In a few cases, Muhammad is compared to other famous historical characters. Two Enlightenment philosophers, Chevalier de Jaucourt and Voltaire, compare him to Alexander the Great. De Jaucourt is primarily known as an encyclopedist, and in his comparison with Alexander he writes, "He had a lively and powerful eloquence, stripped of reason and logic, which was necessary for the Arabs; an air of authority and insinuation, animated by piercing eyes and a good physique; the intrepidity of Alexander; the liberty, and the sobriety that Alexander needed to become a great man." Voltaire, never one to mince words, compares Muhammad to Jesus in a biting critique of Christianity: "At least his lies were more noble, and his fanaticism more generous. At least Mahomet wrote and fought; Jesus did not know how to write nor how to defend himself. Mahomet had the courage of Alexander. . . and your Jesus sweated blood and water as soon as he was condemned."

XREF: Connects to broader Enlightenment-era discourse on Islam and Muhammad, and to comparisons of prophetic and imperial figures. Voltaire's critique of Jesus also links to his wider anti-Christian polemics.

Sophia Rose Arjana, Muslims in the Western Imag…, loc. 367