Dante and Islam: A Study of the Eastern Influences in the Divine Comedy

Abstract

In Dante’s Divine Comedy he makes multiple direct references to Islam and Muslims, but there is debate about the amount of influence, if any, Islam had on him while composing his masterwork. This paper attempts to show how the poet, consciously or unconsciously, responded to Islam as a theological and political threat. This is done through analysis of Saladin, the Sultan of Egypt and Crusader leader who was well respected in Europe in Dante’s era; analyzing the Prophet Muhammad’s suffering in Canto XXVIII; and comparing the Divine Comedy to the Prophet Muhammad’s own Night Journey, the al-Isrā wa al-Mi’rāj with a brief discussion on how Mi’rāj texts might have reached Dante.