Muhammad and the rise of Islam

doi:10.1017/CHOL9780521362917.014

12 - Muhammad and the rise of Islam

from PART II - THE SEVENTH CENTURY

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 March 2008

Carole Hillenbrand

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Paul Fouracre

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Paul Fouracre: Affiliation:
University of Manchester

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Summary

pre-islamic arabia

Traditionally, scholars have drawn a firm distinction between south Arabia (especially the south-western corner which corresponds to modern Yemen) and the rest of the peninsula. Although, as we shall see later, it is unhelpful to draw too crude a division between south and north, the dichotomy is essentially dictated by geography: most of Arabia in late antique times consisted predominantly of vast areas of desert, fringed with oases, whilst the southern part of the peninsula, the ‘Arabia Felix’ of the ancients, was blessed with abundant and regular rainfall and could support a highly developed agriculture, underpinned by extensive and elaborate irrigation systems.

South Arabia was thickly populated, its inhabitants were largely sedentarised and agriculturalist from around the eighth century bc and its towns had provided a milieu conducive to the development of political institutions and material culture. A few kingdoms or city-states, such as Ma’n, Saba’, Qataban and Hadramawt, stand out from the blurred outlines of south Arabian history, based as it is on oral tradition. Such states could enjoy brief periods of independent power or could become united for a while, as was the case with the kingdom of Himyar around the beginning of the fourth century ad.

Keywords

kahins Islamic empire African littoral Arab invasions Central Asia Muslim tradition Medina Prophet Qur'anic revelations Muhammad

Type: Chapter
Information: The New Cambridge Medieval History , pp. 317 - 345

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CHOL9780521362917.014 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2005

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12 - Muhammad and the rise of Islam

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