The Arabs and Arabia on the Eve of Islam

by Peters,F.E.; Peters,F.E.

• ISBN13: 9780860787020
• ISBN10: 0860787028
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1999-06-28
• Publisher: Variorum

Summary

This volume examines the background to the rise of Islam. The opening essays consider the broad context of nomad-sedentary relations in the Near East; thereafter the focus is on the Arabian peninsula and the history of the Arab peoples. The following papers set out the political and economic structures of the pre-Islamic period, and are concerned to trace the evolution of religious beliefs in the area, looking in particular at the role of local traditions and the impact of Jewish and Christian influences.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements	vii
General Editor's Preface	ix
Introduction	xi
The Nature of Arab Unity before Islam	1	(20)
G.E. von Grunebaum
The Role of Nomads in the Near East in Late Antiquity (400-800 C.E.)	21	(13)
Fred M. Donner
The Bedouinization of Arabia	34	(11)
Werner Caskel
Trans-Arabian Routes of the Pre-Islamic Period	45	(36)
Daniel T. Potts
Al-Hira: Some Notes on its Relations with Arabia	81	(28)
M.J. Kister
Pre-Islamic Bedouin Religion	109	(20)
Joseph Henninger
Idol Worship in Pre-Islamic Medina (Yathrib)	129	(16)
Michael Lecker
The Origin of the Jew of Yathrib	145	(22)
Moshe Gil
Haram and Hawtah, the Sacred Enclave in Arabia	167	(18)
R.B. Serjeant
Pre-Foundations of the Muslim Community in Mecca	185	(20)
Fazlur Rahman
Mecca before the Time of the Prophet--Attempt of an Anthropological Interpretation	205	(39)
Walter Dostal
The ``Sacred Offices'' of Mecca from Jahiliyya to Islam	244	(23)
Gerald R. Hawting
Hanifiyya and Ka`ba: an Inquiry into the Arabian Pre-Islamic Background of din Ibrahim	267	(28)
Uri Rubin
Pre-Islamic Monotheism in Arabia	295	(12)
Hamilton A.R. Gibb
Belief in a ``High God'' in Pre-Islamic Mecca	307	(6)
w. Montgomery Watt
The Ka`ba: Aspects of its Ritual Functions and Position in Pre-Islamic and Early Islamic Times	313	(35)
Uri Rubin
The Role Played by the Organization of the ``Hums'' in the Evolution of Political Ideas in Pre-Islamic Mecca	348	(9)
Ugo Fabietti
The Campaign of Huluban: a New Light on the Expedition of Abraha	357	(12)
M.J. Kister
Index	369