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William Montgomery Watt
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William Montgomery Watt (14 March 1909 – 24 October 2006) was an Emeritus Professor in Arabic and Islamic Studies at the University of Edinburgh. Watt was one of "the foremost non-Muslim interpreter of Islam in the West, was an enormously influential scholar in the field of Islamic studies and a much-revered name for many Muslims all over the world." Watt's comprehensive biography of Muhammad, Muhammad at Mecca (1953) and Muhammad at Medina (1956), are considered to be classics in the field.
was born in Ceres, Fife.
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Encyclopedia
William Montgomery Watt (14 March 1909 – 24 October 2006) was an Emeritus Professor in Arabic and Islamic Studies at the University of Edinburgh. Watt was one of "the foremost non-Muslim interpreter of Islam in the West, was an enormously influential scholar in the field of Islamic studies and a much-revered name for many Muslims all over the world." Watt's comprehensive biography of Muhammad, Muhammad at Mecca (1953) and Muhammad at Medina (1956), are considered to be classics in the field.
Biography
Watt was born in Ceres, Fife. His father died when Watt was only 14 months of age.
Watt 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. He was Professor of Arabic and Islamic Studies at the University of Edinburgh from 1964-79.
The Islamic press have called him “the Last Orientalist”. He died in Edinburgh on 24 October 2006 at the age of 97.
Awards
Watt held visiting professorships at the University of Toronto, the Collège de France, and Georgetown University, and received the American Giorgio Levi Della Vida Medal and won, as its first recipient, the British Society for Middle Eastern Studies award for outstanding scholarship.
Watt's views
Watt believed that the Qur'an was divinely inspired, though not infallibly true. He also stated that "the Christians were probably better off as citizens under Muslim-Arab rulers than they had been under the Byzantine-Greek."
Views of Watt
Martin Forward, a 21st century Non-Muslim Islamic scholar states:
Charlotte Alfred, a reporter for the journal founded in Watt's department at Edinburgh, the Edinburgh Middle East Report, pointed out:
Carole Hillenbrand, a professor of Islamic History at the University of Edinburgh states:
Works
- The faith and practice of al-Ghazali (1953)
- Muhammad at Mecca (1953).
- Muhammad at Medina (1956).
- Muhammad: Prophet and Statesman, a summary of the above two major works (1961).
- Islamic Philosophy and Theology (1962).
- Muhammad: Seal of the Prophets.
- Islamic Political Thought (1968).
- The Majesty That Was Islam (1976)
- What Is Islam (1980)
- Muhammad's Mecca (1988).
- Muslim-Christian Encounters: Perceptions and Misperceptions (1991).
- Early Islam (1991).
- Influence Of Islam On Medieval Europe(1994)
- Islamic Philosophy And Theology (1987)
- Islamic Creeds (1994)
- History of Islamic Spain (1996)
- Islamic Political Thought (1998)
- Islam and the Integration of Society (1998)
- Islam: A Short History (1999).
- Islamic Surveys: The Influence of Islam on Medieval Europe (1972)
External links
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- Criticism of some of Watt's works by Muhammad Mohar Ali
- by Charlotte Alfred. Edinburgh Middle East Report Online, a journal founded in Watt's former department. Winter 2006
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