Muhammad in the Seminary: Protestant Teaching about Islam in the Nineteenth Century (By David D. Grafton)

Abstract

David Grafton’s Muhammad in the Seminary focuses on the nineteenth
century as a pivotal period for the formation of American Protestant
conceptions about Islam. Grafton identifies theological seminaries as the
earliest institutions in North America to provide students with sustained
instruction on Islam, and he argues that the impact of such education
was considerable. The book offers a detailed historical investigation of
the ways that seven Protestant seminaries in the northeastern United
States presented Islam to thousands of students who would go on to
shape American public discourses as clergy and missionaries. While
unearthing information about the curricula on Islam in these institutions,
the book’s six chapters engage broadly with issues of nineteenth century
education, theological studies, and American cultural history.