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Muhammad and the Believers

At the Origins of Islam

Fred M. Donner

$43.95

Paperback

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English
Harvard Uni.Press Academi
07 May 2012
"The origins of Islam have been the subject of increasing controversy in recent years. The traditional view, which presents Islam as a self-consciously distinct religion tied to the life and revelations of the prophet Muhammad in western Arabia, has since the 1970s been challenged by historians engaged in critical study of the Muslim sources.

In Muhammad and the Believers, the eminent historian Fred Donner offers a lucid and original vision of how Islam first evolved. He argues that the origins of Islam lie in what we may call the ""Believers' movement"" begun by the prophet Muhammad-a movement of religious reform emphasizing strict monotheism and righteous behavior in conformity with God's revealed law. The Believers' movement thus included righteous Christians and Jews in its early years, because like the Qur'anic Believers, Christians and Jews were monotheists and agreed to live righteously in obedience to their revealed law. The conviction that Muslims constituted a separate religious community, utterly distinct from Christians and Jews, emerged a century later, when the leaders of the Believers' movement decided that only those who saw the Qur'an as the final revelation of the One God and Muhammad as the final prophet, qualified as Believers. This separated them decisively from monotheists who adhered to the Gospels or Torah."

By:  
Imprint:   Harvard Uni.Press Academi
Country of Publication:   United States
Dimensions:   Height: 210mm,  Width: 140mm,  Spine: 15mm
Weight:   666g
ISBN:   9780674064140
ISBN 10:   0674064143
Publication Date:  
Audience:   General/trade ,  College/higher education ,  Professional and scholarly ,  ELT Advanced ,  Primary
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active

Reviews for Muhammad and the Believers: At the Origins of Islam

Provocative and accessible...Donner's vision of an ecumenical Islam is thought-provoking...Donner's overarching thesis in Muhammad and the Believers is convincing. It sheds light on a world far more fluid and confused than the one we have come to expect from the usual storyline.--Christian C. Sahner Times Literary Supplement (07/01/2011)


  • Nominated for Albert Hourani Book Award 2011
  • Nominated for Award for Excellence in the Study of Religion 2011
  • Nominated for Distinguished Book Award - Sociology of Religion 2011
  • Nominated for James Henry Breasted Prize 2010

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