Thomas A. Carlson
@medievalmiddleeast.bsky.social
Historian of the Middle East c. 950-1500 CE, but I teach much more broadly. I'm writing a book about religious diversity in an illiberal society.
https://www.thomasacarlson.com/
https://medievalmideast.org/
https://www.cambridge.org/9781107186279
he/ܗܘ/هو
https://www.thomasacarlson.com/
https://medievalmideast.org/
https://www.cambridge.org/9781107186279
he/ܗܘ/هو
An earlier German usage: Joseph von Hammer[-Purgstall], Die Geschichte der Assassinen aus morgenländischen Quellen (1818), p. 24 (= Wood trans., 16):
Die Sunni’s, deren Lehre *bei uns* als die rechtgläubige gilt…
The Soonnites [sic], whose doctrine is considered among us the orthodox one…
+
Die Sunni’s, deren Lehre *bei uns* als die rechtgläubige gilt…
The Soonnites [sic], whose doctrine is considered among us the orthodox one…
+
October 12, 2025 at 4:43 PM
An earlier German usage: Joseph von Hammer[-Purgstall], Die Geschichte der Assassinen aus morgenländischen Quellen (1818), p. 24 (= Wood trans., 16):
Die Sunni’s, deren Lehre *bei uns* als die rechtgläubige gilt…
The Soonnites [sic], whose doctrine is considered among us the orthodox one…
+
Die Sunni’s, deren Lehre *bei uns* als die rechtgläubige gilt…
The Soonnites [sic], whose doctrine is considered among us the orthodox one…
+
After digging, the earliest instance I can find of "orthodox Islam" is an 1839 review in The Dublin Review of Ignaz von Döllinger, Mohammeds Religion nach ihrer inneren Entwicklung und ihrem Einfluß auf das Leben der Völker (1838). Von Döllinger himself seems not to use the term in his screed. +
![A short paragraph from a book review, which compares the "invincible might" of "the Christian Church" [sic] to oppose heresy with the lack of any comparable resources in "orthodox Islam" [sic].](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:pvyjsjx2i52xrydltsu4y5y6/bafkreidtamsksxid4aqssujxgvay6rujpzpkiqopcd4exvv5oy3y7hayo4@jpeg)
October 12, 2025 at 4:09 PM
After digging, the earliest instance I can find of "orthodox Islam" is an 1839 review in The Dublin Review of Ignaz von Döllinger, Mohammeds Religion nach ihrer inneren Entwicklung und ihrem Einfluß auf das Leben der Völker (1838). Von Döllinger himself seems not to use the term in his screed. +
Two "Important Considerations" are better, but vaguely true a priori of every source! And the first one still uses the inaccurate out-dated label "Nestorian" for Sawma.
In sum, don't trust Google's AI summaries! Teach your students how false they are. AI "Search" is a misnomer & a waste.
13/13
In sum, don't trust Google's AI summaries! Teach your students how false they are. AI "Search" is a misnomer & a waste.
13/13
January 15, 2025 at 6:10 PM
Two "Important Considerations" are better, but vaguely true a priori of every source! And the first one still uses the inaccurate out-dated label "Nestorian" for Sawma.
In sum, don't trust Google's AI summaries! Teach your students how false they are. AI "Search" is a misnomer & a waste.
13/13
In sum, don't trust Google's AI summaries! Teach your students how false they are. AI "Search" is a misnomer & a waste.
13/13
The author's name is John Romano, so I searched for:
Travelogue of Rabban Sauma as a Source for Thirteenth-Century Liturgy Romano
It's a good article! The summary is inaccurate, factually incorrect, & illogical, and it reproduces the biases of outdated scholarship.
Starting at the beginning:
2/?
Travelogue of Rabban Sauma as a Source for Thirteenth-Century Liturgy Romano
It's a good article! The summary is inaccurate, factually incorrect, & illogical, and it reproduces the biases of outdated scholarship.
Starting at the beginning:
2/?
January 15, 2025 at 6:10 PM
The author's name is John Romano, so I searched for:
Travelogue of Rabban Sauma as a Source for Thirteenth-Century Liturgy Romano
It's a good article! The summary is inaccurate, factually incorrect, & illogical, and it reproduces the biases of outdated scholarship.
Starting at the beginning:
2/?
Travelogue of Rabban Sauma as a Source for Thirteenth-Century Liturgy Romano
It's a good article! The summary is inaccurate, factually incorrect, & illogical, and it reproduces the biases of outdated scholarship.
Starting at the beginning:
2/?
The entry pictured here reads, in Syriac:
Yonakhir: the name of a man, and he is the father of the Virgin Mary.
In Arabic:
The name of a man.
Why doesn't the Arabic mention that this is Mary's father's name?
Perhaps because in the Qur'an (Q66:12), Mary's father's name is Imran, not Yonakhir!
2/2
Yonakhir: the name of a man, and he is the father of the Virgin Mary.
In Arabic:
The name of a man.
Why doesn't the Arabic mention that this is Mary's father's name?
Perhaps because in the Qur'an (Q66:12), Mary's father's name is Imran, not Yonakhir!
2/2
January 14, 2025 at 10:39 PM
The entry pictured here reads, in Syriac:
Yonakhir: the name of a man, and he is the father of the Virgin Mary.
In Arabic:
The name of a man.
Why doesn't the Arabic mention that this is Mary's father's name?
Perhaps because in the Qur'an (Q66:12), Mary's father's name is Imran, not Yonakhir!
2/2
Yonakhir: the name of a man, and he is the father of the Virgin Mary.
In Arabic:
The name of a man.
Why doesn't the Arabic mention that this is Mary's father's name?
Perhaps because in the Qur'an (Q66:12), Mary's father's name is Imran, not Yonakhir!
2/2
But then I thought to check hadith collections, and sure enough, the exact biblical phrase quoted by al-Ghazali is already in al-Sahihayn, Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim!
قَالَ اللَّهُ أَعْدَدْتُ لِعِبَادِي الصَّالِحِينَ مَا لاَ عَيْنٌ رَأَتْ، وَلاَ أُذُنٌ سَمِعَتْ، وَلاَ خَطَرَ عَلَى قَلْبِ بَشَرٍ
"God said, 'I have prepared for my ...
3/4
قَالَ اللَّهُ أَعْدَدْتُ لِعِبَادِي الصَّالِحِينَ مَا لاَ عَيْنٌ رَأَتْ، وَلاَ أُذُنٌ سَمِعَتْ، وَلاَ خَطَرَ عَلَى قَلْبِ بَشَرٍ
"God said, 'I have prepared for my ...
3/4
December 23, 2024 at 6:43 PM
But then I thought to check hadith collections, and sure enough, the exact biblical phrase quoted by al-Ghazali is already in al-Sahihayn, Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim!
قَالَ اللَّهُ أَعْدَدْتُ لِعِبَادِي الصَّالِحِينَ مَا لاَ عَيْنٌ رَأَتْ، وَلاَ أُذُنٌ سَمِعَتْ، وَلاَ خَطَرَ عَلَى قَلْبِ بَشَرٍ
"God said, 'I have prepared for my ...
3/4
قَالَ اللَّهُ أَعْدَدْتُ لِعِبَادِي الصَّالِحِينَ مَا لاَ عَيْنٌ رَأَتْ، وَلاَ أُذُنٌ سَمِعَتْ، وَلاَ خَطَرَ عَلَى قَلْبِ بَشَرٍ
"God said, 'I have prepared for my ...
3/4
Reading the autobiography of a Jewish convert to Islam in the 1100s, al-Samaw'al al-Maghribi, and he mentions having been a (Jewish) teenager reading the stories of `Antar, Dhu l-Himma, al-Battal, Iskandar Dhu l-Qarnayn, etc.
People like stories.
People like stories.
November 29, 2024 at 7:18 PM
Reading the autobiography of a Jewish convert to Islam in the 1100s, al-Samaw'al al-Maghribi, and he mentions having been a (Jewish) teenager reading the stories of `Antar, Dhu l-Himma, al-Battal, Iskandar Dhu l-Qarnayn, etc.
People like stories.
People like stories.
A bit of silliness:
My wife saw this book publisher's logo in a book dated 1865, and thought, "that squiggle at top looks like fake #Arabic." She mentioned it to me as an oddity, and I mentioned other uses of Pseudo-Arabic, but then looked at it, and realized that it's real: كتاب (kitāb) = book.
My wife saw this book publisher's logo in a book dated 1865, and thought, "that squiggle at top looks like fake #Arabic." She mentioned it to me as an oddity, and I mentioned other uses of Pseudo-Arabic, but then looked at it, and realized that it's real: كتاب (kitāb) = book.
November 23, 2024 at 12:36 AM
A bit of silliness:
My wife saw this book publisher's logo in a book dated 1865, and thought, "that squiggle at top looks like fake #Arabic." She mentioned it to me as an oddity, and I mentioned other uses of Pseudo-Arabic, but then looked at it, and realized that it's real: كتاب (kitāb) = book.
My wife saw this book publisher's logo in a book dated 1865, and thought, "that squiggle at top looks like fake #Arabic." She mentioned it to me as an oddity, and I mentioned other uses of Pseudo-Arabic, but then looked at it, and realized that it's real: كتاب (kitāb) = book.