Brendan’s Reviews > A History of the Muslim World: From Its Origins to the Dawn of Modernity > Status Update
Brendan
is on page 76 of 960
“We have indirect but telling evidence of the imaginative impact of Muhammad’s religion on the Arabs. After his death, and perhaps even before, one form taken by the short-lived rejection of Islam in Arabia was the appearance of no fewer than five false prophets—false, that is to say, in the eyes of our Muslim sources. There was one in the Yemen, one in Yamama, two—including a woman—among the nomads of
— Aug 05, 2026 08:19PM
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Brendan
is on page 175 of 960
“As the language of the conquerors, Arabic was the language of power and prestige, and sooner or later it became the language of opportunity for anyone aspiring to political, military, bureaucratic, cultural, or commercial success. And yet at first it was only the language of a small minority in comparison to the masses speaking Persian, Aramaic, Coptic, and the like. [The later coming of the Arab nomads], in turn,
— Aug 10, 2026 09:00PM
Brendan
is on page 105 of 960
“Mu’awiya’s achievement was to reestablish the empire created by the conquests on a foundation sufficiently viable for it to last for two full centuries. As we have seen, the key geopolitical change was that the state was now ruled from a center outside Arabia, from one of the conquered territories [Syria] where fiscal and military power were concentrated. This shift accelerated a gradual evolution in the
— Aug 08, 2026 05:07PM
Brendan
is on page 30 of 960
“It was the lowlands of Mesopotamia, irrigated by the Tigris and the Euphrates and inhabited by Aramaic-speaking peasants, that provided the [Persian] empire with its fiscal sinews—its tax power. Mesopotamia lived on borrowed rainfall brought to it by rivers rising in eastern Anatolia. As long as it lasted, this combination of highland manpower and lowland tax power provided a firm foundation for an empire based
— Aug 03, 2026 08:36PM
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Aug 05, 2026 08:20PM
Najd, and one in Oman. This epidemic of copycat prophets is a backhanded compliment to the wide appeal of Muhammad’s mission in Arabia.”
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Fascinating discussion of the causes of Muhammad’s religious appeal in Arabia, along with the political maneuvers that founded the first Islamic state at Yathrib (Medina). One key factor was the widespread belief among Arabs (and surrounding peoples) that they were the Biblical Ishmaelites, descendants of Abraham’s other son. Muhammad tapped into this by presenting his revelations as a return to their true ancestral religion — his prophecies were not innovations, but a restoration of the Arab people from their long polytheistic error. In this sense, it is reminiscent of some of the radical Protestants, who argued that they were restoring Christianity to its original, austere form in the early years against the decadence of the Church. Like early Muslims, they were often iconoclasts (in the literal sense of the word) and dedicated to the text itself rather than later Christian traditions.