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660 Recensioni e Schede

1613 in the following two centuries as a proponent of dialogue or tole-
following Cusanus’ views of Islam rance towards Islam. In fact, he adds
persisted exactly in the same way. that Cusanus argued that Muham-
According to Gigli, Muhammad was mad was ignorant, ambitious, lu-
the false prophet of the Devil, an evil stful and an agent of Satan who
man whose origins were obscure, as to dictated the Qur’an to him and
whether he was Persian or an Arab. “heretical Christians” (mainly Nesto-
His father was an idol worshipper and rians) as well as “perverted Jews”
his mother was an Ishmailite (here assisted him in his endeavour. Islam
meant as adherent to the prophet being a religion of Abrahamic tra-
Ismail, the first son of Abraham. dition posterior to Christianity, it
Meaning the mother was an Arab) who clashes with the Christian vision of
knew about the old Abrahamic Christ being the true saviour of the
tradition. As a result, “il fanciullo tirato human kind. Furthermore, there are
hora da questa parte, hora a quella, two figures in the Islamic tradition,
diventato né gentile né ebreo” (the Bahīr and Waraqa.
child was pulled towards this and that It is true that these persons
side and ended up to be neither existed in the Islamic sources. The
gentile nor Jewish) (Giovanni Battista former was a Christian monk
Gigli, Il Maomettano di Gio. Batta Gigli. (probably Nestorian) who foretold
Alla Santità dil Sig.re Papa Paolo the prophecy of Muhammad, as
Quinto Romano. Origine della Turchia Muhammad visited a convent in
et Costantinopoli, ordini et leggi Maho- Syria with his uncle Abū Tālib. The
mettani, Roma: 1613, Città del second was the famous Waraqa, a
Vaticano: Biblioteca Apostolica Vati- relation of Khadija, Muhammad's
cana: Barb. Lat. 4, f.2v). Therefore, first wife, who assured Khadija of
Gigli says that Mohammed accor- the divine inspiration that Muha-
dingly learned from both cultures and mmad began to receive from the
laws from his parents and abandoned angel Gabriel. Waraqa is especially
both of them, to establish his heretic respected in the Islamic tradition, in
creed, not an independent religion. spite of being a Christian (at least
Within the same line, in Ron’s known to follow the Judeo-Christian
book we see the thorough examina- scriptures) and is one of the persons
tion of identical earlier arguments who are promised entry into Pa-
given by Cusanus in his Cribratio radise. Therefore, most of the ideas
when he says that Muhammad was of Cusanus actually follow certain
guided by Satan, deceived and elements of the Islamic tradition.
manipulated by the Jews and in- According to Ron, Cusanus iden-
spired by the heretic Nestorians in tified Muhammad as “the beast”
composing the Qur’an. In fact, Ron preceding Antichrist in the Book of
dedicated between pages 15-37 to Revelation. He considered Islam a
these arguments and a scrutinous religion of the sword and even the
comparison between the Cribratio Nostra Aetate of 1965 refuses to
Alkorani and De Pace Fidei within recognize Muhammad as the prophet,
the themes of the Trinity, paradise, which is one of the main two tenets of
Abraham, the Jewish manipulation Islam together with the oneness of
of Muhammad and circumcision. God. It is no surprise that from the
Ron makes a justified criticism of earliest exegeses of the Qur’an to the
modern scholars who take Cusanus modern ones, it is commented that the

Mediterranea - ricerche storiche - Anno XX - Dicembre 2023
ISSN 1824-3010 (stampa) ISSN 1828-230X (online)