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Islamic Thought and Civilization (JITC)
Volume 11 Issue 2, Fall 2021
ISSNP: 2075-0943, ISSNE: 2520-0313
Journal DOI: https://doi.org/10.32350/jitc
Issue DOI: https://doi.org/10.32350/jitc.11.2
Homepage: https://journals.umt.edu.pk/index.php/JITC
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Article:
Vincent le Blanc as the Second Non-Muslim in Makkah and
Madinah
Author(s):
Spahic Omar
Affiliation:
Kulliyyah of Islamic Revealed Knowledge and Human Sciences, International
Islamic University, Malaysia
Published:
Fall 2021
Article DOI:
https://doi.org/10.32350/jitc.11.2.15
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Citation:
Omar, Spahic. “Vincent le Blanc as the Second Non-Muslim in
Makkah and Madinah.” Journal of Islamic Thought and
Civilization 11, no. 2 (2021): 269−289.
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Department of Islamic Thought and Civilization, School of Social
Science and Humanities, University of Management and
Technology, Lahore, Pakistan
270
JOURNAL OF ISLAMIC THOUGHT AND CIVILIZATION
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Vincent le Blanc as the Second Non-Muslim in Makkah and Madinah
Spahic Omar
Kulliyyah of Islamic Revealed Knowledge and Human Sciences,
International Islamic University, Malaysia
Abstract
Societies and nations generally construct their worldviews and strive to realize their
religious and political objectives in the light of these worldviews. Christians of Europe in
the 16th and 17th centuries began to explore the world and discovered new continents. They
disseminated their views related to the peoples of the world, especially the Muslims,
through their travelogues and books. It is generally acknowledged that the books published
from the national pedestal are always biased. Hence, the analysis of books that are
politically and religiously oriented is a very important task. Keeping this purpose in view,
this article discusses the case of Vincent le Blanc as the second European non-Muslim to
visit Makkah and Madinah. It argues that, in reality, the man never did as he claimed. The
visit was staged mainly for the interest of Christian anti-Islamic polemics. The justification
of this contention is two-pronged. Le Blanc’s fallacious, self-contradictory and irrational
accounts of Makkah and Madinah, their holy mosques, and of hajj rituals are scrutinized.
It is followed by bringing to fore his extensive plagiarism of the work of Ludovico di
Varthema. The findings of this study suggest that the books written by tourists such as Le
Blanc are characterised by biases and alienated approaches. Therefore, their propositional
as well as linguistic material should always be viewed cautiously to safeguard against their
misleading contents.
Keywords: Vincent le Blanc; Makkah and Madinah; Ludovico di Varthema; Christian anti-
Islamic polemics, biases
Introduction
Vincent le Blanc (1554-1640), a French traveller, explorer and adventurer, is believed
to have been the second European non-Muslim who visited Makkah and Madinah and
recorded his journeys as well as impressions. The first one was Ludovico di Varthema
(1470-1517), an Italian traveller and explorer.
The 16th and 17th centuries in Europe signified a time when the Age of Discovery, or
the Age of Exploration, was reaching its peak. Extensive foreign explorations created a
craze and a vogue on the continent. A compelling desire to globetrot and explore overseas
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Dr Spahic Omer, Associate
Professor, Kulliyyah of Islamic Revealed Knowledge and Human Sciences, International Islamic
University, Malaysia at ospahic@iium.edu.my
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places arose in many people and became a potent feature in European culture ever since. It
perhaps never fully died out.
The sentiment is best described by the words of Le Blanc: “Life is but a continual
voyage, without rest or assured habitation.”
1
That is, the whole life is a journey of
discovery, within and without, and the whole earth is a home.
The newly discovered Americas were beckoning. Africa and Asia were coming to be
ever more familiar and accessible. Marco Polo (d. 1324), Christopher Columbus (d. 1506),
Ferdinand Magellan (d. 1521) and Vasco da Gama (d. 1524) became household names.
They became national and international heroes.
Literally, there was no end to dreams and hopes. Opportunities abounded, yet were
infinite. Excitement was in the air. As Ludovico di Varthema wrote in his travels that the
“testimony of one eye-witness is worth more than ten heard-says.” Exploration and travel
ensured “most deserved and high praise from others” and abundant personal satisfaction.
2
Circumnavigating the globe and realizing its full extent helped man contemplate more
closely and more systematically his place – and role – on that globe. Mapping out the world
and bringing it closer to home was affecting people’s thinking and feelings most
profoundly.
The developments were changing everything. With the world better discovered and
better known, new world-views were likewise formed. Scientific spirit was growing
irrepressibly, destroying mercilessly all the false idols of the mind, faith and tradition.
Novel modes – and results – of thinking and values were taking over as a new religion,
which was bent on conquering the entire newly-discovered globe (world).
Without doubt, the planet, earth and life on it were set never to be the same again. The
greatest anomalies thereafter were the unknown, the old-fashioned and the sluggish, in the
realms of thought, standards and things, and the greatest enemies, both at the individual
and collective (institutional) levels, were those who opposed such avant-gardism and
evolution.
This article analyses Le Blanc’s claimed feat of visiting Makkah and Madinah, arguing
that the man - in actual fact - never visited the two Islamic holy cities. Everything was
fabricated mainly for the agenda of Christian anti-Islamic polemics. To substantiate the
perspective, the study explains how erroneous, superficial, contradictory and irrational Le
1
Vincent le Blanc, The World Surveyed, or, The Famous Voyages and Travailes of Vincent le
Blanc, translated into English by F. B. Gent (London: Printed for John Starkey at the Miter, 1660),
see the author’s Preface.
2
Ludovico di Varthema, The Travels of Ludovico di Varthema, translated into English by
George Percy Badger (London: The Hakluyt Society, 1863), 1-2.
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Blanc’s descriptions of Makkah and Madinah, their holy mosques, and of hajj rituals, are.
For the same objective, the study also demonstrates how extensively Le Blanc plagiarized
Ludovico di Varthema, who was the first Christian in Makkah and Madinah.
2. Who was Vincent le Blanc?
Le Blanc was born at Marseilles in 1554. His father, Raphael le Blanc, was a rich
merchant who frequently traded in the Levant (a region on the eastern coast of the
Mediterranean Sea north of the Arabian Peninsula and south of Turkey, which includes
present-day Syria, Lebanon. Jordan, Palestine and most of south-east Turkey). The father
was a joint partner in a ship that was used for trade activities with the East.
Le Blanc’s case epitomized the restlessness and excitement of his age. He was its
ambassador, so to speak. As a child, he had the strong desire to travel and see the world.
He called it “a noble ambition.” The desire “was kindled by life in the great French port,
where he watched the arrival of strange ships manned by foreign sailors, or the departure
of others for those Eastern cities whose very names breathed mystery and enchantment.”
3
The magic of the East was overwhelming and the spell seductive. He could not control
it anymore, and at the age of almost fourteen (“I was not fully arrived at my fourteenth year
of age”) “he left his home and embarked secretly upon his father’s ship bound for
Alexandria. His mother knew of his intentions, but recognised the futility of opposition.”
4
After visiting Alexandria and Cairo, things did not go as planned on the homeward
voyage. The ship arrived in Candia (Crete) where, due to a delay, the crew misused and
squandered the merchandise. On leaving the port, they were “beset by fear of creditors and
conceived the desperate design of wrecking the ship.”
5
Le Blanc escaped the disaster and returned to Candia in a small boat. He stayed there
six or seven months with the Consul of the “French Nation.” Then he met an acquaintance
from Marseilles who had just arrived from Venice in a Venetian ship bound for Jerusalem.
The acquaintance’s name was Cassis. The man proposed that Le Blanc should follow him
to Jerusalem, which was accepted.
Earlier, Le Blanc had vowed a pilgrimage to the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem to give
God thanks for his preservation in the last great danger (the shipwreck). The Consul
3
Augustus Ralli, Christians at Mecca (London: William Heinemann, 1909), 29.
4
Ibid., 29.
5
Ibid., 29.
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advanced Le Blanc money for the trip. He did so – and all the other things – for Le Blanc’s
father’s sake, whose friend and acquaintance the Consul was.
6
The master of the said Venetian ship was also from Marseilles and knew Le Blanc’s
parents. He was amazed at seeing Le Blanc, saying that he had recently attended his funeral
at Marseilles. Le Blanc’s parents had announced that their son had been cast away with the
rest of the company (ship crew) and had died, and they bore his loss heavier than that of
the ship.
On the way to Jerusalem, Le Blanc and Cassis arrived in Syria first, where Cassis met
Murat, his brother and a renegade who had accepted Islam and so, “had sinned in denying
Christ.” The latter mooted the idea of visiting Makkah for the approaching hajj
(pilgrimage) season, albeit “not from religious motives, but that he might sell his
merchandise at a profit and recoup himself for recent losses.” After that, they could go to
Jerusalem.
Both Cassis and Le Blanc were unhappy and unwilling, but accepted the suggestion
nevertheless, the former because of his brother’s insistence and the latter because he feared
for his wellbeing.
7
While visiting Makkah and Madinah, where the trio was preoccupied solely by the
commercial side of hajj, Cassis hatched a secret plan to separate together with Le Blanc
from his brother Murat the renegade. They took with them six camels loaded with goods
that belonged to Murat. Cassis did that, robbing his brother of substantial merchandise,
because of Murat’s religious treason and rejection of Christ.
Cassis explained that since his brother had denied Jesus Christ he did not deserve those
(goods), “and thought it fitter to make them his own, and resolved to see the world at his
charge and expenses.”
8
Whatever conscientious scruples, as a result of this dishonest act,
may have been felt by Le Blanc, they “were silenced by necessity.”
According to the plan, Cassis and Le Blanc travelled to Jeddah whence they took ship
“for Aden and thence for Ormus. Having sold their goods at great profit in Persia and
Babylonia, they journeyed as far north as Samarkand. They subsequently returned to Aden,
travelled up the east coast of Arabia, visited India, and many other countries in Asia and
Africa. In 1578, after an absence of ten years, Le Blanc returned to Marseilles. His parents
did not recognise him.” Many years ago, they had celebrated his funeral obsequies or rites.
9
6
Vincent le Blanc, The World Surveyed, or, The Famous Voyages and Travailes of Vincent le
Blanc, 3-4.
7
Ibid., 9.
8
Ibid., 17.
9
Augustus Ralli, Christians at Mecca, 32.
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Le Blanc travelled even more from 1583 to 1602. He visited the Americas, Spain, Italy,
Malta, Guinea, and the West Indies. Later he composed a book about all his travels and
adventures. The book is titled, The World Surveyed, or, The Famous Voyages and Travailes
of Vincent le Blanc. The book was not published until after its author’s death. It was
translated into English by F.B. Gent and was published in London in 1660. The author died
in 1640. He was eighty-six.
3. Le Blanc’s Trip to Makkah and Madinah a Reality or a Fiction
At the end of his exposition of Le Blanc’s story, Augustus Ralli in his book, Christians
at Mecca placed a note: “Le Blanc’s statements should be accepted with reserve. Many are
inclined to dismiss the account of his journey to Mecca as fictitious.”
10
All things considered, the author truly seems to have fabricated his visit not only to
Makkah, but also to Madinah. He did not go there, but managed to invent and dramatize
things, subsequently grafting them onto the body of his actual travels.
This can be substantiated by the following observations.
Le Blanc’s accounts of Makkah and Madinah are very superficial and full of errors and
contradictions. So much so that one understands almost nothing therefrom about the two
holy cities, their holy mosques and other holy sites, as well as about hajj rituals. Moreover,
one gets utterly misinformed and misguided, which by no means was supposed to be the
object of the travels and of the book that issued from them.
3.1. In Madinah
To begin with, the author says that Madinah was formerly known as Jesrab, “a town
with good waters, for which cause it is well peopled,” but then immediately says that
Prophet Muhammad (SAW) was born at Jetrib, or Meka. At another place, he says that the
Prophet (SAW) was born “at Itrarib, or Jetrib, a small village now called Meka, or near unto
it.” He seems to be confused as to the fundamentals in relation to the two holy cities and
their respective identities.
The author then reveals that according to a widespread anecdote back home, the
Prophet’s (SAW) tomb, which was all of iron, was either in Makkah or Madinah and was
suspended in the air with a loadstone. He debunks the error by affirming that the Prophet
(SAW) had certainly died in Madinah and had been buried there, “where to this day his
tomb is frequently visited by Mahometan pilgrims from all parts of the world, as the Holy
Sepulchre at Jerusalem is visited by Christians.”
10
Augustus Ralli, Christians at Mecca, 33.
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However, he does not say so as an eyewitness, nor do his statements ooze the
confidence of one. Rather, he states that he had heard – not seen - all that for certain. After
that, some factual inaccuracies follow, which even a casual observer in the Prophet’s (SAW)
mosque in Madinah, would not, under normal circumstances, accommodate. He says that
the Prophet’s tomb is built of white marble together with the tombs of Abu Bakr, ‘Ali,
‘Umar and ‘Uthman, in their capacities as the Prophet’s (SAW) successors. At the same
location, there were books or biographies of their lives and also of their sects or opinions
“which are very discrepant.” There were a great number of lamps always lighted there as
well.
He furthermore says that the Prophet’s (SAW) tomb is three steps or thereabouts in
ground; the steps were white marble. Which is as much incorrect as it is merely conjectural,
for the interior of the Prophet’s tomb is inaccessible and hence, unknown. One certainly
wonders how the author failed to notice the obvious - for example that ‘Ali and ‘Uthman
were not buried next to the Prophet and that books of their lives and their sects could not
be there – but knew the impossible.
As reported by Joseph Pitts, an Englishmen who in 1680 as a slave who ostensibly
accepted Islam visited Makkah and Madinah: “There is nothing of his (the Prophet’s SAW)
tomb to be seen by any, by reason of the curtains round it, nor are any of the Hagges
(pilgrims) permitted to enter there. None go in but the Eunuchs, who keep watch over it,
and they only light the lamps, which burn there by night, and to sweep and cleanse the
place.”
11
Richard Francis Burton (d. 1890) further reiterated, commenting on Joseph Pitts’
observation: This account is perfectly correct. The Eunuchs, however, do not go into the
tomb; they only light the lamps in, and sweep the passage round, the Sepulchre.”
12
All this is followed by two statements which, to all intents and purposes, are sheer
forgeries and were meant but to insult both intelligence and Islamic faith. The author says
that a Turkish priest and scholar (jurist) informed him that formerly the Prophet’s (SAW)
body had there reposed, but later the angels had transported it before God to assist Him at
his great judgment. Secondly, he says that “the Turks believe to this day that the tomb
hangs in the air” and they wonder very much when informed to the contrary.
13
11
Richard Francis Burton, Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah,
edited by the author’s wife, Isabel Burton (Dover Publications; Volume 1, memorial edition,
1893), see Appendix V.
12
Ibid.
13
Vincent le Blanc, The World Surveyed, or, The Famous Voyages and Travailes of Vincent le
Blanc, 12-13.
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Suffice it to say that no regular Muslim, let alone “the Turks,” ever believed that the
Prophet’s tomb at any time hung in the air. Joseph Pitts noted: “I never heard the
Mahometans say anything like it.”
14
Nor did any normal Muslim ever believe that the
Prophet’s body had at any point been taken to God to assist in matters of His judgment.
Not only is all this unreasonable and preposterous, but as well blasphemous. If that was
always the case with respect to any ordinary Muslim, one might ask how Le Blanc was
able to find a Turkish scholar and jurist (priest) who knew and preached what nobody else
did. And that priest allegedly operated right inside the Prophet’s city and inside his mosque
as the enduring citadel of Islamic orthodoxy.
3.2. In Makkah
That is basically all Le Blanc writes about Madinah. After that, he shifts focus to
Makkah. His reports about the latter are slightly more prolific, but are simultaneously more
ambiguous, more deformed and so, more misrepresenting. As a fraudster, the more he said,
the more he exposed himself and his designs. He was desperate to authenticate his instance,
but failed miserably.
About Makkah the author writes that it was two days journey from Madinah, which,
according to Augustus Ralli, was “of course impossible.”
15
The city was pretty large, of
the quantity of Rouen, or twice as big as Marseilles. It was surrounded with great and steep
hills, which served her for defence and made the access difficult. There were abundance of
merchants and very rich. To facilitate the passage from the plain, there were four avenues
cut through the mountains, easy to be maintained.
The hajj season is called a famous yearly fair “which they (Muslims) call their Jubilee.”
A very scant and muddled reference is then made to Arafat and its mountain of mercy, the
sacrifice rite, the Mina site and the rite of throwing pebbles. For instance, a mention is
given of pilgrims bathing with the Zamzam water as a symbolic gesture of washing away
and pardoning their sins. Startlingly, that is said to be done officially and by the help of the
ruler’s (Sharīf) deputy, following the rite of throwing pebbles at Mina. It is Sharif’s deputy
who “casts a pail of water upon their (pilgrims’) heads, wetting them from top to toe, which
they hold a purification or expiation of their fins.”
It is moreover unclear why the author speaks about hajj rituals and prayers, and
suddenly introduces the obligation of fasting, which has nothing to do with the existing
context: “And when they keep their fasts they neither eat nor drink by day, but they eat all
the next night.” The actual reason for that is that Le Blanc did not narrate his exact affairs
14
Richard Francis Burton, Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah,
see Appendix V.
15
Augustus Ralli, Christians at Mecca, 31.
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and experiences associated with Makkah and Madinah – nor could he, as he never visited
them – but presented to his audience his subsequently fashioned perceptions and
adjudications that fitted his, not scientific, but ideological patterns. Only some of those
were pertinent to Makkah and Madinah per se.
The discussion then moves to the holy mosque of Makkah (al-masjid al-harām), and
it is there that confusion and errors increase exponentially. Firstly the mosque is depicted
as a mass of stones built round, and is immediately likened to St. Sophya (Hagia Sophia)
at Constantinople.
In addition, at another place, as part of his discussion about Constantinople, the author
does the same thing, adding that “the magnificent Church of our Saviour, S. Sophia at
Constantinople, erected by Justinian, was of circular model by which pattern the Saracens
built their temple, or mosque at Meca, though there is much difference between them, that
at Meca being only brick building supported with abundance of pillars.”
16
However, structurally there is extremely little that is common to the mosque of Makkah
and Hagia Sophia. The former is a hypostyle building with a vast central courtyard in the
middle of which stood the Ka’bah, while the latter is a classic example of a style whereby
created vast spaces are covered by huge central domes. The author appears unsure in
respect of the overall plan and architectural character either of the Makkah mosque or
Hagia Sophia. Regardless, the two buildings cannot be bracketed together architecture-
wise. What is more, in the first instance, the author says that the Makkah mosque was built
of stones, but in the second, he says it was a brick building.
This only shows that the author did not see at all Makkah and its holy mosque. He was
only guessing based on limited – and unreliable - information he could obtain. His accounts
were his own constructs. Besides, he does not mention the Ka’bah whatsoever, though it
signifies the soul and identity of the holy mosque. According to some authoritative
jurisprudential views, the Ka’bah yet denotes the mosque itself.
A secondary and very common feature of the mosque is presented next, to the effect
that one ascends into it fifteen or sixteen steps. Without and round about it are built fair
piazzas, or galleries, where “the merchants keep their exchange and expose to sale their
drugs (medicines and spices), perfumes, jewels, and several other sorts of commodities.”
To the author, parenthetically, the Makkah and Jeddah – the latter being the former’s
gateway – are commercial havens. Hither Makkah, where the richness of India is attracted,
flock via the port of Jeddah all merchants from all parts of the world. “The road between
16
Vincent le Blanc, The World Surveyed, or, The Famous Voyages and Travailes of Vincent le
Blanc, 306.
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Ziden (Jeddah) and Meka is very full of merchants, they carry their merchandizes upon
camels: some bound for Syria others for Egypt and from thence for Europe.”
17
Thenceforth, Le Blanc’s exposition of the mosque of Makkah (al-masjid al-haram)
takes an abrupt turn for the worse. He delivers some irrefutable proofs that he never entered
Makkah and Madinah and never witnessed their holy mosques. His reports are plain
nonsenses.
He says that the Christians are not admitted into the mosque; they view it only through
the gate in disguise. Needless to say that the author should have known that both Makkah
and Madinah were sanctuaries (holy cities) and as such, were completely inaccessible to
non-Muslims. In the European perspective of the day, the cities were more jealously
guarded than the Holy Grail, where “no white man, European, or Christian, could enter
(save as a Moslem), or even approach, without certain death,”
18
and that “so effective in
theory has been its (Makkah’s) seclusion that no confessing adherent of any creed but that
of Islam is known to have seen its sanctuary since the Hijrah and lived.”
19
Johann Wild, a German who was imprisoned in a war and sold into slavery to a series
of Muslim masters and who ostensibly accepted Islam, also said after performing hajj in
1607 with one of his Muslim masters that a Jew or a Christian found within the city of
Makkah would be burnt alive.
20
How Le Blanc and his Christian acquaintance Cassis effortlessly made it into Makkah
- and Madinah – where they freely and nonchalantly moved around and attended to their
business needs, and where they learned - and apparently witnessed - that Christians were
not allowed into the mosque, but could view its interior through the gate in disguise only –
is somebody’s guess.
At that juncture, inexplicably, the author again brings up the issue of the Prophet’s
tomb – having discussed the matter merely three pages before within the framework of his
reports concerning the city of Madinah and its holy Prophet’s (SAW) mosque. (In passing,
Le Blanc arrived in Madinah first, whence he proceeded to Makkah.)
But the tomb is now in the mosque of Makkah, clearly seen as soon as one entered the
mosque proper “upon your left hand in the middle of his (the Prophet’s) two sons in law.”
“To visit it, you descend three or four steps; yet it is generally believed that the tomb is
17
Ibid., 15-16.
18
Richard Francis Burton, Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah,
see the “Preface to the memorial edition.”
19
David George Hogarth, The Penetration of Arabia (New York: Frederick A. Stokes
Company, 1904), 64.
20
Augustus Ralli, Christians at Mecca, 38.
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empty (for it is a Muslim belief) that the angels translated his (the Prophet’s SAW) body
into heaven.” The last comment is roughly a reproduction of an earlier comment in the
course of the discussion of the Prophet’s (SAW) mosque in Madinah and the same Prophet’s
(SAW) tomb in it. There is then a vague reference to a little turret which was richly
decorated. It was at the end of the same side where the tomb was situated. In the turret, the
treasure belonging to the governor of Makkah was kept.
21
Supposedly, the turret could be an elevated structure that housed the treasury, like the
famous dome of the treasury in the Umayyad mosque in Damascus. However, no such an
institution was reported to have existed either in the Prophet’s (SAW) mosque in Madinah
or in al-masjid al-harām in Makkah. Once more, this could only be one of the author’s
fantasies invented along the lines of what he had seen elsewhere, especially in Damascus.
The following is an additional description of the Makkah mosque, which nevertheless
is unclear, causing one to wonder if the author, in point of fact, speaks about the Makkah
mosque or the Prophet’s (SAW) mosque in Madinah. In fact, the depiction is very general
and customary, and could be applied to any substantial mosque almost anywhere in the
Muslim world. There is no single detail or feature that is peculiar to the holy mosque of
Makkah.
The author writes: “A little further within stands an altar without any figure, and at
each side are twelve books sumptuously bound; all the pillars are hung with rich tapestry,
very fair and of lively colours, but without the figure or image of any animal… The mosque
is most gorgeously adorned, and hung with tapestry without any imagery works, you
descend unto it eighteen or twenty steps.” The mosque is larger in compass than the
Colosseum at Rome.
Then again, whenever the author intends to say something particular and distinctive of
either Makkah or Madinah and their respective mosques, he inevitably errs. He for example
further states about the “magnificent” mosque of Makkah that it was dedicated to the name
of Prophet Muhammad (SAW), which nevertheless is true only of the mosque in Madinah
correspondingly called the Prophet’s mosque (al-masjid al-nabawi).
In addition, apparently referring to the Ka’bah’s black stone (al-hajar al-aswad), the
author writes that Muslims “give great reverence to a stone called Alkible, or Aliete, which
they adore, and relate a thousand fables of it.” Apart from not naming properly the revered
stone, nothing is likewise said about the meaning, history, location, significance and role
of the same stone, due to which the remarkable respect is attached to it. This way, this piece
21
Vincent le Blanc, The World Surveyed, or, The Famous Voyages and Travailes of Vincent le
Blanc, 16.
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of information not only does not enlighten at all, but also increases one in perplexity and
suspicion.
Finally, Le Blanc also claims to have seen in Makkah “in the sultan’s seraglio (palace
or court) a unicorn.” He was fully aware of the gravity of his statement, for unicorns were
popularly regarded as mythical creatures, disclosing that he knew that many miscreants
will doubt whether the world had such a beast. In order to strengthen his case and add
credibility to his report, he emphasized that he saw yet more unicorns in India and at the
Escurial in Spain, and that he was not the first person who had seen them. “I have read
many grave authors that witnessed the same”, were the parting words of Le Blanc.
22
4. Plagiarizing Ludovico di Varthema
We have already mentioned that Ludovico di Varthema was the first European non-
Muslim to secretly visit Makkah and Madinah and to record his proceedings, making Le
Blanc and his case the second one. That means that, taking into consideration everything,
at that time the European both intelligentsia and public could know extremely little about
the Muslim holiest places. The condition was compounded by the fact that, generally, the
15th, 16th and 17th-century Europe was poorly grounded in knowledge about Islam, the
Muslims and the Islamic culture as well as civilization. An aura of distrust, trepidation and
resentment prevailed in the relationships between the two poles.
Moreover, it was one thing that Europe (Occident) had little to draw upon insofar as
shoring up its relationships with the Orient as it was concerned, but the other and perhaps
more painful thing was the verity that the existing few European scholarly references were
fraught with prejudice, misconceptions and downright mistakes. Simply put, those were
unreliable and inept, and if reviewed applying some basic scientific standards, they would
not have stood a chance of making the grade. As such, instead of improving the relations
and removing the obstacles, the contents of those references and sources worsened them.
Le Blanc was no exception. In no way could he know much about Islam and the
Muslims in general, and about Makkah and Madinah in particular. However, since he did
not visit the holy cities of Islam, but decided to incorporate their mention into his book,
which aimed to exhibit his famous voyages and to prove that he had surveyed the world,
Le Blanc’s options were limited. Having decided to compose a book, he must have realized
that featuring Makkah and Madinah would increase his own profile and the profile of the
book as well. He must have realized, furthermore, how much doing so would stir and, at
the same time, gratify the burgeoning inquisitiveness and imagination of the restless
European mind.
22
Ibid., 16-17.
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In addition, Le Blanc was not known as an educated person. And how could he be
when he embarked on his adventures at the age of almost fourteen? He was likewise naïve
and uncritical. He often courted absurdities in the ways he saw and reported things. As
attested by Augustus Ralli: “It had been his habit to write in a note-book all that he saw or
heard. But his education had been of the slightest, and he was credulous. Many absurdities
were found in his pages, and before they saw the light they were subjected to careful editing
and numerous excisions.”
23
On account of all these factors, Ludovico di Varthema and his book, The Travels of
Ludovico di Varthema in Egypt, Syria, Arabia Deserta and Arabia Felix, in Persia, India
and Ethiopia, a.d. 1503 to 1508, proved the best aid. Varthema’s exploits and experiences
were legendary and his book one of a kind. They enhanced his reputation and cemented his
fame. He was “a gentleman of Rome” and was knighted in recognition of his merit.
Varthema’s universal standing was Le Blanc’s inspiration, and his book, which was
translated into French in 1556 when Le Blanc was two years old, a reference and guide. In
his book he even twice explicitly mentions the name of Varthema, while trying to justify
the feasibility of the existence of unicorns. However, Le Blanc clearly went overboard. He
seems to have depended exceedingly, and perhaps exclusively, on Varthema’s accounts of
Makkah and Madinah, the remainder being hearsays and his own mind’s eye. Indeed, his
behaviour connoted a degree of plagiarism.
Substantiating the assertion of intellectual misappropriation, the following are the most
striking similarities between what Le Blanc and Varthema recorded with reference to
Makkah and Madinah, their holy mosques, and the pilgrimage of hajj.
First, they both arrived from Damascus (Syria), went firstly to Madinah and then to
Makkah. After that, they travelled to Jeddah, whence they sailed elsewhere. This route was
unconventional and was not followed by any of the subsequent foremost European non-
Muslim travellers, such as Joseph Pitts of Exeter in 1680, Ali Bey in 1807, Giovanni Finati
in 1811, John Lewis Burckhardt in 1814, and Richard Francis Burton in 1853. They all
arrived by the Red Sea.
According to George Percy Badger, the translator of “The Travels of Ludovico di
Varthema” into English in 1863 and the author of the book’s substantial “Introduction”,
“among the few Europeans who have recorded their visits to the holy places of the
Mussulmans, he (Varthema) is still the only one who has succeeded in reaching them by
that route (that is, Damascus-Madinah-Makkah)… All (others) penetrated into the Hijaz
and returned therefrom by the Red Sea.”
24
23
Augustus Ralli, Christians at Mecca, 32.
24
Ludovico di Varthema, The Travels of Ludovico di Varthema, see “Introduction,” xxvii.
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Why George Percy Badger did not mention Le Blanc as someone who did the same
thing as Varthema, is a mystery. But it is very likely that he was of those who believed that
the man staged his visits to Makkah and Madinah, and that he mainly copied Varthema’s
subject matters.
Second, on the way to Madinah through the desert, both Le Blanc and Varthema speak
about serious water crises and how they had to face the peril of robbers and toughs. Le
Blanc additionally spices up his stories with spirits and phantoms.
Third, on the way to Madinah, they both speak about a hill where a sizeable population
of the Jews lived. They were almost naked, except for their private parts.
Fourth, they both get it wrong when they say that besides Abu Bakr and ‘Umar, ‘Ali
and ‘Uthman were also buried with the Prophet (SAW).
Fifth, they both speak about books near the Prophet’s (SAW) tomb, which deal with
the life of the Prophet and the lives of his nearest companions. Some of those books also
speak about the rife sectarianism of the Muslims.
Sixth, they both confirm that the Prophet (SAW) died and was buried in Madinah.
Seventh, they both reject a European fallacy that the Prophet’s (SAW) tomb is
suspended in the air.
Eighth, they both refer to another fallacy, to the effect that the Prophet’s (SAW) tomb
is empty, for his body was transported by angels into heaven.
Ninth, they both highlight that Makkah is protected by high mountains and that there
were four entrances leading into the city.
Tenth, they both compare the holy mosque of Makkah (al-masjid al-harām) to the
Colosseum at Rome.
Eleventh, they both point out that Makkah’s mosque was constructed of bricks.
However, as part of his confusion, Le Blanc in one context says that it was built of stones,
but in another, he says it was a brick building.
Twelfth, while Varthema mentions the 23rd of May 1503 as the beginning of hajj
(pilgrimage) season, which he personally witnessed and experienced in the year he was
there, Le Blanc, on the other hand, mentions the same date, albeit as the fixed time for a
famous yearly fair called the Muslim jubilee.
In passing, there is still a problem even with Varthema’s date. The problem correlates
either to the year or the month. If hajj started, as per Varthema’s account, on the 23rd of
May 1503, that corresponded, according to the most reliable calculations, to the 26th of
Dhul-Qa’dah 908 AH, which is 11 or 12 days before the official commencement of hajj.
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But if the date was the 23rd of May 1504 – which is one year later – that then corresponded
perfectly to the 8th of Dhul-Hijjah, which is the official start of hajj. So, therefore,
Varthema either miscalculated or misreported the hajj date of the year 1503, or he even
might have misreported the year he commenced his travels and the year he arrived in
Makkah and Madinah, which, when all is said and done, is the more improbable scenario.
Thirteenth, they both refer to the sacrifice ritual, as part of hajj, stating that its
legitimacy stems from God’s instruction to His prophet Abraham (Ibrahim) to sacrifice his
son Isaac (Ishaq), as it is a Judeo-Christian tenet, rather than Isma’il (Ishmael), as it is a
Muslim tenet.
Fourteenth, they both mention that there are multitudes of beggars in Makkah, who
take advantage of hajj. They describe almost identically how those beggars cook and eat
their sacrificial meat.
Fifteenth, they both speak about pilgrims bathing with the Zamzam water as a symbolic
gesture of washing away (purification or expiation) of their sins. To both of them, that
seemed an established Islamic ritual. However, to Varthema such came to pass following
the rite of tawaf (circumambulation) around the Ka’bah, and to Le Blanc following the rite
of throwing pebbles at Mina.
Sixteenth, they both claim the presence of unicorns in Makkah in the royal court.
Varthema reported to have seen two, and Le Blanc one.
5. Le Blanc in the Service of Christian Anti-Islamic Polemics
Le Blanc purportedly visited Makkah and Madinah at his tender age. He did not know
much at that point of time, nor was he opinionated. His actions were simply instigated by
the tantalizing prospects of escapades, and were carried by his youthful spirit. His exploits
represented a mixture of daredevilry, exhilaration, impudence and even foolishness. His
true personality was shaped, to some extent, during the travels and, to a substantial extent,
afterwards.
When one examines what and how he reported about visiting Makkah and Madinah,
one understands that - apart from staging the episode – the whole thing was concocted later.
Doing so was part, not only of modelling Le Blanc’s subsequent personality, but also of
expressing its mature character. Doing so, as well, was part of an agenda. It was an act of
statement-making.
Le Blanc underlines in the “Preface” of his book – which was the last thing written of
the contents in the book - that his accomplishments were due to divine providence (i.e.,
God and His intervention and guidance) and that he was always assisted by “this divine
wisdom and goodness”. Hence, he felt obliged to “at last produce something that may be
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beneficial to my country and posterity.” And that is how a need for, and a purpose of,
composing his travelogue were born.
How religious Le Blanc was is difficult to say, but obviously his cultural and patriotic
awareness was strong, which nevertheless had to be deeply grounded in the Christian faith
irrespective of how much that was recognized and appreciated. Thus, if he was not a devout
Christian, Le Blanc must have been a cultural one. He might have been inclined somewhat
to a form of religious nationalism too. This spiritual configuration was common in the
Europe of the 16th and 17th centuries that was standing at a cultural and civilizational
crossroads.
However, all that was regularly threatened by the “menace” of Islam and the Muslims
whose torchbearers in Europe at the time were the Ottoman Turks. It is no wonder,
therefore, that Le Blanc, and most of his contemporaries as well as predecessors, identified
Islam with the religion of Turks, and the Muslims with Turks themselves. Islam posed a
religious and civilizational threat. When the Ottoman power reached a climax and its
soldiers were knocking at the doors of Vienna as a key gateway to Western Europe, they
yet posed an existential threat to the continent.
Le Blanc must have been affected by the developments, directly and indirectly, which
contributed significantly to the shaping of his personality and thought. It was nigh on
impossible to be disinterested and unbiased, just as it was inappropriate to remain
submissive and inert. Intense Christian anti-Islamic polemics - which were initiated as early
as in the 8th century by John of Damascus (d. 749), and were elevated to unprecedented
levels during the Crusades (1095-1291) and afterwards, in particular following the rise of
Ottomans and the fall of Constantinople – played a role too. They proved at once handy
and comforting. They were also gratifying. Making a contribution to and enriching them,
for the sake of defending “country and posterity”, presented likewise itself as an enticing
prospect.
In this manner - in all likelihood - a background for faking visits to Makkah and
Madinah was formed. Le Blanc wanted to subject his vast experiences and “expertise” to
the needs of Christian anti-Islamic polemics. He wanted to be a servant, supplying
repertoires and facilitating targets. Because of that, he did not report about Makkah and
Madinah, but instead wrote about them and the most essential things associated with them,
befitting his new interests and agendas. As a result, in the case of Makkah and Madinah,
Le Blanc did not function as a traveller and explorer, but as an ideologue, campaigner and
bigot. In a way, he himself was a polemicist, widening thereby his appeal and popularity.
More specifically, as the birthplaces of Islam and Islamic civilization, Makkah and
Madinah were used for articulating some of the most pivotal aspects of Christian polemics,
including the originality and nature of Islam as a religion, the identity of Prophet
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Muhammad (SAW), Islamic monotheism, the Muslims, the nature of the spread of Islam,
and the originality of Islamic culture and civilization.
One can easily feel this intent as one reads through the author’s narrations. Factual
mistakes abounded and were tolerated because they were not the focus, nor preoccupation.
The ultimate purpose was something else. The erroneous physical descriptions of Makkah
and Madinah, accordingly, played second fiddle to the constructed ideological descriptions
concerning them and the issues related to them. Authenticity did not matter; fabrication
did.
6. Le Blanc’s Contributions to Christian Anti-Islamic Polemics
The following are the most conspicuous aspects of Christian anti-Islamic polemics
found in Le Blanc’s travelogue and pronounced in the context of his fictional visits to
Makkah and Madinah.
First, the Muslims were Turks. Thus, all of them, as long as they were the followers of
Islam and Prophet Muhammad, were the enemies of Europe and all Christendom.
Second, the Christians who discarded their religious beliefs and became Muslims were
renegades, that is, religious apostates or traitors. They committed the greatest sin by
denying Jesus Christ. Referring specifically to the English travellers of the late 16th and
17th centuries to Ottoman territories, N. I. Matar said that they “were struck by the sight of
Christians who had converted to Islam. These ‘renegado’ Greek, Arab, Albanian, Italian,
Spanish, French and English Christians who had ‘denied” their religion not only saddened
the visitor but frightened him too.”
25
Murat, Cassis’ brother, is most probably a fictitious figure, created solely in order to
draw attention to this particular point and its grotesqueness. Even though Le Blanc does
not say much about or against Murat – but was concomitantly incensed at Cassis’ betrayal
of his renegade brother’s trust placed in him – he subtly gets his intentions straight when
he said that Murat had been compelled by force to become a Muslim and that he had
resolved to leave the Turkish religion and culture and become a Christian again, “as we
were.” To Le Blanc, apparently, Murat needed to be pitied and saved. He was in need of
spiritual rebirth.
Third, when Le Blanc refers to the people of Makkah – and all the people of that
country – he calls them Saracenes. That was an ancient name for the Arabs and was later
used for all the Muslims as “the other.” To Le Blanc, however, Saracenes were the Arabs
25
N.I. Matar, “The Renegade in English Seventeenth-Century Imagination,” Studies in
English Literature, 1500-1900 33, No. 3 (Summer, 1993): 489-505.
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who at the same time were Turks (Muslims). In explaining the origin and meaning of the
term, the author adds a new intriguing dimension.
Generally, there were two prevalent theories as to the name “Saracenes” (or Saracens).
Firstly, dating back to the polemics of John of Damascus, the name is derived from “Sarras
kenoi,” or “destitute of Sarah”, because of what Agar said to the angel: ‘Sarah hath sent
me away destitute (empty)’.” This should be viewed against the backdrop of the fact that
Prophet Muhammad (SAW), the Arabs and, by extension and metaphorically, all the
Muslims are descendants of Prophet Isma’il (Ishmael), who was the son of Agar (Prophet
Ishāq or Isaac, whose mother was Sarah, is the patriarch of the Jews and the Christians).
Secondly, the name “Saracenes” is derived from the Arabic word “sharqiyyin,” which
means “easterners”.
As far as Le Blanc was concerned, Saracenes were only the Arabs, and that suited him
well, for his motivation was an exposition of the notions of the birthplaces of Islam, the
prophet and Islamic character. He firstly says, in order to muddle the origins and history of
the Arabs, that they were thus called because they originated from a shadowy town called
Saraco. And secondly, he imparts that the name could be from the Arabic word “al-saraq”
which means “stealing and living by robbery,” “as all inhabitants there have ever been
great thieves and robbers”. Afterwards, the premeditated tag line follows, indicating the
culmination of the theory: “Prophet Mahomet was born amongst them.”
26
Hardly surprising, therefore, that at the core of the Christian anti-Islamic polemics
always resided the idea that the Muslims, in the main, were murderers, thieves and highway
robbers who exalted nothing but destruction and bloodshed. The modern terms for the
disposition are “terrorism” and “terrorists.”
Fourth, Muhammad (SAW) was a cunning, crafty and subtle impostor, as well as a
charlatan. He was a false prophet, one of many the Bible repeatedly warns against. He
cleverly hoodwinked people to believe him and to join his, not religion, but a mundane
sect. Simply said, Muhammad’s (SAW) personal case and the case of his counterfeit sect
deserved no consideration whatsoever.
Fifth, Islam is a plagiarized and manipulated religion. There is nothing original, nor
truthful, in it. According to Le Blanc, the impostor-prophet Muhammad (SAW) from his
youth started inventing his false law. “He took advantage of the discontents of some
Sarazins (from the town of Saraco, hence Saracenes) that were not paid their pay by the
Greek (Byzantine) Emperor Heraclius his officers, and made use of them to run over that
Empire, with such success from the beginning that he undertook greater things… He gave
26
Vincent le Blanc, The World Surveyed, or, The Famous Voyages and Travailes of Vincent le
Blanc, 14.
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them a newer law, compiled with a mixture of their old one, making them believe, it was
revealed and inspired into him from above, but which in truth he had forged and composed
himself by the help of some Christian apostates.”
27
Sixth, Islam was spread by the sword and by the force of arms. Muhammad (SAW)
forced all persons he could to receive his religion and his law (the holy Qur’ān). Endless
deceptions and moral corruption played a role too. Le Blanc writes that “three principal
means he (Muhammad SAW) made use of to establish his sect. First, of all sorceries,
impostures and deceits. Secondly, of a liberty of conscience, sensuality and licentiousness.
Thirdly, and lastly, of the force of arms.” Islam, it follows, is a “cursed doctrine.” It caused
many diverse sects to sprout forth.
28
Seventh, Islam was initially followed by two apostate Christians, sword-cutlers and
slaves. They were all very ignorant fellows (companions). That is how Muhammad (SAW)
could fill his Qur’ān with fopperies (follies and absurdities) and impertinences.
Eighth, Madinah was the first town Muhammad (SAW) conquered and “reduced.”
There he was “proclaimed king by his captains and officers.” He was succeeded by caliphs
or heirs whose exclusive ambition, based on Muhammad’s earlier instructions, was to
conquer Asia and Africa (the world) and to reduce them to their obedience.
That said, little wonder that according to the Christian anti-Islamic polemics, Prophet
Muhammad (SAW) and his mission are normally depicted in the following manner – as
exemplified in the writings of Riccoldo da Monte di Croce (d. 1320), an Italian Christian
missionary and polemicist: Muhammad (SAW) was a heretic, enemy of Christ and a
deceitful damned tyrant who became a prophet through robbery and tyranny; Muhammad
was a robber, a murderer, a sinful man, the greatest criminal, a liar who blasphemes God
in his Qur’ān; Muhammad was a cruel beast who with his followers aimed to conquer the
world, destroy altars and churches, kill God’s saints and force them under torture to deny
the faith; as the most ferocious beast, Muhammad was devouring the holy men of
Christianity, and was a wicked and lewd blasphemer against God.
29
Ninth, as a mere aberrant sect whose people follow a false prophet, Islam and the
Muslims are not given any credit at all. In all circumstances they are consistently
downgraded and stripped of any religious or cultural significance and merit. That is to say,
Islam and the Muslims are denied recognizable identity and so, any potential role in global
history and civilization making processes. They are not in a position to offer anything new,
27
Ibid., 14.
28
Ibid., 14.
29
Rita George-Tvrtkovic, A Christian Pilgrim in Medieval Iraq (Turnhout: Brepols
Publishers, 2012), 138-173.
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or valuable, to the world. Islam is projected as inferior to Christianity, and the Muslims
and their culture inferior to the Christians and their own culture.
In addition to what has already been said, Le Blanc also equates mosques with temples,
Friday with Sabbath (Mahometans Sabbath), and the mihrāb (praying niche) in the mosque
with an altar. For the same reason, surely, he articulates that God instructed Abraham
(Ibrahim) to sacrifice his son Isaac (Ishaq), rather than his other son Isma’il (Ishmael); that
the holy mosque of Makkah (al-masjid al-harām) was built after the model of “the
magnificent Church of our Saviour, S. Sophia” at Constantinople; that the Prophet’s tomb
is regularly visited by the Muslim pilgrims as the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem is visited
by the Christians; that the purported physical and spiritual washing in connection with hajj
was in lieu of baptism; that Muhammad’s (SAW) tomb may be empty because many believe
that, similar to the situation of Jesus Christ, his body was taken into heaven by angels; that
Makkah was governed by a sultan or Sharīf who, similar to forgiveness of sins imparted
by ordained Christian priests, “gives absolution to all that visit the mosque”. With regard
to the last point, when Le Blanc accentuated that the sultan or Sharīf was “their (Muslims’)
head both in temporal and spiritual affairs, and held in great esteem amongst them”, he
wished to draw a comparison with the Christian notion of papal primacy or supremacy.
7. Conclusion
Le Blanc is generally regarded as the second European non-Muslim to secretly visit
the holy cities of Makkah and Madinah. He did it during the hajj season, just like most of
those who have ever accomplished the same feat, for it was on such occasions that best
opportunities presented themselves. Tens of thousands of people from far and wide would
throng the two cities, and the congestion, together with disorders often arising therefrom,
would serve as an excellent distraction and disguise.
However, there is a serious question mark hanging over Le Blanc’s accomplishment.
Some insist that his accounts pertaining to Makkah and Madinah should be viewed with a
great deal of reservation and scepticism, while others feel inclined to dismiss them
altogether as fabricated. He might have never visited the two cities.
This study adopted the latter view. To justify and further corroborate the standpoint,
the study explicated how flawed, superficial, self-contradictory and illogical Le Blanc’s
descriptions of Makkah and Madinah, their holy mosques, and of hajj rituals, are. The study
also concluded that in his travelogue, the author significantly plagiarized Ludovico di
Varthema, who was the first European non-Muslim to visit the two holiest places in Islam.
And finally, the study shows that Le Blanc, in point of fact, operated in the service of
Christian anti-Islamic polemics, regardless of the exact manner and scope of the
involvement. At the end of the study, Le Blanc’s direct and indirect contributions to
Christian anti-Islamic polemics have been presented. Those contributions can easily be
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gleaned from the content of his bigoted portrayal of Makkah and Madinah and of
everything associated with them.
Bibliography
Burton, Richard Francis. Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah.
edited by the author’s wife, Isabel Burton. Dover Publications; Volume 1, Memorial
edition, 1893.
di Varthema, Ludovico. The Travels of Ludovico di Varthema, translated into English by
George Percy Badger, London: The Hakluyt Society, 1863.
George-Tvrtkovic, Rita. A Christian Pilgrim in Medieval Iraq. Turnhout: Brepols
Publishers, 2012.
Hogarth, David George. The Penetration of Arabia. New York: Frederick A. Stokes
Company, 1904.
Le Blanc, Vincent. The World Surveyed, or, The Famous Voyages and Travailes of Vincent
le Blanc. Translated into English by F.B. Gent, London: Printed for John Starkey at
the Miter, 1660.
Matar, N. I. “The Renegade in English Seventeenth-Century Imagination.” Studies in
English Literature, 1500-1900 33, No. 3 (Summer, 1993): 489-505.
Ralli, Augustus. Christians at Mecca. London: William Heinemann, 1909.
