W. Montgomery Watt

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Professor William Montgomery Watt

William Montgomery Watt (14 March 1909; Ceres – 24 October 2006; Edinburgh) was an Islamic studies scholar, Orientalist and one of the key historians of Islam in the West.

Biography

Reverend Professor Montgomery Watt was Professor of Arabic and Islamic Studies at the University of Edinburgh from 1964-79. He held visiting professorships at the University of Toronto, the College de France, Paris, and Georgetown University and was given an honorary DD by the University of Aberdeen. He was a priest of the Scottish Episcopal Church, and was Arabic specialist to the Bishop of Jerusalem from 1943-46. He became a member of the ecumenical Iona Community in Scotland in 1960. The Islamic press have called him “the Last Orientalist”. He died in Edinburgh on 24 October 2006 at the age of 97.

Quotes

I therefore do not believe that either the Bible or the Qur’an is infallibly true in the sense that all their commands are valid for all time. ... when the form of society changes in important respects some commands cease to be appropriate, though many others continue to be valid. I do, however, believe that Muhammad, like the earlier prophets, had genuine religious experiences. I believe that he really did receive something directly from God. As such, I believe that the Qur’an came from God, that it is Divinely inspired. Muhammad could not have caused the great upsurge in religion that he did without God’s blessing. [2]

...I therefore certainly don’t think the West is locked into Jihad with Islam, though I suppose if the fundamentalists go too far they’ll have to be opposed. Iran’s comments about the “Great Satan” were aimed mostly at the United States: they were not made because the West was Christian. I think the West should try to overcome these strains between different religious groups. I do, however, think that the US is following a very dangerous policy in relation to the Middle East. The root of this trouble is that the US gives too much support to Israel. They allow them to have nuclear weapons and to do all sorts of things, some of which are contrary even to Jewish law. Jewish families occupy Arab houses without payment. That is stealing. I think that the US should be much firmer with Israel and put a lot of pressure on them, though this is difficult because of the strong Jewish lobby. Unless something is done there’ll be dangerous conflict in the Middle East. Such danger would be less likely to arise if all three Abrahamic faiths - Jews, Christians and Muslims - paid greater respect to what God teaches us about living together.[3]

Thus, whether Muhammad incited his followers to action and then used their wrongs [wrongs committed against them] to justify it, or whether he yielded to pressure from them to allow such action, the normal Arab practice of the razzia was taken over by the Islamic community. In being taken over, however, it was transformed. It became an activity of believers against unbelievers, and therefore took place within a religious context. The Emigrants were described as "striving with goods and person in the way of God [Qur'an 4:95, 9:20, 9:41, 9:44]. They were promoting one of the purposes of the Islamic community in trying to establish a region in which God was truly worshipped.

Legacy

Views

Watt is a critic of many Islamic and Christian beliefs. Martin Forward, a 21st century Non-Muslim Islamic scholar states:

His books have done much to emphasize the Prophet’s commitment to social justice; Watt has described him as being like an Old Testament prophet, who came to restore fair dealing and belief in one God to the Arabs, for whom these were or had become irrelevant concepts. This would not be a sufficiently high estimate of his worth for most Muslims, but it’s a start. Frankly, it’s hard for Christians to say affirmative things about a religion like Islam that postdates their own, which they are brought up to believe contains all things necessary for salvation. And it’s difficult for Muslims to face the fact that Christians aren’t persuaded by the view that Christianity is only a stop on the way to Islam, the final religion."

Charlotte Alfred, a reporter for the journal founded in Watt's department at Edinburgh, the Edinburgh Middle East Report, pointed out:

"His views on Islam and Christianity have at times been controversial. He rejects the infallibility of both the Bible and the Qur’ān, but regards each as divinely inspired. He has argued that the Muslim and Judaeo-Christian traditions have much to teach each other, personally commenting that his study of Islam deepened his understanding of the oneness of God.

Works

• Muhammad at Mecca (1953).
• Muhammad at Medina (1956).
• Muhammad: Prophet and Statesman, a summary of the above two major works (1961).
• Muhammad: Seal of the Prophets (???).
• Islamic Political Thought (1968).
• Muhammad's Mecca (1988).
• Muslim-Christian Encounters: Perceptions and Misperceptions (1991).
• Islam: A Short History (1999).

See also

• Islamic studies scholar

External links

• [4]
• Obituary by Charlotte Alfred. Edinburgh Middle East Report Online, a journal founded in Watt's former department. Winter 2006
• Professor Watt's paper Women in the Earliest Islam
• Interview with Professor Watt on Islam/Christian relations
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