Description
Book SynopsisTrade Review"This carefully researched book provides a thorough analysis . . . [as well as] a new perspective on the study of Muhammad and makes a significant contribution to the scholarly literature. Recommended." * CHOICE *
"This book should be required reading for any scholar or graduate student of early Islam or Late Antiquity." * Journal of the American Academy of Religion *
Table of ContentsList of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
The Caliphs, 632–809
Introduction: The Making of the Historical Muhammad
PART I. BEFORE THE SIRAH-MAGHAZI LITERATURE
1. The Earliest Evidence
Three Early Non-Muslim Testimonies to Muhammad
Revisiting the Doctrina Iacobi
The “Keys to Paradise” in Late Antique Religious Discourse
The “Keys to Paradise” in Early Islamic Preaching
The Doctrina Iacobi and the Historical Muhammad
2. Muhammad the Merchant
The Earliest Depictions of Muhammad as a Merchant
Muhammad’s Occupation in the Hadīth and Sīrah-Maghāzī Literature
Muhammad as a Trader in Arabic Sources
Muhammad and the Monk
The Merchants of Mecca
PART II. THE BEGINNINGS OF HTE SIRAH-MAGHAZI LITERATURE
3. The Beginnings of the Corpus
The Umayyads and the Beginnings of the Sīrah-Maghāzī Tradition
`Abd al-Malik ibn Marwān and `Urwah ibn al-Zubayr
4. The Letters of `Urwah ibn al-Zubayr
The Chains of Transmission for `Urwah’s Letters
A Translation of the Letters Attributed to `Urwah ibn al-Zubayr
Letter 1. From the Persecutions in Mecca to the Hijrah to Yathrib
Letter 2. Khadījah’s death and the Prophet’s marriage to `A'ishah
Letter 3. The Battle of Badr
Letter 4. On al-Hudaybiyah, a Gloss on Q. Mumtahinah 60:10–12
Letter 5. The Conquest of Mecca and al-Tāʾif
Letter 6. On the Hums
Letter 7. `A'ishah’s Accusers
Letter 8. On Khuwaylah, the wife of Aws ibn al-Sāmit, a Gloss on Q. Mujādalah 58:1–4
Letter 9. On the Prophet’s Marriage to a Sister of al-Ash`ath ibn Qays
5. The Court Impulse
Ibn Shihāb al-Zuhrī and the Umayyads
The Corpus of Ibn Shihāb al-Zuhrī
Ibn Ishāq and the Abbasids
The Corpus of Ibn Ishāq
PART III. LOCATING THE SIRAH-MAGHAZI LITERATURE IN LATE ANTIQUITY
6. Prophecy and Empires of Faith
Prophecy and the Rhetoric of Empire
The Vision of Heraclius
Ibn Shihāb al-Zuhrī’s Christian Source
Translatio Imperii in the Early Sīrah-Maghāzī Literature
7. Muhammad and Cædmon
Cædmon’s Call and The Iqraʾ Narrative
From Muhammad’s Call to Cædmon’s Call
Mechanisms of Narrative Influence
The Iqra' Narrative—Early, but not Historical
Excursus: Alternative Accounts of Muhammad’s First Revelation
Epilogue: The Future of the Historical Muhammad
Bibliography
Index
