Tolstoy on Islam

In a recent interview, I remarked that attitudes among Western intellectuals towards Islam and the Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) have changed over the course of time. While the West has been bombarded in recent decades with cartoonish and simplistic images of ‘evil’ Islam by media outlets and politicians, it is easy to forget that many of the great minds of the West have held a deep respect for Islam and for the Prophet (ﷺ). Men like Thomas Carlyle, George Bernard Shaw, Goethe and others have expressed thoughtful and nuanced opinions of Islam in words that put to shame the often shallow thinking that plagues our generation.

In the following posts, I intend to explore the opinions of these various philosophers and thinkers. In this post, I wish to point out one of the most interesting voices expressing admiration for Islam — and one that recently came to my attention. This is the opinion of the great Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy (1828–1910).

Leo Tolstoy is best known for his novels War and Peace and Anna Karenina, yet beyond his literary career, Tolstoy famously wrestled with questions of faith, religion, morality, society, aesthetics, and what it meant to live a principled life. Some of Tolstoy’s unorthodox religious beliefs earned him the ire of some in the Russian Orthodox Church, from which he was excommunicated in 1901.

Tolstoy’s legacy reaches beyond his literary works. His nuanced exploration of the human condition and his philosophical inquiries into the purpose of life continue to captivate and inspire seekers in our own time. His sensitive insight is evident in his statements regarding Islam and the Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ), which I have provided below.

On the Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ), Tolstoy writes:

“Muhammad has always been standing higher than the Christianity. He does not consider god as a human being and never makes himself equal to God. Muslims worship nothing except God and Muhammad is his Messenger. There is no any mystery and secret in it.”

On the nobility of Muslims:

“It is true that the wide spread of Islam at the hands of those (Muslims) did not appeal to the Buddhists and Christians. However, the indisputably well-established fact is that the Muslims, in the early days of Islam, were recognized for their abstinence in the false world, pure conduct, uprightness and honesty so much that they amazed their surrounding neighbors with their noble manners, mercy and kindness.”

On the ‘men of enlightened vision’:

“One of the good merits of the Islamic religion is that it enjoins good treatment to Christians and Jews in general and Christian bishops in particular. It commands to deal with them kindly and helpfully and permits its followers among men to marry Christian and Jewish women, who are allowed to remain on their religion — a teaching which implies great toleration not hidden from men of enlightened visions.”

On his admiration for Muhammad (ﷺ):

“It suffices Muhammad for pride that he was able to rescue a humiliated and bloody people from the devil of blameworthy habits and opened to them the way of development and progress. I am one of those who admire the Prophet Muhammad, whom God chose to carry His last message and be the last Prophet.”

‘This is indeed a great work’:

“Undoubtedly, the Prophet Muhammad is one of the greatest reformers who served the social community. It suffices him for pride that he guided an entire nation to the light of truth, made his people inclined to peace and tranquility and giving preference to an ascetic life, prevented them from bloodshed and offering victims from among mankind and opened to them the way of development and civility. This is indeed a great work which could be done only by a man gifted with power, and such a man is worthy of respect and honor.”

A Russian woman who married the Muslim E. Vekilov, wrote to Tolstoy that her sons wanted to convert to Islam, and asked for his advice. This is what the writer answered her:

“As far as the preference of Mohammedanism to Orthodoxy is concerned, I can fully sympathize with such conversion. To say this might be strange for me who values the Christian ideals and the teaching of Christ in their pure sense more that anything else, I do not doubt that Islam in its outer form stands higher than the Orthodox Church. Therefore, if a person is given only two choices: to adhere to the Orthodox Church or Islam, any sensible person will not hesitate about his choice, and anyone will prefer Islam with its acceptance of one tenet, single God and His Prophet instead such complex and incomprehensible things in theology as the Trinity, redemption, sacraments, the saints and their images, and complicated services”

Yasnaya Polyana, March, 15th, 1909

We can adduce another letter of his which explains his world outlook which formed as a result of his long painful search for the truth.

“I would be very glad if you were of the same faith with me. Just try to understand what my life is. Any success in life- wealth, honour, glory- I don’t have these. My friends, even my family are turning away from me.

Some- liberals and aesthetes- consider me to be mad or weak- minded like Gogol; others- revolutionaries and radicals- consider me to be a mystic and a man who talks too much; the officials consider me to be a malicious revolutionary; the Orthodox consider me to be a devil.

I confess that it is hard for me. And therefore, please, regard me as a kind Mohammedan, and all will be fine”.

Yasnaya Polyana, April, 1884

There has been speculation over the years that Tolstoy had secretly converted to Islam on his deathbed. At least from what I can tell, this doesn’t seem to be true, given then total trajectory of his life. But only God knows. At the very least, Tolstoy’s words are remarkable on their own and give us much food for thought.

Some of the references for the above material can be found here.

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Alhamdulillah! Glory to God for all things!