Islam and early America

by Damien F. Mackey “… by 1776 Jefferson could imagine Muslims as future citizens of his new country”. Denise A. Spellberg ________________________________________ In my article: Mohammedans and Mormons (8) Mohammedans and Mormons | Damien Mackey - Academia.edu I quoted the profoundly influential (and, I believe, disastrous) Berlin chronologist, Eduard Meyer: Eduard Meyer’s Comparison of Mohammed and Joseph Smith January 1, 1900 by Ben Crowder • Book of Mormon, God, Islam, Joseph Smith Jr., Mohammed, Mormon(s), Mormonism, Qur'an, revealed religion, revelation(s), Three Witnesses G-2 Report No. 4 In this report we follow Eduard Meyer’s Ursprung und Geschichte der Mormonen. (1912) Why? Eduard Meyer (1855-1930): “His Geschichte des Altertums is considered to be the last word in modern historiography and the most perfectly documented and soundly reasoned resumé of what is actually known about the peoples of antiquity.” (Enciclopedia Ilustrada). “Possessing a perfect knowledge of the Classic World, both Greek and Roman, master of the languages of Hebrew and Egyptian) … he had the qualities necessary for the undertaking … The project was not original, but never before (or since) had it been undertaken by anyone with a comparable preparation.” (Enciclopedia Italiana). “He had a special preference for the History of Religion which never left him, from his Dissertation (at the age of twenty) to the great work of his old age, The Origin and Beginnings of Christianity.” (Brockhaus) The great Classical scholar, Prof. W. Jaeger, says Meyer’s lectures were only interesting when he spoke about the Mormons. Only then, according to Jaeger, was the lecture-hall packed. ….. “Among the religious innovations of our time, Mormonism excited my interest at an early age, before all else because of the surprising analogy extending even to the smallest details, between it and the fundamental drives, external forms, and historical development of Islam: here one might hope to discover significant clues for a proper understanding of Mohammed and his religion. But no less in its own right is Mormonism one of the most instructive phenomena in the whole area of Religious History; and it is most remarkable (though not without many parallels in every area in the most remote, inaccessible, all but incomprehensible religions of the past, have kept themselves strictly aloof from Mormonism and disdained the rich instruction it has to offer …” …. “It is possible without the slightest exaggeration to designate the Mormons both in their public activities and in their thought forms as the Mohammedans of America. Hence, there is hardly another historical parallel as instructive as this one… It is impossible to undertake the scholarly investigation of the one without a closer acquaintance with the other. The parallels between Joseph Smith and Mohammed was often pointed out by the contemporaries of the prophet of the Mormons and it is indeed so striking, that it can hardly be overlooked … It is directly apparent in the fundamental idea in which the appearance of either prophet is rooted, and accordingly runs through the whole activity and achievement of both.” …. [End of quotes] On Thomas Jefferson and the Koran (Qur’an), we read this brief review of a new book: https://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Jeffersons-Quran-Islam-Founders/dp/1665241128 Thomas Jefferson's Qur'an: Islam and the Founders Audio CD – Unabridged, March 1, 2021 by Denise A. Spellberg (Author) …. ________________________________________ MP3 CD Format In this original and illuminating book, Denise A. Spellberg reveals a little-known but crucial dimension of the story of American religious freedom—a drama in which Islam played a surprising role. In 1765, eleven years before composing the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson bought a Qur'an. This marked only the beginning of his lifelong interest in Islam, and he would go on to acquire numerous books on Middle Eastern languages, history, and travel, taking extensive notes on Islam as it relates to English common law. Jefferson sought to understand Islam notwithstanding his personal disdain for the faith, a sentiment prevalent among his Protestant contemporaries in England and America. But unlike most of them, by 1776 Jefferson could imagine Muslims as future citizens of his new country. Based on groundbreaking research, Spellberg compellingly recounts how a handful of the Founders, Jefferson foremost among them, drew upon Enlightenment ideas about the toleration of Muslims (then deemed the ultimate outsiders in Western society) to fashion out of what had been a purely speculative debate a practical foundation for governance in America.