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Author Bowersock, G. W. (Glen Warren), 1936- author.

Title The crucible of Islam / G. W. Bowersock.

Publication Info. Cambridge, Massachusetts : Harvard University Press, 2017.

Copies

Location Call No. Status
 Mansfield, Main Library - Adult Nonfiction  297.09 BOWERSOCK    Check Shelf
Description 220 pages : illustrations, maps ; 19 cm
Summary Little is known about Arabia in the sixth century CE. Yet from this distant time and place emerged a faith and an empire that stretched from the Iberian peninsula to India. Today, Muslims account for nearly a quarter of the global population. G. W. Bowersock seeks to illuminate this most obscure and yet most dynamic period in the history of Islam--from the mid-sixth to mid-seventh century--exploring why arid Arabia proved to be such fertile ground for Muhammad's prophetic message, and why that message spread so quickly to the wider world. In Muhammad's time Arabia stood at the crossroads of great empires, a place where Christianity, Judaism, and local polytheistic traditions vied for adherents. Mecca, Muhammad's birthplace, belonged to the part of Arabia recently conquered by the Ethiopian Christian king Abraha. But Ethiopia lost western Arabia to Persia following Abraha's death, while the death of the Byzantine emperor in 602 further destabilized the region. Within this chaotic environment, where lands and populations were traded frequently among competing powers and belief systems, Muhammad began winning converts to his revelations. In a troubled age, his followers coalesced into a powerful force, conquering Palestine, Syria, and Egypt and laying the groundwork of the Umayyad Caliphate. The crucible of Islam remains an elusive vessel. Although we may never grasp it firmly, Bowersock offers the most detailed description of its contours and the most compelling explanation of how one of the world's great religions took shape.-- Provided by publisher
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index.
Contents The Arabian kingdom of Abraha -- Arab paganism in late antiquity -- Late antique Mecca -- Ethiopia and Arabia -- The Persians in Jerusalem -- Muhammad and Medina -- Interregnum of the four caliphs -- A new dispensation -- The Dome of the Rock.
Subject Islam -- History.
Arabs -- History -- To 622.
Islamic Empire -- History -- 622-661.
Arabs. (OCoLC)fst00812576
Islam. (OCoLC)fst00979776
Islamic Empire. (OCoLC)fst01244134
Chronological Term To 661
Genre/Form History. (OCoLC)fst01411628
ISBN 9780674057760 (alk. paper)
0674057767
Standard No. 40027000841
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