Muslims, Jews and Pagans examines in much detail the available source material on the âÄliya area south of Medina on the eve of Islam and at the time of the Prophet MuhÌ£ammad. It provides part of the necessary background for the study of the Prophet's history by utilizing in addition to the Prophet's biographies, various texts about the history, geography and inhabitants of this area.
The topics include the landscape, especially the fortifications, the delayed conversion to Islam of part of the Aws tribe, the QubÄâ village and the incident of Masjid al-dÌ£irÄr in 9 A.H. The three appendices deal with historical apologetics, pointing to the social context in which the Prophet's biography emerged during the first Islamic century.
Michael Lecker, Ph.D. (1983) in Arabic, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, is Senior Lecturer at the Department of Arabic of the Hebrew University. He has published extensively on the Prophet Muḥammad's biography and the Arabian Jewry in early Islam.
'Numerous insights can be found throughout this book...Several appendices, a bibliography, and a long index make the book valuable as a reference work.'
Brannon M. Wheeler, Religious Studies Review, 1997.
'The book confirms Lecker's place as one of the major contributors to the field of study and discussion.'
A. Rippin, Journal of the American Oriental Society, 1996.
'Closely argued and rich in circumstantial detail...this work by Lecker is as important for its method as it is for its information.'
Michael G. Morony, Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient, 1998.
All those interested in the biography of the Prophet Muḥammad, early Islamic history, Arabian archaeology and the history of the Jews in Arabia.