First Published in 1968. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Product Description: Islam, as a faith and as a political power, rose to world dominance in an astoundingly brief timespanlittle more than one hundred years. From the fascinating events of Muhammads life to the founding of a vast empire, the rise of Islam is the story of a people, a vibrant culture, and the growth of a civilization...read more

Product Description: This book examines how an elite group of traditionists, historians and theologians shaped Muslims' perceptions of their prophet, their community and their behavior by retelling and interpreting the story of Muhammad's ascent to heaven (the mi'raj).

Explores the defining characteristics of Islam, comparing Jesus to Muhammad, and covering a wide range of topics, including war, women, mysticism, and martyrdom.

Product Description: This book reveals that over the millennia the revealed knowledge has evolved in accordance with the advancement of the human civilization. Accordingly by the advent of the Prophet Muhammad, it has been updated for the rest of the humanity till end of the world...read more

Why and under what circumstances did the religion of Islam emerge in a remote part of Arabia at the beginning of the seventh century? Traditional scholarship maintains that Islam developed in opposition to the idolatrous and polytheistic religion of the Arabs of Mecca and the surrounding regions. In this study of pre-Islamic Arabian religion, G. R. Hawting adopts a comparative religious perspective to suggest an alternative view. By examining the various bodies of evidence which survive from this period, the Koran and the vast resources of the Islamic tradition, the author argues that in fact Islam arose out of conflict with other monotheists whose beliefs and practices were judged to fall short of true monotheism and were, in consequence, attacked polemically as idolatry. The author is adept at unravelling the complexities of the source material, and students and scholars will find his argument both engaging and persuasive.

Explores the early history of Islam, tracing the origins of the Islamic state and religion from the early seventh to the mid-eighth century C.E. (view table of contents)

Product Description: Introduces a radical new perspective on the historical foundations of monotheism, based on the enigma of the Copper Scroll of the Essenes. • Confirms the link between ancient Judaism and the pharoah Akhenaten. • Decodes the system of measurements encrypted on the Copper Scroll that has confounded scholars for over 50 years, leading to the identification of fabulous lost treasures...read more

The story of the origins of Islam provides a rich and suggestive example of sweeping cultural transformation. Incorporating both innovation and continuity, Islam built upon the existing cultural patterns among the peoples of the Arabian peninsula even as it threatened to eradicate these same patterns. In this provocative interdisciplinary study, Mohammed A. Bamyeh combines perspectives from sociology, literary studies, anthropology, and economic history to examine the cultural ecology that fostered Islam.Highlighting the pivotal connections in pre-Islamic society between the emergence of certain economic practices (such as trade and money-based exchange), world view (as rendered in pre-Islamic literature and theology), and the reconfiguration of transtribal patterns of solidarity and settlement, Bamyeh finds in the genesis of Islam a sophisticated model for examining ideological transformation in general.At the heart of Bamyeh's enterprise are close readings of both the Qur'an and the pre-Islamic poetry that preceded it. Bamyeh uncovers in these texts narrative and pedagogical content, poetic structure, use of metaphor, and historical references that are suggestive of societies in transition. He also explores the expressive limits of the pre-Islamic literature and its transmutation into Qur'anicspeech in the wake of social transformation.Emphasizing the organic connections between belief structures, economic formations, and modes of discourse in pre-Islamic Arabia, The Social Origins of Islam explains how various material and discursive changes made the idea of Islam possible at a particular point in history. More broadly, it persuasively demonstrates how grand cultural shiftsgive rise to new systems of faith.