A forgotten chapter of literature
It is hard to imagine today, but some of the greatest figures in French culture not only respected Islam but openly admired it.
In the 19th century, writers, thinkers and poets expressed a genuine interest in this religion: from the perspectives of humanism, reason and spiritual depth. A special place among them is occupied by Alphonse de Lamartine – a poet, diplomat, politician and onetime French presidential candidate.
Lamartine on the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ
In his “Biography of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ”, now almost forgotten, Lamartine wrote, “If greatness of purpose, modesty of means and outstanding results are the hallmarks of genius, then who can compare with Muhammad? <...> Philosopher, orator, apostle, legislator, warrior, conqueror of ideas, restorer of rational faith, a faith in which there is no place for idols, founder of twenty earthly empires and one spiritual… Is there a greater man?”
These lines were written not by an Eastern Muslim scholar but by a Catholic, royalist and aristocrat from Burgundy – a man whose political views were initially far removed from the Eastern world.
From eastern journey to rethinking
Although in his youth, Lamartine supported the partition of the Ottoman Empire and the colonisation of Algeria, a journey to the Middle East (1832–1833) changed him. He was shocked by the hospitality of Muslims in contrast to the horrific violence of the French colonialists. From then on, he became not only a defender of Muslims but also an active promoter of Islamic culture in France.
Lamartine was struck above all by Islamic tolerance, “That supposedly cruel intolerance of which ignorant people accuse the Turks manifests itself only in their respect for what others revere and idolise. Wherever a Muslim sees the concept of God in the minds of his brothers, he bows with respect. He believes that the idea sanctifies the form. These are the only tolerant people. Let Christians honestly ask themselves what they would do if the fate of war had handed Mecca and the Kaaba into their hands!”
He urged Europeans to learn from the Ottomans about religious coexistence, arguing that Islam was easily reconciled with civil liberties.
The voice of an era
Lamartine was not alone. Pierre Loti openly spoke of the ignorance of Europeans: “For us Europeans, it goes without saying that Islam is nothing other than an obscurantist religion. <…> This, first and foremost, signifies our complete ignorance of the Prophet’s teachings.” Victor Hugo, in “The Legend of the Ages”, extolled the Prophet ﷺ. Alexandre Dumas wrote that Muhammad’s ﷺ mission to unite the Arabs under a single law was a work of genius. Auguste Comte praised the “incomparable Mohammed ﷺ”, and Edgar Quinet called Islam the first religion to realize the principle of equality. Jules Verne wrote a poem entitled “The Koran”, and Édouard de Laboulaye published a philosophical novella, “Abdullah, or the Four-Leaf Clover”, in 1959, with the inscription “Allahu Akbar” on the cover. And it is even said that Napoleon Bonaparte, shortly before his death in 1821, acknowledged, “Islam is the true religion. <…> I hope that it will not be long before Islam rules the world.”
A memory worth recovering
As we see, Islam inspired not marginal thinkers, but outstanding members of the French intellectual elite – those whose work became an integral part of the national cultural canon. Their respect for Muslim tradition did not seem alien or an “external influence”; on the contrary, it fitted within the framework of French humanist thought. They lived in an era when genuine interest in Islam and admiration for its spiritual depth did not arouse caution or suspicion. Alas, today this has been largely forgotten. But perhaps it is time to remember.
