Mahound
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Mahound is a given name for some males of Muslim origin.
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[edit] Pejorative Connotations
The name Mahound has been used pejoratively in reference to Muhammad, the prophet of Islam [1], with the connotation of devil or 'spirit of darkness', [2] This hostile view of Muhammad was associated with the name Mahound in the medieval west [3]. According to Bernard Lewis, the "development of the concept of Mahound started with considering Muhammad as a kind of demon or false god worshipped with Apollyon and Termangant in an unholy trinity. Finally after reformation, Muhammad was conceived as a cunning and self-seeking imposter." [4]
[edit] In literature
The name appears in various medieval mystery plays: One play depicts both Herod the Great and his son Herod Antipas as worshipping Mahound. [5], while in another play Pharaoh encourages the Egyptians to pursue the Israelites into the Red Sea with the words: Heave up you hearts ay to Mahound. [6]
Later, the name is used by William Shakespeare in his comedy As You Like It[citation needed]. The name has been used in poems by Robert Burns [7] and G.K. Chesterton [8]. More recently, Salman Rushdie, in his novel The Satanic Verses, chose the name Mahound to refer to Muhammad, however, he is not identified as Satan in that work.
[edit] References
- ^ John Esposito (1999), p.250[clarify]
- ^ William Montgomery Watt,Muhammad: Prophet and Statesman, Oxford University Press, 1961, p. 229
- ^ Annemarie Schimmel, Islam: An Introduction, 1992.
- ^ Bernard Lewis (2002), p.45.
- ^ N-Town Cycle: The Death of Judas, and the Trials of Christ Before Pilate and Herod, line 165
- ^ The York Cycle: The Israelites in Egypt, the Ten Plagues, and Passage of the Red Sea, line 404
- ^ Robert Burns, The Deil's Awa Wi' Th' Exciseman
- ^ G.K. Chesterton, Lepanto
