The Christian-Muslim Relations projects

Christian-Muslim Relations: A Bibliographical History, an encyclopaedic compilation of the records of past encounters in a single history, will provide an essential research tool to do just that. CMR600 and CMR1900 bring together the known writings by Christians and Muslims about one another and against one another in the period 600-1914. Its scope is global, aiming to identify and analyse these works in all parts of the world.

The project traces the history of relations between the followers of the world’s two most populous religions, bringing together academics and contributions from all over the world. The project is based at the Department of Theology and Religion at the University of Birmingham, where the core team coordinate five regional teams covering Africa and the Americas; Western Europe; Eastern Europe; the Middle East and North Africa; and South Asia, East Asia, South-East Asia and Oceania.

Project aims

The overall aim of the CMR projects is to explore the following question:

What happened to Christian-Muslim relations in the period 600-1914? More specifically, in their accounts of one another, how did Christians and Muslims deploy inherited depictions, and how far did they move beyond these?

To this end, each regional team has been working to:

• Identify all relevant works written in the region between 1500 and 1914, that is those that are wholly or mainly about or against the other faith, and works that contain significant information or opinions that shed light on attitudes towards it.
• Identify specialists on particular texts, authors, periods or subjects.
• Commission descriptive and analytical entries on each of these works.
• Sponsor large-scale analyses of themes and attitudes revealed within them.

Project outputs

Printed volumes

In the first phase of the project (CMR600), five volumes were produced covering the period 600 - 1500.

In the second phase of the project (CMR1900), we envisage producing a minimum of 17 volumes.

• 16th century = 2 volumes (2014, 2015)
• 17th century = 4 volumes (2016, 2017)
• 18th century = 3 volumes (2018, 2020)
• 19th century = 8 volumes (2020-2025)

Online resources

The entries and essays contributed to the printed volumes are available as an online resource hosted by Brill. These resources are fully searchable and will be continually added to as we discover other relevant works and authors, and update entries from the printed volumes, making CMRO1 (600-1500) and CMRO2 (1500-1914) the fullest available sources in the field.

Thematic volumes

In addition to the bibliographical volumes, two thematic volumes will also be produced. These will be based on works from the whole period 600-1914 (employing for this material from both CMR600 and CMR1900), focusing on the transmission of images and attitudes, and their development and deployment in various parts of the world. This part of the project is led by Professor Douglas Pratt (University of Auckland) and Dr Charles Tieszen (Fuller Theological Seminary).

• ·Thematic essays (600-1600) published 2020
• Thematic essays (1600-1914) forthcoming 2025

CMR: The Reader

The Reader will be a collection of key texts reproduced in their original language and with new English translations, where appropriate.

• Reader (600-1500) published 2022
• Primary Sources – 3 volumes published 2023

Teaching resources

The CMR project yields a great amount of material, some of which we hope to adapt for use in schools. This part of the project is led by Dr Claire Norton (St Marys, Twickenham) and Professor Lejla Demiri (University of Tübingen).

CMR: A General History

A final aim of the project is to produce a paperback overview, aimed at the general reader.