William Montgomery Watt (14 March 1909; Ceres – 24 October 2006; Edinburgh[1]) was an Islamic studies scholar, Orientalist and one of the key historians of Islam in the West.
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Reverend Professor Montgomery Watt was Professor of Arabic and Islamic Studies at the Unviversity of Edinburgh from 1964-79. He held visiting professorships at the University of Toronto, the College de France, Paris, and Georgetown University and was given an honorary DD by the University of Aberdeen. He was a priest of the Scottish Episcopal Church, and was Arabic specialist to the Bishop of Jerusalem from 1943-46. He became a member of the ecumenical Iona Community in Scotland in 1960. The Islamic press have called him “the Last Orientalist”. [2] He died in Edinburgh on 24 October 2006 at the age of 97.[3]
He wrote over 30 books.
Watt is a critic of many Islamic and Christian beliefs.[citation needed]
Martin Forward, a 21st century Non-Muslim Islamic scholar states: