Nietzsche and Islam

Nietzsche is known as one of the great Christian iconoclasts. (He once referred to Christianity as ‘mankind’s greatest misfortune’.) But what is not as well-known is Nietzsche’s attitude toward Islam — which is, surprisingly, quite positive. At several points, he expressed appreciation for ‘the wonderful world of Moorish culture’, and, particularly, to what he considered to be the life-affirming aspects of Islam. ‘Islam’, he writes, ‘presupposes men’ —…