Guillaume de Tripolis' work on Islam was written with...

Guillaume de Tripolis' work on Islam was written with extreme hate and was most offensive. Its descriptions were far from reality, being a mixture of mythical elements with history. [^5] Peter de Cluny (d. 551/1156) translated the Qur'an into Latin for the first time. His work set the foundation for St. Thomas' attacks on Islam. Two helpers named Peter de Toledo and Peter Poitier participated in Peter Cluny's attempt at translating the Qur'an.

The Latin translation of an epistle on the discussion over the principles of Christianity and Islam between 'Abd al-Masill al-Kindi who was the Caliph Mamun's secretary and Yahya al-Dimashgi was added at the end of this version of the Qur'an. This epistle indicates how tolerant the 'Abbasid Caliph was about re­ligious discussions even in the third/ninth century.

When this work was translated into Latin in the West in the sixth/twelfth century, very bitter and offensive expressions were used for Islam in the preface to the Latin translation.

Casanova and Muir critically investigated whether or not this epistle really belonged to the third/ninth century.[^6] Massignon has looked for a relationship between the epistle of this al-Kindi-who has no relation to the philosopher al-Kindi-and that of Yahya ibn 'Adi in which the Trinity is defended.[^7] The problem has not yet been solved. St. Thomas referred to Islam and to its theologians. He is the first to give his criticisms a philosophical orientation.

Raymond Lull (633-716/ 1235-1316) studied Arabic at Majorca and Muslim philosophy in Bugia near Tunisia. It was he who suggested to the then Pope to start the moral crusade against Islam. This suggestion which was met at first with complete disinter­estedness was later accepted by the Popes after Raymond's long endeavor to that effect; it became indeed the foundation of the Missionary movement. Raymond translated Asma' al-Husna (The Beautiful Names of God) of Muhyi al-Din ibn 'Arabi.

He adapted several passages from Futahat al-Makkiyyah (The Revelations of Mecca). He wrote an epistle relating to the discussions of a Christian, a Muslim, and a Jew. Although he wrote many epistles and books about Sufistic theology and philosophy, yet he essentially preserved his enmity against Islam. At the same time Constantine Porphyrogenitus was referring to the Pro­phet with respect and politeness in a passage of his work on history.