Modern critical historical study of Jews in the medieval Islamic world began with rise of the Wissenschaft des Judentums movement in the mid-nineteenth century. Based upon the application of “scientific method” to Jewish literature, history, and culture, this movement was consistent with contemporaneous European historical and cultural intellectual trends that sought to develop discourses of peoplehood and national identity. Mirroring issues related to Jewish emancipation and Westernization, the movement sought t…