Winston Churchill called Islam as dangerous to man as rabies to a dog?

Claim:

Winston Churchill once said: “Islam is as dangerous to a man as rabies is to a dog.”

Rating:

What is true

Churchill did write disparagingly about Islam and Muslims. However…

Which is not true

… he did not use those words. Churchill compared fanaticism in Islam to rabies in a dog. Churchill wrote: “What terrible curses Mohammedanism imposes on its adherents! Besides fanatical madness, which is as dangerous to man as hydrophobia to a dog, there is this terrible fatalistic apathy.”

AND viral quote about Muslims has often been attributed to Winston Churchill, the British Prime Minister during World War II. According to many reports, Churchill once compared Islam to rabies.

Posts claimed Churchill said: “Islam is as dangerous to a man as rabies to a dog.”

(user X @benonwine)

However, Churchill did not use these exact words. He did, however, compare fanaticism — which he considered part of Islam—to the point of rabies in a dog. He wrote in his 1899 book The River War: “What terrible curses Mohammedanism imposes on its adherents! In addition to fanatical madness, which is as dangerous to a person as hydrophobia (rabies) to a dog, there is another: a terrible fatalistic apathy.” Thus, we rate the above statement as a mixture of truth and falsehood.

Churchill was too addressing to the Mahdists of Sudan during the writing of the book. He wrote “River War” after participating in the war in Sudan. He also wrote with admiration about some Muslims, but disparagingly community as a whole (emphasis on ours):

What terrible curses Mohammedanism lays upon its adherents! Besides fanatical madness, which is as dangerous to man as hydrophobia to a dog, there is this terrible fatalistic apathy. The consequences are evident in many countries. Injudicious habits, untidy systems of agriculture, sluggish methods of trade, and insecurity of property exist wherever the followers of the Prophet rule or live. Degraded sensualism robs this life of its grace and refinement; following his dignity and holiness. The fact that by Muslim law every woman must belong to some man as his absolute property—whether as a child, or as a wife, or as a concubine—must delay the final extinction of slavery until the faith of Islam ceases to be a great force among men. Individual Muslims can display admirable qualities. Thousands become brave and loyal soldiers of the queen: all know how to die, but the influence of religion paralyzes the social development of those who follow it. There is no stronger retrograde force in the world. Far from dying out, Mohammedanism is a militant and proselytizing faith. He had already spread throughout Central Africa, raising fearless warriors at every turn; If Christianity had not been protected by the strong hands of science—a science against which it has fought in vain—the civilization of modern Europe might have perished as the civilization of ancient Rome perished.

“Hydrophobia”, trans Merriam-Websteralso means rabies.

As we wrote earlier on Snopesthe above passage appeared in The River War when it was first published in two volumes in 1899. The book was shortened and reissued in 1902, and the section was deleted. We previously reported that while a one-volume abridged edition of The River War was readily available, original the 1899 two-volume version was more difficult to find, which may have led to confusion as to the provenance of the quotation in question.

The Churchill Project at Hillsdale College confirmed these words were written by Winston Churchill.

John Charmley, author of Churchill: The End of Glory, said BBC that Churchill believed in racial hierarchy and eugenics: “This was probably the most common view shared by the British people of Churchill’s era, and I have no doubt that this is what he believed.”

Some historians argue that Churchill’s views on Islam were more complex than his early writings suggest. Warren Docter, author of Winston Churchill and the Islamic World, said BBC that Churchill often vacationed in Istanbul and played polo with Muslims in India. According to Docter, Churchill was so fascinated by Islam that some in his family worried that he would convert.

The doctor also claimed he had discovered a 1907 letter to Churchill from his sister saying: “Please do not convert to Islam; i noticed in your penchant for orientalization (fascination with the east and islam), pasha-like tendencies i do have. ” However, Churchill’s project noted that the same letter was published by Martin Gilbert in 1969 in the second companion volume of Churchill’s official biography. Their analysis of her letter and Churchill’s later writings also suggested that his sister wrote it with light intentions, and Churchill had no serious desire to convert to Islam.

Project Churchill wrote statesman:

We cannot judge him simply by his criticism or by his Victorian imperialism. It is inappropriate to quote him out of context. Remember, he faced Muslim warriors on the territory of the British Empire more than a century ago. And in their culture there was something more than Islam: tribal structure played an important role. However, his broad reflections deserve attention as a commentary on the nature of man, which never changes.

Sources