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The Crucible of Islam
Little is known about Arabia in the sixth century CE. Yet from this distant time and place emerged a faith and an empire that stretched from the Iberian peninsula to India. Today, Muslims account for nearly a quarter of the global population. G. W. Bowersock seeks to illuminate this most obscure and yet most dynamic period in the history of Islam--from the mid-sixth to mid-seventh century--exploring why arid Arabia proved to be such fertile ground for Muhammad's prophetic message, and why that message spread so quickly to the wider world.
In Muhammad's time Arabia stood at the crossroads of great empires, a place where Christianity, Judaism, and local polytheistic traditions vied for adherents. Mecca, Muhammad's birthplace, belonged to the part of Arabia recently conquered by the Ethiopian Christian king Abraha. But Ethiopia lost western Arabia to Persia following Abraha's death, while the death of the Byzantine emperor in 602 further destabilized the region. Within this chaotic environment, where lands and populations were traded frequently among competing powers and belief systems, Muhammad began winning converts to his revelations. In a troubled age, his followers coalesced into a powerful force, conquering Palestine, Syria, and Egypt and laying the groundwork of the Umayyad Caliphate.
The crucible of Islam remains an elusive vessel. Although we may never grasp it firmly, Bowersock offers the most detailed description of its contours and the most compelling explanation of how one of the world's great religions took shape.
In Muhammad's time Arabia stood at the crossroads of great empires, a place where Christianity, Judaism, and local polytheistic traditions vied for adherents. Mecca, Muhammad's birthplace, belonged to the part of Arabia recently conquered by the Ethiopian Christian king Abraha. But Ethiopia lost western Arabia to Persia following Abraha's death, while the death of the Byzantine emperor in 602 further destabilized the region. Within this chaotic environment, where lands and populations were traded frequently among competing powers and belief systems, Muhammad began winning converts to his revelations. In a troubled age, his followers coalesced into a powerful force, conquering Palestine, Syria, and Egypt and laying the groundwork of the Umayyad Caliphate.
The crucible of Islam remains an elusive vessel. Although we may never grasp it firmly, Bowersock offers the most detailed description of its contours and the most compelling explanation of how one of the world's great religions took shape.
240 pages, Hardcover
Published April 10, 2017
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About the author
Glen W. Bowersock
43 books25 followersGlen Warren Bowersock is a contemporary American scholar of the ancient world. He is the author of over a dozen books and has published over 300 articles on Greek, Roman, and Near Eastern history and culture as well as the classical tradition.
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September 29, 2018
The Muslim historical tradition tends to either ignore or blindly denigrate the period of Arabian history before the coming of Islam. Literally referred to as the jahiliyya (period of ignorance and darkness), the time before the Year Zero of Islam's emergence is generally dismissed as an era of ugly immorality and blindness, best forgotten. This blithe dismissal however ignores the extremely fascinating and complex circumstances in which Islam broke out into world history during the seventh century. While the historical record of this remote era is obviously not as full as we'd like, there are some interesting details worth examining.
This book offers a fascinating look at pre-Islamic antiquity in Arabia, focused on the activity of the Ethiopians, Byzantines, Persians and pre-Islamic Arab tribes of the region. Prior to the arrival of Islam the region was a site of proxy wars and political maneuvering by all these factions. The Christian Ethiopian Kingdom of Axum was a major player in the region, waging wars in defense of local Arab Christians against the persecutions of powerful Jewish tribes, who in turn were backed by their allies, the Sassanian Persians. The Ethiopians flirted with conquering pre-Islamic Mecca and later became friends of the early Muslims, taking them into asylum when they were sent in exile from the region. Their sympathy was born of a mutual identification as monotheists, which to them was a more salient distinction than the specific religious systems that they followed. Amazingly we still have a historical stela detailing the exploits of the Axumite general Abraha, who led the campaign against pre-Islamic Mecca mentioned in the Surah al-Fil of the Quran, which gives us some great details about the political environment of the region. As Bowersock notes, there were also pre-Abrahamic monotheists that existed throughout antiquity in Arabia, sometimes known as hanifs.
One of the most fascinating parts of the book was the discussion of the other Arab monotheistic prophets who were actually contemporaries of Muhammad (SAW). The most prominent of them was a man known as Musaylima, who claimed to also be receiving messages from God through the angel Gabriel and compiled his own alternate Quran. He was not accepted as legitimate by Muhammad and he and his alt-Islam were later destroyed by Caliph Abu Bakr during the Ridda Wars. Nonetheless it appears that Musaylima met with Muhammad during his lifetime and offered a division of spiritual spoils, as it were, which was rejected. The book also recaps some details about the nature of tribal rivalries before the arrival of Islam, with the pagan Khazraj tribe of Medina apparently helping Muhammad's followers conduct the hijra during a time in which they were locked in rivalry with local Arab Jews and the pagan Aws. Bowersock also notes that the hijra took place during the same year as the last major Byzantine offensive against the Persians, speculating that this may have helped facilitate the Muslims moving into Medina as a Byzantine counterbalance to the Persian-backed Jewish tribes of the city.
As is well known, the Middle East was divided between the Persian and Byzantine superpowers at the time of Islam's sudden emergence in the seventh century. Not long before the arrival of the Muslims, the Persians had famously conquered the city of Jerusalem in a historical episode that planted the seeds of much bad blood. The brutality of that conquest, detailed in the book, had so enraged the local Christians that they welcomed and helped negotiate Caliph Umar's conquest of the city a few decades later. This change of power over to the Muslims was accomplished with almost no fighting and was the result of Patriach Sophronius' direct negotiations with Umar. While later polemical accounts from 9th century Christian scholars attempted to recast the terms of the Islamic conquest as a rapacious one, as Bowersock notes this is belied by the archaeological record, which weighs heavily in favor of a negotiated transfer that disrupted life very little. Unlike the Persian conquest there were not wholesale massacres or destruction of churches. Indeed, in very few of the places where the early Arab Muslim empire assumed political control was there much of a change in daily life or even religious practice for ordinary people. The Muslims were glad to depose elites, who were sometimes hated and seen as interlopers by the people they ruled anyways, while allowing ordinary life to continue much as it had for everyone else. In the conquered lands the Arab Muslims even continued issuing coins and documents in Greek, with Arabic only coming into use gradually. It was only over the course of decades and centuries that the lands themselves became "Islamic," as people slowly began to convert to the new religion.
The book ends with a section about the creation of the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem by the Caliph Abd al-Malik. This section draws upon a rare and invaluable account from a Christian priest named Arculf, who described the early Muslims building a wooden octagonal structure to pray on the site of the Temple Mount. There is also some speculation on the motivations for Abd al-Malik's inscription of certain Quranic verses on the Dome dealing with the nature of God and the Trinity, seen as a message to Christians to abandon trinitarian ideas and embrace the tawhid of pure monotheism. It seems that this anti-trinitarian idea had already been held by the Monophysite Ethiopians, which helped lay the ideological foundations for their good relations with the Muslims.
This was a short but very accessible tour of the pre-Islamic era of Arabia. Despite the challenges of a lack of documentation, there are some fascinating hints of what life was like and what type of socio-political milieu the Islamic revolution took place within. Hopefully increased archaeological research can help shed more glimmers of light on this unjustly disregarded era.
This book offers a fascinating look at pre-Islamic antiquity in Arabia, focused on the activity of the Ethiopians, Byzantines, Persians and pre-Islamic Arab tribes of the region. Prior to the arrival of Islam the region was a site of proxy wars and political maneuvering by all these factions. The Christian Ethiopian Kingdom of Axum was a major player in the region, waging wars in defense of local Arab Christians against the persecutions of powerful Jewish tribes, who in turn were backed by their allies, the Sassanian Persians. The Ethiopians flirted with conquering pre-Islamic Mecca and later became friends of the early Muslims, taking them into asylum when they were sent in exile from the region. Their sympathy was born of a mutual identification as monotheists, which to them was a more salient distinction than the specific religious systems that they followed. Amazingly we still have a historical stela detailing the exploits of the Axumite general Abraha, who led the campaign against pre-Islamic Mecca mentioned in the Surah al-Fil of the Quran, which gives us some great details about the political environment of the region. As Bowersock notes, there were also pre-Abrahamic monotheists that existed throughout antiquity in Arabia, sometimes known as hanifs.
One of the most fascinating parts of the book was the discussion of the other Arab monotheistic prophets who were actually contemporaries of Muhammad (SAW). The most prominent of them was a man known as Musaylima, who claimed to also be receiving messages from God through the angel Gabriel and compiled his own alternate Quran. He was not accepted as legitimate by Muhammad and he and his alt-Islam were later destroyed by Caliph Abu Bakr during the Ridda Wars. Nonetheless it appears that Musaylima met with Muhammad during his lifetime and offered a division of spiritual spoils, as it were, which was rejected. The book also recaps some details about the nature of tribal rivalries before the arrival of Islam, with the pagan Khazraj tribe of Medina apparently helping Muhammad's followers conduct the hijra during a time in which they were locked in rivalry with local Arab Jews and the pagan Aws. Bowersock also notes that the hijra took place during the same year as the last major Byzantine offensive against the Persians, speculating that this may have helped facilitate the Muslims moving into Medina as a Byzantine counterbalance to the Persian-backed Jewish tribes of the city.
As is well known, the Middle East was divided between the Persian and Byzantine superpowers at the time of Islam's sudden emergence in the seventh century. Not long before the arrival of the Muslims, the Persians had famously conquered the city of Jerusalem in a historical episode that planted the seeds of much bad blood. The brutality of that conquest, detailed in the book, had so enraged the local Christians that they welcomed and helped negotiate Caliph Umar's conquest of the city a few decades later. This change of power over to the Muslims was accomplished with almost no fighting and was the result of Patriach Sophronius' direct negotiations with Umar. While later polemical accounts from 9th century Christian scholars attempted to recast the terms of the Islamic conquest as a rapacious one, as Bowersock notes this is belied by the archaeological record, which weighs heavily in favor of a negotiated transfer that disrupted life very little. Unlike the Persian conquest there were not wholesale massacres or destruction of churches. Indeed, in very few of the places where the early Arab Muslim empire assumed political control was there much of a change in daily life or even religious practice for ordinary people. The Muslims were glad to depose elites, who were sometimes hated and seen as interlopers by the people they ruled anyways, while allowing ordinary life to continue much as it had for everyone else. In the conquered lands the Arab Muslims even continued issuing coins and documents in Greek, with Arabic only coming into use gradually. It was only over the course of decades and centuries that the lands themselves became "Islamic," as people slowly began to convert to the new religion.
The book ends with a section about the creation of the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem by the Caliph Abd al-Malik. This section draws upon a rare and invaluable account from a Christian priest named Arculf, who described the early Muslims building a wooden octagonal structure to pray on the site of the Temple Mount. There is also some speculation on the motivations for Abd al-Malik's inscription of certain Quranic verses on the Dome dealing with the nature of God and the Trinity, seen as a message to Christians to abandon trinitarian ideas and embrace the tawhid of pure monotheism. It seems that this anti-trinitarian idea had already been held by the Monophysite Ethiopians, which helped lay the ideological foundations for their good relations with the Muslims.
This was a short but very accessible tour of the pre-Islamic era of Arabia. Despite the challenges of a lack of documentation, there are some fascinating hints of what life was like and what type of socio-political milieu the Islamic revolution took place within. Hopefully increased archaeological research can help shed more glimmers of light on this unjustly disregarded era.
July 19, 2022
Great book on the background to Muhammad in just a little booklet size publication.
Several things I didn’t know, without making this a full spoiler.
First, Ethiopian kings invaded Arabia twice after converting. First in the 200s, then in the mid 500s, when the general Abraha wound up setting himself up independent of the negus (Ethiopian king) in what is land south of Mecca and north of Yemen today.
The negus, tho Ethiopia was miaphysite, was willing to work geopolitically with Byzantium. They tried to suppress the Jews in Himyar. Then the Sassanids intervened, and protected them.
Second, Muhammad had rival prophets preaching their own versions of Arab monotheism. The biggest was Musaylima, who basically offered to split Arabia and Muhammad said no. Wiki says his survivors, religiously, lasted in al-Yamama in central Arabia for another 1,000 years, though he himself was killed in 632.
Third, referencing another scholar, Bowersock makes the claim that outside forces were behind Muhammad’s hijra to Medina (Yathrib). Namely, Byzantine emperor Heraclius, who had his Ghassanid Arab federates working everything behind the scenes, reportedly. Why? This allows him to knock many of the props out from under Sassanid influence in Arabia and shore up his right flank before his main attack into the Sassanid heartland.
Fourth? Although I knew about the “rightly guided caliphs” followed by the Umayyad Dynasty, spurred beyond this book, I’d heard nothing of the “second civil war” or “second Fitna,” as it’s known, when Umayyad control disintegrated after the assassination of \Umar. (The first was the battle over the succession with Ali then the first Umayyads.) The Second Fitna was arguably more bloody than the first. The Third, well outside this book, was a prelude to the eventual replacement of the Umayyads by the Abbasids.
Versus critics on Amazon? Note: I do not claim to know whether every bit of criticism by the one-star reviewers is correct or not; I’m not a scholar of Islam. But, per other reviews by one of those reviewers, David Reid Ross, I know enough about Patristic Christianity to raise both eyebrows on things such as claims of the “intertwinement” of the Didascalia and Quran. Unfortunately, the website that person is listed as having at one time is not available any more.
Unfortunately, writing pamphlet-sized books appears to be Bowersock's MO.
Several things I didn’t know, without making this a full spoiler.
First, Ethiopian kings invaded Arabia twice after converting. First in the 200s, then in the mid 500s, when the general Abraha wound up setting himself up independent of the negus (Ethiopian king) in what is land south of Mecca and north of Yemen today.
The negus, tho Ethiopia was miaphysite, was willing to work geopolitically with Byzantium. They tried to suppress the Jews in Himyar. Then the Sassanids intervened, and protected them.
Second, Muhammad had rival prophets preaching their own versions of Arab monotheism. The biggest was Musaylima, who basically offered to split Arabia and Muhammad said no. Wiki says his survivors, religiously, lasted in al-Yamama in central Arabia for another 1,000 years, though he himself was killed in 632.
Third, referencing another scholar, Bowersock makes the claim that outside forces were behind Muhammad’s hijra to Medina (Yathrib). Namely, Byzantine emperor Heraclius, who had his Ghassanid Arab federates working everything behind the scenes, reportedly. Why? This allows him to knock many of the props out from under Sassanid influence in Arabia and shore up his right flank before his main attack into the Sassanid heartland.
Fourth? Although I knew about the “rightly guided caliphs” followed by the Umayyad Dynasty, spurred beyond this book, I’d heard nothing of the “second civil war” or “second Fitna,” as it’s known, when Umayyad control disintegrated after the assassination of \Umar. (The first was the battle over the succession with Ali then the first Umayyads.) The Second Fitna was arguably more bloody than the first. The Third, well outside this book, was a prelude to the eventual replacement of the Umayyads by the Abbasids.
Versus critics on Amazon? Note: I do not claim to know whether every bit of criticism by the one-star reviewers is correct or not; I’m not a scholar of Islam. But, per other reviews by one of those reviewers, David Reid Ross, I know enough about Patristic Christianity to raise both eyebrows on things such as claims of the “intertwinement” of the Didascalia and Quran. Unfortunately, the website that person is listed as having at one time is not available any more.
Unfortunately, writing pamphlet-sized books appears to be Bowersock's MO.
July 8, 2017
The title of this short book is to be taken literally. The volume describes only the crucible of Islam—the cultural and political milieu of 7th century Arabia—and nothing of what was forged within it. The book is of minimal interest to general readers, such as myself, since it leaves out any context for the tidbits about Ethiopian invasion, Persian intrigue, and Umayyad succession contained. I doubt it would be of much interest to the specialized reader, either, because of its short length.
November 15, 2023
I read this due to a friend's recommendation, and I wasn't disappointed. Bowersock lays a clear and simple outline for understanding the world surrounding the origins of Islam, as well as theories to how Islam thrived where other rival monotheistic groups did not. I read this hoping it would be introductory in nature and was not disappointed.
I would highly recommend for anyone interested in a more academic approach to Islamic history.
I would highly recommend for anyone interested in a more academic approach to Islamic history.
October 28, 2017
This book bring s new point of view to the discussion about the emergence of Islam. The author is not the typical European author with Orientalist background or the revisionist historians who insist on denying history without strong proof. Instead, the author is late classics specialist. This backgrounds leads to the development of short but interesting book that helps readers understand the struggle between the two superpowers of the time (Byzantine ans Sassanid empires) and their satellite states:Ghssanids, Lakhmids in the north of Arabia and Jewish Hemyar and Ethiopia in the south. The book provides a balanced overview of this period.
The book compensates for the limited input of historians that reached us by discussing archaeological record, which debunks many of what is being circulated as facts. For example, diggings show that the invasion of Palestine was not associated with large scale destruction. My only criticism is that the author sometimes puts fairly unsubstantiated theories such as the emigration of Prophet Mohammad to Yathreb was somehow due to interference by the superpowers.
The book compensates for the limited input of historians that reached us by discussing archaeological record, which debunks many of what is being circulated as facts. For example, diggings show that the invasion of Palestine was not associated with large scale destruction. My only criticism is that the author sometimes puts fairly unsubstantiated theories such as the emigration of Prophet Mohammad to Yathreb was somehow due to interference by the superpowers.
May 18, 2019
Filled with fascinating tidbits that never quite coalesce, it is worth reading for its short length. It will leave you pouring through the notes and bibliography for what to read to expand upon the taste given by this slim volume.
October 26, 2019
Read wiki. Nothing new in this book.
June 13, 2020
One of my favourite books on pre Islamic Arabia and early Islamic era.
The one which examines the arguments from both parties, the total revisionists and rejectionists of the traditional history and the staunch supporters of the same, and in a way tries to find a middle ground.
Bowersock proves authors like Patricia Crone wrong and he mentions quite a few other historians who did the same in the last few years, most notably Robert Hoyland.
Although the book felt a little bit repetitive in the first few chapters, for example mentioning Abraha and the Axumite invasion of Arabia in 525.
The most interesting point made by the author was the proposition that the year of Hijra (622 AD) is not just coincidence. He argues that the invitation given to Muhammad to emigrate to Yathrib and settle the disputes between Pagans and Jews/Arab polytheists was encouraged indirectly by the Byzantine emperor Heraclius who launced his counter-offensive against the Persians in that exact year, and trough the works of his Ghassanid clients he tried to keep the large Jewish population of Yathrib in check (because of their affinity for the Persians which can be traced back to the Jews of Himyar). Although he lacks written sources for this, he proves the presence of the Ghassanid emissaries in Yathrib at a time and explains how it is not coincidental that both of these events took place at this crucial year.
Really great book, filled with various little known primary or secondary sources on the Muslims, the Prophet and the Arab conquests from the perspective of the conquered peoples. Really useful in refuting the claims of the negationist extemists who deny the entire early history of Islam.
The one which examines the arguments from both parties, the total revisionists and rejectionists of the traditional history and the staunch supporters of the same, and in a way tries to find a middle ground.
Bowersock proves authors like Patricia Crone wrong and he mentions quite a few other historians who did the same in the last few years, most notably Robert Hoyland.
Although the book felt a little bit repetitive in the first few chapters, for example mentioning Abraha and the Axumite invasion of Arabia in 525.
The most interesting point made by the author was the proposition that the year of Hijra (622 AD) is not just coincidence. He argues that the invitation given to Muhammad to emigrate to Yathrib and settle the disputes between Pagans and Jews/Arab polytheists was encouraged indirectly by the Byzantine emperor Heraclius who launced his counter-offensive against the Persians in that exact year, and trough the works of his Ghassanid clients he tried to keep the large Jewish population of Yathrib in check (because of their affinity for the Persians which can be traced back to the Jews of Himyar). Although he lacks written sources for this, he proves the presence of the Ghassanid emissaries in Yathrib at a time and explains how it is not coincidental that both of these events took place at this crucial year.
Really great book, filled with various little known primary or secondary sources on the Muslims, the Prophet and the Arab conquests from the perspective of the conquered peoples. Really useful in refuting the claims of the negationist extemists who deny the entire early history of Islam.
November 15, 2018
Compact and readable, "The Crucible of Islam" is an excellent primer that contextualizes the rise of Islam within the religio-political milieu of sixth and seventh century Arabia. Bowersock draws from literary and archaeological evidence to present the general academically-accepted conception of the Arabia that Muhammad would have known, with Ethiopia, Byzantium, and Persia figuring prominently. Scholars of the rise of Islam will likely find little new here, but this book is aimed more at the neophyte than the academic. Even persons with some background in Islamic hagiography will find their understanding of one of the world's great monotheistic religions enlarged. Perhaps most importantly though, readers come away recognizing that Islam has been connected since before day one with Judaism and Christianity, and vice versa. So linked, contemporary polemics cannot completely divide them. We are doomed or blessed -- depending on one's viewpoint -- to try to find ways for these sometimes fratricidal faiths to coexist, in spite of (or perhaps because of) centuries of familial conflict.
May 18, 2017
Where it all started...
This is a book of prodigious scholarship, with a wealth of detail, much of which will escape the non-specialist. Nonetheless, the story it tells us of great importance to our world today, plagued by rampant misunderstanding of the complex interrelationships amongst the Abrahamic faiths and, especially in the modern West, widespread ignorance of Islam, sometimes even on the part of avowed Muslims. At a price of $15 or so, it's rather too expensive for a slim volume, fully 20% of which not text but scholarly apparatus, i.e. index, footnotes, etc. However, personally I regret neither the expenditure nor the effort of the reading, and recommend this book to anyone whose interests are thus inclined.
This is a book of prodigious scholarship, with a wealth of detail, much of which will escape the non-specialist. Nonetheless, the story it tells us of great importance to our world today, plagued by rampant misunderstanding of the complex interrelationships amongst the Abrahamic faiths and, especially in the modern West, widespread ignorance of Islam, sometimes even on the part of avowed Muslims. At a price of $15 or so, it's rather too expensive for a slim volume, fully 20% of which not text but scholarly apparatus, i.e. index, footnotes, etc. However, personally I regret neither the expenditure nor the effort of the reading, and recommend this book to anyone whose interests are thus inclined.
September 14, 2019
This book looks at the beginnings of Islam by means of considering the culture of Arabia at the time of Islam's appearance. The book looks at both the international environment of the time, as well as the pagan and other religious practices of Arabia at the time. Many of the empires mentioned in the book would not be familiar to the contemporary reader, and it would have been better if the book had explained what the contemporary geographical locations of these areas were. It would have also have been better if there had been more maps, and particularly color maps, because the two maps that the book did have were in black and white and hard to read.
May 21, 2020
This compact volume packs in a lot of information about the period in question but it does not answer the mystery of the stellar rise of Islam from the desert that lies between two superpowers, Byzantium to the North West and Persia North East, and managing to expand swiftly in both directions within decades of its birth. His review of the pre-Islamic centuries is more expansive and fascinating. When read with his other book, The Throne of Adulis, (in Ethiopia) the picture gets clearer. The two books would have made a sensible single volume of the history of both sides of the Red sea before Islam.
May 1, 2024
More scholarly in style, but still enjoyable. I recommend it to anyone interested in learning more about the circumstances (historical, political, social) in which Islam came about. The book roughly describes the short but extremely eventful time span from just before the beginning of the founding of the religion to the end of the 4th calif's reign. A must read for any student of Islamic Studies, Middle Eastern Studies or related subjects seeking a basic overview of this interesting field of inquiry.
December 13, 2025
كتيب قصير ومجمل، وفيه بعض المعلومات التي لا بأس بها، والجيدة أيضًا
ممكن ميزته أنه يعطيك خطوط عامة وواضحة ترى بها المشهد الدولي والثقافي في المنطقة أثناء وقبيل ظهور حركة الإسلام (الصراع بين البيزنطيين/الساسانين وتأثيره وانعكاساته على الجزيرة العربية) أيضًا رصد صعود القوى التوحيدية في الجزيرة العربية قبل الإسلام، مملكة حمير اليهودية/مملكة إبرهة المسيحية، وأيضًا تكلم عن دولة النبي والفتوحات وما بعدها بشكل موجز وثمن دور إصلاحات عبد الملك بن مروان المحورية، رغم أنه مؤلف موجز لكنه يجمع نوعًا ما بين الاكتشافات الأثرية والأدبيات المسيحية والإسلامية
ممكن ميزته أنه يعطيك خطوط عامة وواضحة ترى بها المشهد الدولي والثقافي في المنطقة أثناء وقبيل ظهور حركة الإسلام (الصراع بين البيزنطيين/الساسانين وتأثيره وانعكاساته على الجزيرة العربية) أيضًا رصد صعود القوى التوحيدية في الجزيرة العربية قبل الإسلام، مملكة حمير اليهودية/مملكة إبرهة المسيحية، وأيضًا تكلم عن دولة النبي والفتوحات وما بعدها بشكل موجز وثمن دور إصلاحات عبد الملك بن مروان المحورية، رغم أنه مؤلف موجز لكنه يجمع نوعًا ما بين الاكتشافات الأثرية والأدبيات المسيحية والإسلامية
June 9, 2017
"No bureaucrat, no matter how astute, could have orchestrated a more flexible structure for the future of Islam than the separation of caliphate and haram. As the central shrine of the faithful, Mecca brought Muslims together to worship, but it also allowed for an immense and perilous diversity in the formation of their sects and their states. What might have happened if the Umayyads had ruled from Mecca is one of the great imponderables of history." (139)
December 29, 2018
Perfectly narrated book which allows you to learn about the beginning and early developments of the Islamic religion. Encyclopedic in its knowledge, but still very concise, Bowersock's book is readable and a great source of information on early Islam (and its intersection with Judaism and Christianity) and the rather unknown history of sixth century's Arabia. Very good!
July 10, 2019
Short scholarly work about the history of 6th century middle east. A lot of coverage focused on the time period up to the rise of Islam. Only about 160 pages of text. Several big scholarly words, but doesn't detract from the story.
July 21, 2019
The history of pre-Islamic Arabia and the first century of the faith's existence needs a longer narrative geared toward the general, Western reader.
Which is not to say this isn't an interesting book. The bibliography can direct readers further, toward more academic research.
2.5 stars.
Which is not to say this isn't an interesting book. The bibliography can direct readers further, toward more academic research.
2.5 stars.
January 4, 2021
Impressive, I'm sure, but also very dry. It ended a bit abruptly - the author seems to think he has bequeathed some profound gift upon the world, but it's not entirely clear what that is.
On the plus side, it is quite fair minded. I couldn't detect a bias toward or against any particular religion.
On the plus side, it is quite fair minded. I couldn't detect a bias toward or against any particular religion.
October 20, 2018
another attempt to explain the history of Islam
December 8, 2023
Had to google a word every sentence in this to understand anything, then it was okay
March 17, 2020
I really enjoyed this book. Bowersock gives us a historical-critical account of the origins of Islam, the pre-Islamic time and the historical circtumstances of the revelation. I particularly enjoyed Bowersock's references to previous works whose results he deems to be outdated due to new findings in archaeology or textual analysis. To my mind, Bowersock does the topic a service by walking the fine line of negotiating different coexisting sectarian views while retaining reverence for the topic without allowing the latter to cloud one's critical judgement. Overall, this seems like a solid complementary read for anyone interested in the origins of Islam.
May 5, 2019
Easy to read, interesting overview about the background on which Islam developed. Quick read. Worthwhile.
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews