. R. Hawting and David
Morgan (Series Editor), «The Idea of Idolatry and
the Emergence of Islam : From Polemic to
History (Cambridge Studies in Islamic Civilization)»
Cambridge University Press | 1999 Year | PDF | 1,01 Mb |
183 Pages
Why and under what circumstances did the religion of
Islam emerge in a remote part of Arabia at the beginning
of the seventh century? Traditional scholarship
maintains that Islam developed in opposition to the
idolatrous and polytheistic religion of the Arabs of
Mecca and the surrounding regions. In the first
book-length study of pre-Islamic Arabian religion, G. R.
Hawting adopts a comparative religious perspective to
suggest an alternative view. By examining the various
bodies of evidence which survive from this period, the
Koran and the vast resources of the Islamic tradition,
the author argues that in fact Islam arose out of
conflict with other monotheists whose beliefs and
practices were judged to fall short of true monotheism
and were, in consequence, attacked polemically as
idolatry. The author is adept at unravelling the
complexities of the source material, and students and
scholars will find his argument both engaging and
persuasive.
