Templars Did NOT Convert to Islam

Knights Templar was a highly mysterious organization – still is – so there is no shortage of myths and legends about the order of Templars. One of the most weird myths is of Templars… secretly converting to Islam. Or at least incorporating Islamic ideas into their belief system (which made the latter a heresy).

However, this myth is far more complicated than it might seem at first glance. First and foremost, because it originated right after Templar trials when the accusations and testimonies of Templars became public knowledge.

One of the key charges against Templars was worshipping the idol that inquisitors called Baphomet. Like just about all charges, this idol was invented by French prosecutors of Templars… however, its name was a deliberate distortion of Mahomet (that’s how Christians called the founder of Islam).

Inquisitors never accused Templars of converting to Islam… however, it is well-known that perceptions are the only reality. And the perceptions were… well, if the inquisitors accused the Templars of heresy and of worshipping idol called Baphomet (which in some minds is the same as Mahomet) … then Templars surely were “secret Muslims”.

Muslims because at that time they were perceived by Christians as either heretics (correctly as Islam is essentially a Unitarian-Arian Christian heresy) or idol-worshippers (incorrectly).

The latter perception was quite common in medieval times – many Christians believed that Muslims were idolatrous (wrong) and worshipped Muhammad as a god (wrong again), with Mahomet becoming mammet in English, meaning an idol or false god.

True, some of Templars (12 out of 25,000) were the followers of a Unitarian-Arian Christian heresy… but it had it roots in Old Testament, not Islam. Besides, it was absolutely unique as it was centered around the Ark of the Covenant.

All other Templars were devoted Catholic Christians who were fighting religious war with the Muslims. Which automatically precluded them from incorporating even a tiny bit of the religion of their adversaries into their belief system.

Ditto for the followers of Ark Templar who were firmly on the side of Catholic Church and Jesus Christ in this religious war – which made them no different from their Catholic brothers.