation of a French translation published in 1649), and would remain the definitive English translation of the Quran into the late 1800s. In his introduction, Sale wrote that the purpose of the book was to help Protestants understand the Quran so that they could argue against it.

[ansel12]

The tiny number of Catholics in Maryland were included, at our founding Catholics amounted to as little as .4%, it was generations later before we started getting Catholic immigrants.

[Carry_Okie]

at our founding Catholics amounted to as little as .4%,

Source please, as I suspect such a "census" is a latter day estimate. And how about a denominator? 0.4% of Maryland or the US?

[fella]

They are both basically the same book with different ghost-writers.

Jefferson during his Presidency was having to deal with muslems capturing Americans and selling them into slavery. Even after tribute had been paid.

[Inyo-Mono]

More fake history through careful wording which leaves an impression of something false, they were not learning about Muslims because of diversity, they were learning about an old enemy and what makes them tick.

You are so right. Any real student of American history knows that impression to be false.

[fella]

Most of the English versions published since 9-11 by the muslim presses are like that.

3 translations side by side. all from from before 9-11.

[ansel12]

What percentage did you think Catholics were at America’s founding?

[A Navy Vet]

Thanks for the input. It just goes to show how screwed up they are. After 911 and reading some of their holy texts, I'm confirmed that my original viewpoints about Islam were correct.

I remember some years back about a western journalist interviewing Palis in Gaza. She went to a grammar school because of her concern for the Pali children. She went in with with a bleeding heart and was shocked into reality while watching the hateful teachings by the radical instructors.

What amazed her most was the number of grade school children raising their hands to volunteer to wear vest bombs or carry guns to kill anything that was not Pali. Her video ended in sorrow. I can't find it, probably because she deleted it after her awful experience. Or maybe she didn't get out alive.

Last thought: I remember years back seeing pictures of a Palis ritual where they would cut the skulls of their own children, but not enough to kill them. Don't know if they still do it.

[Albion Wilde]

bump

[Carry_Okie]

I thought so.

I don’t pretend to know, but I have read historical accounts that Maryland was so named because of Catholic preferences.

[If You Want It Fixed - Fix It]

‘I bought the book.....to see why these mohommadan pirates keep sacking our crews and enslaving them...and now I see they need killin’....’

[ansel12]

I don’t know what that means but I thought everyone knew about Maryland and its 16,000 or so Catholics, I am curious about what you thought the Catholic population was at our founding.

[Scrambler Bob]

I thought maybe a TP shortage.

[heavy metal]

you should read the cookbook recipes from that era... those people ate anything they could find...