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
