Table of Contents

Preface Acknowledgments 1. The Founding Fathers Abraham and Ishmael in the Hijaz Father Qusayy and the Quraysh The Sons of Qusayy 2. The Colonial Era in Arabia Arabian Clients and Tributaries The Tribes of the South The Abyssinians Invade 3. The Arabian Oikoumene Hashim the Trader Northern Neighbors The Shahs and Arabia The Commerce of Mecca 4. The Family and City of Muhammad A Celebrated Grandfather Abraha "The Men Who Have the Elephant" The Security of the Quraysh Buying and Selling in the Sacred Months A Religious Sodality: The Hums The Persian Occupation of the Kingdom of Himyar The Birth of Muhammad ibn Abdullah 5. The Gods and the Shrine The Gods and Worship at Mecca The Pilgrimage Before Islam The Worship of the One True God Personal Devotions Muhammad and Meccan Paganism 6. A Prophet at Mecca Coming of Age in Mecca The Prophetic Summons A Heavenly Journey The Earliest Sura? Muhammad's Public Preaching The Warning God on High The Call to Prayer 7. The Migration to Medina The Opposition of the Quraysh The Deaths of Khadija and Abu Talib An Invitation from a Distant Oasis A Turn to Armed Resistance The Hijra (622 A.D.) 8. The City of the Prophet Yathrib Jews and Arabs Muhammad Settles In The Medina Agreement Innovations 9. Fighting in God's Cause Violence in the Sacred Month The Battle at the Badr Wells From Badr to the Battle of the Trench The Banu Qurayza A New Tactic The Northern Oases The 'Umra Fulfilled A Daring Raid into Syria 10. "The Truth Has Come and Falsehood Has Passed Away" The Fall of Mecca The Smashing of the Idols Hunayn, Ta'if, and the 'Umra The Malingerers The Establishment of an Islamic Umma, with Dues The Hajj of Year 9: The Break with the Pagans The Idolators Submit 11. The Pilgrimage of Farewell An Islamic Pilgrimage The Ban on the Pagans The Calendar Reformed 12. Illness and Death Appendix: The Quest of the Historical Muhammad Notes References Index

About the Author

F. E. Peters is Professor and Chair of the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Literature and History at New York University's Near Eastern Center. He has written a number of books, including The Children of Abraham: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam; Jerusalem; and Judaism, Christianity, and Islam: The Classical Texts and Their Interpretation. Most recently, he has published a three-volume history of Mecca and the celebrated Islamic pilgrimage called the Hajj.

Reviews

"Peters writes very well. The scholarship is excellent, and the book fills a gap in the available material. There are several lives of the Prophet, but none that does what this one does. Most are written to prove a particular thesis about the nature of the Prophet's career. This one simply puts down what can be known with any certainty about the career of Muhammad from the point of view of the contemporary secular historian." - William C. Chittick "This book will become a major point of reference for years to come." - Said Amir Arjomand