Mahound and Mahoun are variant forms of the name

Muhammad Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 Common Era, CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Muhammad in Islam, Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet Divine inspiration, di ...

, often found in Medieval and later European literature. The name has been used in the past by Christian writers to vilify Muhammad. It was especially connected to the depiction of a Muhammad as a god worshipped by pagans, or a demon who inspires a false religion.

Annemarie Schimmel Annemarie Schimmel (7 April 1922 – 26 January 2003) was an influential German Orientalist and scholar who wrote extensively on Islam, especially Sufism. She was a professor at Harvard University from 1967 to 1992. Early life and education ...

, ''Islam: An Introduction'', 1992.

William Montgomery Watt William Montgomery Watt (14 March 1909 – 24 October 2006) was a Scottish Orientalist, historian, academic and Anglican priest. From 1964 to 1979, he was Professor of Arabic and Islamic studies at the University of Edinburgh. Watt was one of ...

,''Muhammad: Prophet and Statesman'', Oxford University Press, 1961, p. 229

Pejorative connotations

The perception that Muslims worshipped Muhammad was common in the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

. According to

Bernard Lewis Bernard Lewis, (31 May 1916 – 19 May 2018) was a British American historian specialized in Oriental studies. He was also known as a public intellectual and political commentator. Lewis was the Cleveland E. Dodge Professor Emeritus of Near E ...

, the "development of the concept of Mahound started with considering Muhammad as a kind of demon or false god worshipped with

Apollyon The Hebrew term Abaddon ( he, אֲבַדּוֹן ''’Ăḇaddōn'', meaning "destruction", "doom"), and its Greek equivalent Apollyon ( grc-koi, Ἀπολλύων, ''Apollúōn'' meaning "Destroyer") appear in the Bible as both a place of de ...

and

Termagant In the Middle Ages, Termagant or Tervagant was the name given to a god which European Christians believed Muslims worshipped. The word is also used in modern English to mean a violent, overbearing, turbulent, brawling, quarrelsome woman; a virago ...

in an unholy trinity in ''

The Song of Roland ''The Song of Roland'' (french: La Chanson de Roland) is an 11th-century ''chanson de geste'' based on the Frankish military leader Roland at the Battle of Roncevaux Pass in 778 AD, during the reign of the Carolingian king Charlemagne. It is t ...

''. Finally, after the

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

, Muhammad was seen as a cunning and self-seeking imposter."Bernard Lewis (2002), p. 45. A similar belief was the claim that the

Knights Templar , colors = White mantle with a red cross , colors_label = Attire , march = , mascot = Two knights riding a single horse , equipment ...

worshipped a god called

Baphomet Baphomet is a deity allegedly worshipped by the Knights Templar. that subsequently became incorporated into various occult and Western esoteric traditions. The name ''Baphomet'' appeared in trial transcripts for the Inquisition of the Knights ...

, also widely interpreted as a variant of the name "Mahommet".

In literature

The name appears in various medieval

mystery play Mystery plays and miracle plays (they are distinguished as two different forms although the terms are often used interchangeably) are among the earliest formally developed plays in medieval Europe. Medieval mystery plays focused on the represen ...

s, in which Mahound is sometimes portrayed as a generic "pagan" god worshipped by villains such as Herod and the Pharaoh of the Exodus. One play depicts both

Herod the Great Herod I (; ; grc-gre, ; c. 72 – 4 or 1 BCE), also known as Herod the Great, was a Roman Jewish client king of Judea, referred to as the Herodian kingdom. He is known for his colossal building projects throughout Judea, including his renov ...

and his son

Herod Antipas Herod Antipas ( el, Ἡρῴδης Ἀντίπας, ''Hērǭdēs Antipas''; born before 20 BC – died after 39 AD), was a 1st-century ruler of Galilee and Perea, who bore the title of tetrarch ("ruler of a quarter") and is referred to as both "H ...

as worshipping Mahound,N-Town Cycle">N-Town Plays, N-Town Cycle
: The Death of Judas, and the Trials of Christ Before Pilate and Herod, line 165. while in another play

Pharaoh Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian: ''pr ꜥꜣ''; cop, , Pǝrro; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') is the vernacular term often used by modern authors for the kings of ancient Egypt who ruled as monarchs from the First Dynasty (c. 3150 BC) until the an ...

encourages the Egyptians to pursue the Israelites into the Red Sea with the words: ''Heave up your hearts ay to Mahound''. In Scottish popular culture, the variant form "Mahoun" was also used as the name of the devil, who was called Old Mahoun.

Robert Burns Robert Burns (25 January 175921 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the best known of the poets who hav ...

wrote:

The Deil cam fiddlin thro' the town,
And danc'd awa wi' th'Exciseman;
And ilka wife cries auld Mahoun,
I wish you luck o' the prize, man.

G. K. Chesterton uses "Mahound" rather than "Mohammed" in his poem ''Lepanto''. More recently,

Salman Rushdie Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie (; born 19 June 1947) is an Indian-born British-American novelist. His work often combines magic realism with historical fiction and primarily deals with connections, disruptions, and migrations between Eastern and Wes ...

, in his novel ''

The Satanic Verses ''The Satanic Verses'' is the fourth novel of British-Indian writer Salman Rushdie. First published in September 1988, the book was inspired by the life of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. As with his previous books, Rushdie used magical realism ...

'', chose the name Mahound to refer to Muhammad as he appears in one character's dreams. In reference to the Burns' poem, the novel ''Child of the Moon'' features a character named "Mahoun" who is responsible for seducing others into satanic rituals.Valinora Troy's Review o
Child of the Moon
/ref>

References

{{reflist

External links

Companion to Medieval English Literature
Ethnic and religious slurs Given names Muhammad Islam in fiction

Pejorative connotations

In literature

See also

References

External links