Muslim Identities - An Introduction to Islam Second Edition - Aaron W. Hughes
1. Arabia Prior to the Advent of Islam
Muslim Identities - An Introduction to Islam Second Edition - Aaron W. Hughes
Aaron W. Hughes [+]
University of Rochester
Aaron W. Hughes is the Dean’s Professor of the Humanities and the Philip S. Bernstein Professor in the Department of Religion and Classics at the University of Rochester. His research and publications focus on both Jewish philosophy and Islamic Studies. He has authored numerous books, including Situating Islam: The Past and Future of an Academic Discipline (Equinox, 2007); Theorizing Islam: Disciplinary Deconstruction and Reconstruction (Equinox, 2012); Muslim Identities: An Introduction to Islam (Columbia, 2012); and Abrahamic Religions: On the Uses and Abuses of History (Oxford, 2012). He currently serves as the editor of the journal Method and Theory in the Study of Religion.
Description
This chapter explores the Arabian Peninsula prior to the rise of Islam. After examining some of the problems involved in studying this period, it then asks (and seeks to answer) basic questions such as: Who were the Arabs? What kind of religions existed in Arabia? The chapter provides the traditional Muslim account and then more skeptical approach of Western scholarship, before striking a synthesis between these two accounts.