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William Montgomery Watt (14 March 1909 24 October 2006[1]) was a Scottish historian, an
EmeritusProfessor in Arabic and Islamic Studies at the University of Edinburgh. Watt was one of
the foremost non-Muslim interpreters 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.[2] Watts comprehensive biography of theIslamic prophet, Muhammad, Muhammad at
Mecca (1953) and Muhammad at Medina (1956), are considered to be classics in the field.[2]

Contents

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1 Biography

2 Awards

3 Watts views

4 Works

5 References

6 External links

Biography

Watt, whose father died when he was only 14 months old, was born in Ceres, Fife, Scotland.[1]

Watt was a priest of the Scottish Episcopal Church, and was Arabic specialist to the Anglican
Bishop of Jerusalem from 1943-46.[1] 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.[3] He died in Edinburgh on 24 October
2006 at the age of 97.[4]

Awards

Watt held visiting professorships at the University of Toronto, the Collge 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.[2]

Watts views

Watt believed that the Quran was divinely inspired, though not infallibly true.[3]
Martin Forward, a 21st century Non-Muslim Islamic scholar states:

His books have done much to emphasize the Prophets commitment to social justice; Watt has
described him as being like an Old Testament prophet, who came to restore fair dealing and
belief in one God to the Arabs, for whom these were or had become irrelevant concepts. This
would not be a sufficiently high estimate of his worth for most Muslims, but its a start. Frankly,
its hard for Christians to say affirmative things about a religion like Islam that postdates their
own, which they are brought up to believe contains all things necessary forsalvation. And its
difficult for Muslims to face the fact that Christians arent persuaded by the view that
Christianity is only a stop on the way to Islam, the final religion. [5]

Charlotte Alfred, a reporter for the journal founded in Watts department at Edinburgh,
the Edinburgh Middle East Report, pointed out:

His views on Islam and Christianity have at times been controversial. He rejects the infallibility
of both the Bible and the Qurn, but regards each as divinely inspired. He has argued that the
Muslim and Judaeo-Christian traditions have much to teach each other, personally commenting
that his study of Islam deepened his understanding of the oneness ofGod.[6]

Carole Hillenbrand, a professor of Islamic History at the University of Edinburgh, states:[2]

He was not afraid to express rather radicaltheological opinions controversial ones in some
Christian ecclesiastical circles. He often pondered on the question of what influence his study of
Islam had exerted on him in his own Christian faith. As a direct result, he came to argue that the
Islamic emphasis on the uncompromising oneness of God had caused him to reconsider the
Christian doctrine of theTrinity, which is vigorously attacked in the Koran as undermining
true monotheism.

Influenced by Islam, with its 99 names of God, each expressing special attributes of God, Watt
returned to the Latin word persona which meant a face or mask, and not individual,
as it now means in English and he formulated the view that a true interpretation of Trinity
would not signify that God comprises three individuals. For him, Trinity represents three
different faces of the one and the same God.

Works

The faith and practice of al-Ghazl (1953) ISBN 978-0686186106

Muhammad at Mecca (1953) ISBN 978-0195772784

Muhammad at Medina (1956) ISBN 978-0195773071 (online)

Muhammad: Prophet and Statesman (1961) ISBN 978-0198810780, a summary of the above
two major works (online)
Islamic Philosophy and Theology (1962) ISBN 978-0202362724

Muhammad: Seal of the Prophets (???)

Islamic Political Thought (1968) ISBN 978-0852244036

Islamic Surveys: The Influence of Islam on Medieval Europe (1972) ISBN 978-0852244395

The Majesty That Was Islam (1976) ISBN 978-0275518707

What Is Islam? (1980) ISBN 978-0582783027

Muhammads Mecca (1988) ISBN 978-0852245651

Muslim-Christian Encounters: Perceptions and Misperceptions (1991) ISBN 978-0415054119

Early Islam (1991) ISBN 978-0748601707

Islamic Philosophy And Theology (1987) ISBN 978-0748607495

Islamic Creeds (1994) ISBN 978-0748605132

History of Islamic Spain (1996) ISBN 978-0852243329

Islamic Political Thought (1998) ISBN 978-0748610983

Islam and the Integration of Society (1998) ISBN 978-0810102408

Islam: A Short History (1999) ISBN 978-1851682058

A Christian Faith For Today (2002) ISBN 0-415-27703-5

References

^ a b c William Montgomery Watt by Richard Holloway. The Guardian. 14 Nov. 2006

^ a b c d Professor W. Montgomery Watt by Carole Hillenbrand

^ a b Interview: William Montgomery Watt

^ The Herald, The Scotsman, The Times, 27 October 2006

^ The Prophet Muhammad: A mercy to mankind (dead link)

^ Obituary by Charlotte Alfred. Edinburgh Middle East Report Online. Winter 2006.

External links

Professor W. Montgomery Watt by Carole Hillenbrand

W. Montgomery Watt: Muhammad, Prophet and Statesman

Sirat An-Nabi and the Orientalists Criticism of some of Watts works by Muhammad Mohar
Ali

Obituary by Charlotte Alfred. Edinburgh Middle East Report Online, a journal founded in Watts
former department. Winter 2006

Professor Watts paper Women in the Earliest Islam

Interview with Professor Watt on Islam/Christian relations

William Montgomery Watts picture

Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Montgomery_Watt

Categories: Islamic studies scholars | Arabists | Scottish orientalists | Scottish Episcopalian

clergy | 1909 births | 2006 deaths | Academics of the University of Edinburgh | Iona Community
members | Scottish Christians | Scottish Episcopalians