This volume includes 20 articles published between 1994 and 2020 on the subject of Muhammad and the history of early Islam, covered in five sections: Arabia on the Eve of Islam, Muhammad at Medina, Muhammad and the Jews, Muhammad ibn Isḥāq and the
sīra
and studies on early Islamic literature.
The book focuses on a variety of historical questions, from the presumed Ghassanid/Byzantine involvement in the hijra to Muhammad’s treaties with the main Jewish tribes of Yathrib/Medina. Predilection for detail, especially in the realms of genealogy and geography, is a salient characteristic of Lecker’s research, which in recent years has been increasingly based on digitized text repositories. Many of the articles deal with the social and economic environment of early Islam, which is vital for the study of Muhammad’s biography. They are conceived of as building blocks in a future critical biography of the Arabian prophet.
Studies on the Life of Muhammad and the Dawn of Islam
will appeal to those interested in the history of pre- and early Islam, with an emphasis on Muhammad’s life and his relations with the Jews of Arabia.