In the Field of English Literature

in 1679. In this publication, Addison consciously made an effort to avoid the incorporation of myths and legends that had become associated with Muhammad and Islam. Occasionally, he presented the fabulous version of an incident and its corresponding historical facts. Humphrey Prideaux, D. D., the Dean of Norwich and a contemporary of Addison, authored a comprehensive biography of Muhammad that employed various translated Arabic sources and Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek, and Latin sources while applying critical analysis. He dismisses the pigeon story and “many other such Stories” as lacking any foundation or likelihood of truth, stating that the Arabians would have easily seen through such tricks. Nevertheless, the central theme of the book asserted that Islam was a perfect example of a fraudulent religion. This biography remained a standard reference in the West for over a century. In the eighteenth century, a more tolerant attitude began to emerge. Western Arabists had translated more reliable sources of information; travellers and traders had returned with more favourable impressions; and diplomats and missionaries had contributed to the overall knowledge. George Sandys, a traveller, and colonist who visited Constantinople, Egypt, and Palestine and documented his journey in 1615, praised various Turkish expressions of piety, including their practice of almsgiving, which extended even to Christians and Jews. In general, travellers relied more on conventional knowledge rather than firsthand experience, while