Muslim History Research Articles

Family Matters

History has so far paid scant attention to Muslims in the earliest phase of colonizing the Americas. As a general policy, the Spanish Crown prohibited all non-Catholics from going to early Spanish America. Nevertheless, historians recognize that a few Muslims managed to secretly cross the Atlantic Ocean with the European settlers during the sixteenth century. Later they imported African Muslim slaves but historians considered both Africans and indigenous peoples passive participants in forming Latin American society until evidence refuted these erroneous views. Furthermore, the public had assumed that only single Spanish men went to the American unknown until historians challenged this view, and now women’s role is fully recognized in the colonizing enterprise. Additionally, despite the ban on non-Catholics, researchers found many Jews in the Americas, even if the Spanish Inquisition found out and killed almost all of them. In line with revisionist history, my research pioneers in three aspects. It demonstrates that Muslim men and women went to early Spanish America. Also, the Spanish Crown allowed Muslims to legally go to its American colonies. Additionally, the documents substantiate my new findings that Muslims went to sixteenth-century Latin America as complete families. They mostly proceeded out of Spain as the wards or servant-slaves of Spanish settlers after superficially converting to Catholicism. The present study follows two case studies that record Muslim families in early sixteenth-century Spanish America. Paradoxically, their very persecutor—the Spanish Church and its terrible Inquisitorial arm—established their contested belief in Islam.

MARIE BENNIGSEN BROXUP ABOUT THE ANTI-SOVIET UPRISING OF 1920-1921

The article examines the study of well-known political scientist and historian, who was a leading expert in the study of the history of Muslims of the Caucasus and Central Asia, Maria Bennigsen Broxup, dedicated to the anti-Soviet uprising of 1920-1921 in Daghestan and Chechnya. It is shown that this struggle was waged between two opponents - conservative Muslims and the Red Army. It is marked points that attracted the attention of a foreign researcher - the "mistakes" committed by the Red Army in relation to the local population and entailing an uprising, equipment and readiness for hostilities of the opposing sides, military operations in the territory covered by the uprising, cruelty and courage of opponents, etc. This work presents the view of a foreign author on events that took place in the border territories of Russia, complements the material of native researchers.

Article 62, 63 of Constitution of Pakistan and Moral Standards for Leadership in an Islamic State: An Analytical Study

High-status positions and leadership at the state level require high moral values in every country and society. This fundamental principle is common irrespective of countries' religious or liberal orientation despite some variations in its details. Pakistan came into being in the name of Allah, and Muslims of this region laid countless sacrifices. Thus they demanded Islamic laws and principles. This desire of Muslims was expressed in the Objectives Resolution. The inception of articles 62 & 63 in the constitution of Pakistan 1973 also reflects their passion through the eligibility criteria of the country's leadership. Article 62 demands members of parliament to run the state affairs under the principles of Islamic values, including truthfulness, honesty and trustworthiness; they should follow the same principles to lead their individual lives. Article 63 explains if there is any mismanagement in the administrative matters of a member of parliament, he would be deposed from that position. Both these articles are absolutely according to the Islamic teachings. Muslim history also endorses the high moral values for leadership. In this essay, articles 63 and 63 are thoroughly analyzed under Islamic teachings and history.

HERMENEUTIKA MUHAMMAD TALBI

Talbi, salah satu intelektual muslim yang memiliki perhatian khusus terhadap persoalan-persoalan modern dan antar agama, menawarkan metode baru dalam penafsiran al-Qur’an. Adalah Qiraat al-Tarikhiyyah (pembacaan sejarah), sebuah teori yang dibangun dari sebuah statemen bahwa seorang sejarawan muslim ketika berhadapan dengan teks keagamaan, selamanya akan berpijak pada Qiraat Unasiyah (pembacaan humanistik). Prinsip utama yang dibangun dalam metode ini adalah prinsip Maqashid (Muqarabah Maqashidiyah). Artikel ini akan mengeksplor lebih jauh tentang bagaimana cara kerja dari Qiraat Tarikhiyyah dalam upaya memahami dan menafsirkan al-Qur’an. Dengan menggunakan pendekatan historis dan perspektif humanistik, metode yang ditawarkan Talbi ini akan diuji relevansinya dalam konteks penafsiran ayat-ayat tentang pemimpin non muslim, terutama dalam konteks Indonesia.

Kepemimpinan Perempuan dalam Perspektif Al-Qur’an

The issue of the status of women in Islamic studies is still interesting and inexhaustible and invites polemics. Historical facts prove that women were placed in an inferior position almost throughout Muslim history while men were in a superior position. It’s happening because of the interpretation of the Qur'an carried out by classical commentators who tend to be influenced by deeply entrenched patriarchal culture. In the view of a society that adheres to patriarchy, the view of subordinating women to male superiority is influenced by religious doctrine but if you look at the doctrine of Islam itself, it turns out that the idea of egalitarianism is highly upheld. Basically, the Qur'an provides an obvious justification for the equality of women with men but at the level of reality, it turns out that egalitarian ideas in the Qur'an often clash with public responses that tend to be biased.

Establishing the Historiography of Islamic Sultanate in Nusantara

This article is to show how to formulate historiography of Islamic sultanate in Nusantara and This article aims to explain and explore Islamic civilization from the time of the Islamic sultanate in Nusantara (Southeast Asia). This study uses historical research methods with four procedures that are followed, namely Heuristic, Source Criticism, Interpretation, Historiography and a qualitative approach. The awareness and courage to use local sources will attract new enthusiasm in writing Islam Nusantara. Western scepticism towards the original source will only limit the creativity of local Muslim historians to create works of national identity and ancestry. This does not end with criticizing local sources and scavenging them, but instead honours them using the humanities disciplines to understand past content and information in an honest academic endeavour. If comprehensive mapping and reconciliation with local sources can be carried out, then Islam in Nusantara will gain a status as prestigious as elsewhere. Can strengthen regional Islamic identity and will strengthen the nations of Southeast Asia because of the same historical roots. From an institutional perspective, this study can guarantee the availability of religious data and information, especially those related to the early arrival of Islam and its development. Although many works have been published on the history of Islamic civilization in the Nusantara, there has been no special attention to the historical development of Islamic civilization seen from the side of the Islamic sultanate in the Nusantara.
 
 Received: 4 March 2021 / Accepted: 6 May 2021 / Published: 8 July 2021

Leader in fatah Iraq: Al Muthanna bin Haritha Al Shaibanis

In frame work of the search( The Lion of Iraqi conquest ) in the history of the Islamic Orient, specifically in the first period of Islam's clear to us that there were members of their own fingerprints from which they could make fundamental changes the history of Muslims after reconciling God and his generosity to them, of these giants, Muthanna bin Haritha Al Shaibanis a tiptop of the military leader. Converted to Islam and entrench Islam in his inside, like other companions of the prophet, and when some of his people Left there ligion of Islam he was stopping in their faces, prevent them and warned them, not but, he was fought who has left Islam and when was the Islamic conquests he was the first man whois fighting the Persians for his expertise and his people their war. When Abu Bakr was appointed Khalid bin al Waleed on the war did not Opposed, he was foughtunder kalid ’sbanner because his main concernis after life and it’s the reward also the victoryof Islam, Khalid knew him stature therefore gave him thes tature of respectin spite of the presence of senior leaders in the military likes Al Qaqaa and Adi, and other.

Muslim Occupation in France According to Arabic Literature and Western Historical Evidences

Islam has a long history in Southern France and Italy and has contributed greatly to the formation of European civilization. This has been forgotten mainly by European and French people and Muslims in general. Driven by the Spirit of jihad and the spread of Islam, the Muslim soldiers have made France and Italy’s regions into an orderly administrative region that was previously filled up with injustice. A comparison of Arabic and Western literature, especially French and Spanish and Arabic literature, was conducted to complete this discussion. Arabic literature does not indicate in detail that Muslims have been in France for a long time based on physical evidence obtained in modern times. By conducting a literature study and a comparative historical, descriptive approach, it was found that Muslims suffered a crushing defeat in the battle with Charles Martel in Tours, October 10, 732. However, Muslims were still in Gaul, Bordeaux, and Anjou (Italy), and it took place for 250 years. This shows that Muslims could adapt to the local population. Coupled with research carried out by archaeologists, gynaecologists, and sociologists with Muslim graves’ presence in the Gaul region joined by local residents, Barbarians, and Arabs indicated that the procedure for burial was performed according to Islam. The funerals were carried out in the 7th or 9th century A.D. The history of Muslims in France and Italy is not easily forgotten; these experts’ research has perpetuated Muslims’ narrative in France and Italy.

Http://habibiaislamicus.com/index.php/hirj/article/view/190

Seerah Nigari is considered one of the important initial patterns and styles of Muslim‘s historiography in early Islamic era and the several Muslim Historians worked on Seerah. Countless biographers wrote books on the life of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) who was sent as the last Prophet to mankind by Allah Almighty. It was due to the love and belief that companions of the Holy Prophet put up their best efforts to save each and every word and act of prophet’s life. Therefore, Muslim historians were writing biographies with the spirit of faith, according to which preserving every characteristic of the Prophet was the key to their perfection as Muslims. Islam emerged as a powerful religion of the world in very short time. Unlike the Muslim historians, the Orientalists, on the other hand, have been propagandizing to weaken Islam through slanders in addition to targeting the weak and ignorant ones through hidden and open ways using different platforms available to them. The basic agenda behind such actions is to targeting the religion of Islam and the person of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) in order to strengthen Christianity. This attitude is painful for the Muslims. This paper is an attempt to highlight the term Seerat Nigari and the nature of the falsification of the prejudice and antagonistic attitude regarding Islam.

Contribution of Muslim Women Scholars to Ḥadīth Transmission and Authentication

Muslim history witnessed many women who mastered the science of ḥadīth and demonstrated their expertise in the science of al-jarḥ wa ’l-ta‘dīl (invalidation and validation of ḥadīth narrators). The science of al-jarḥ wa ’l-ta‘dīl is one of the subtlest and the most important branches of the science of ḥadīth, which assesses the authenticity of the narrations attributed to the Prophet (peace be on him), based on the trustworthiness or otherwise of ḥadīth narrators. Since the beginning of Islamic history, Muslim women constantly took part in narrating, preserving, and memorizing ḥadīths. These efforts continued in the later periods. This study aims to investigate the contribution of these women scholars of ḥadīth (muḥaddithāt), especially of ‘Ā’ishah, the wife of the Prophet, to the transmission and authentication of ḥadīths. Furthermore, it highlights the intellectual contribution of women scholars of ḥadīth in order to encourage contemporary Muslim women to continue the legacy of their predecessors by mastering this science.

Идеи переосмысления мусульманской истории в работах арабских интеллектуалов конца XX – начала XXI в.

In the 21st century, Muslim reformist thought is going through a period of rapid devel-opment, during which the ideas of the renovators of the 19th – 20th centuries are being trans-formed and developed. In the late 20th – early 21st centuries, major Arab intellectuals put for-ward various ideas for rethinking the Muslim reformist paradigm by changing approaches to the study and understanding of the history of the Muslim Ummah and overcoming the non-historicity of discourse. Within the framework of this article, for the first time, an attempt was made to classify the approaches of the largest Arab representatives of the Muslim reformist movement to the study of the history of Muslim civilization from the point of view of changing the paradigms of modern humanitarian knowledge. Muhammad al-Ashmawi, within the frame-work of the positivist concept, advocated a reinterpretation of the era of the “righteous caliphs”. Faraj Fuda, who stuck to a post-positivist position, put forward the idea of an inductive rethink-ing of Muslim history. Muhammad al-Jabri, being a representative of structuralism, proposed to build a clear referential framework for the periodization of the history of Muslim civilization. Finally, Muhammad Arkun, analyzing the ways of solving the indicated problem, relied on the post-structuralist ideas of “applied Islamology” based on the progressive-regressive historical method. The presented classification clearly demonstrates the diversity of modern Muslim re-formist thought and the multi-stage nature of its development. The proposed division of ap-proaches to the study and understanding of the history of the Muslim Ummah by Arab authors can be further correlated with the typology of the development of reformist ideas in other re-gions of the Muslim world.

A Brief Survey on the Development of Education among the Sri Lankan Muslim Community Between 1948-2000

Abstract: The primary objective of this short paper is to highlight and briefly trace the development trends of education among Sri Lankan Muslim community between 1948-2000 years. A dramatic change took place in Muslim education during this period in Sri Lanka. Muslim perceptions and conceptions of education changed during the period. Some Muslim politicians, academics and intellectuals laid conceptual foundations for Muslim education during this period. It was a formative period of Muslim education. Some Muslim community leaders managed to overcome many political, religious, and socio-economic impediments to lay the foundation stones for the renaissance of Muslim Education. It is obvious that the Sri Lankan Muslim community has fallen behind in education since the colonial period. The statistics on educational achievement of each Sri Lankan community indicate that the Sri Lankan Muslim community is far behind the rest of Sri-Lankan communities in Education. There are some historical, religious, economic, and political reasons for this sluggishness of Muslim education . The title of this article is a generic one and it could include many areas of Muslim education. Yet, it is not my intention to examine different dimensions of Muslim education in Sri Lanka rather I would briefly highlight the origin, history, and the development of Muslim education in the post-independent Sri Lanka. Moreover, I will highlight the role and contribution of some Muslim community leaders who removed the dichotomous perceptions about education from the Muslim minds in Sri Lanka. How did Muslim education evolve in this period of Muslim history in Sri Lanka? What actions Muslim community leaders took to uplift Muslim education in this period? I will answer to some of these questions in this short paper. Very litter has been done on Muslim education in Sri Lanka. This area of research is relatively untouched by academics and researchers. Recently, some western academics have done some research on Muslim education in Sri Lanka. Many studies and research works can be done on Muslim education in Sri Lanka and yet, Muslim academics have shown very little interest in this area .Literature on Muslim education in Sri Lanka is rare and meagre. Therefore, academics and researchers find little research materials on Muslim education in Sri Lanka.

A Brief Survey on the Origin, History, and the Development of Muslim Education in Ceylon Under British Rule

The primary objective of this paper is to briefly trace and survey the origin, history, and development of the Muslim education in Ceylon from British colonial time to modern time. This is not an extensive study on Muslim education in Sri Lanka rather this study traces the trends and evaluation processes of Muslim education. How did the Muslim community formulate its education policies and strategies in the past in Ceylon? How did British empire help the Muslim minority community to enhance its secular education in the formative years of Muslim education in Ceylon? How did Muslim community compete with Tamil and Sinhalese communities in the field of Education? The Sri Lankan Muslim community is the second minority community today. Many statistics suggest that the Sri Lankan Muslim community is falling behind in education, public employment, and other higher education opportunities in Sri Lanka. This backwardness of Sri Lankan Muslim community in education and public services can be attributed to some historical, religious, cultural, economic, and political factors. The checkered history of the past colonial periods in Ceylon has shaped and molded the present status of the Muslim community today. The pathetic condition of Muslim community today is nothing but a reflection of wrong conceptual policies of Muslims in the past in its history. Unlike Tamil and Sinhalese communities, the Ceylon Muslim community failed to upgrade and uplift its education due to some wrong perceptions, and religious concepts. That is why even today in this digital world, the Sri Lanka Muslim community finds it hard to upgrade and uplift its education. This paper explores the interplay between the past and present-day Muslim history to understand the factors that have contributed to the backwardness of the Muslim community in Sri Lanka. A qualitative research method has been employed this research to understand why Muslims are still falling behind in education. Ideally, a quantitative research method would have been more useful one in this research to measure the level of Muslim percentage in all sections of education today and yet, it is beyond the scope of this research paper to carry out such a research.

ХИТАН ХАЛҚИ ЭТНОГЕНЕЗИ МАСАЛАСИГА ДОИР ИЛМИЙ ХУЛОСАЛАР ХИЛМА-ХИЛЛИГИ

The article scientifically examines the origins of the Khitan tribes in the early Middle Ages and various views on this issue in historical sources. It also discusses the early history of the Khitan people and the factors of socio-political events that took place in the Far East at that time. The article also provides a scientific analysis of the scientific considerations put forward by various scientists. This article also contains anthropological, linguistic and other evidence of the origin of the Khitan tribes.Index Terms: migration of peoples, Far East, China, ethnogenesis, Chinese, Liao Empire, Karahitai, eight tribes, three kingdoms of Korea, ethnonym “Tsidan”, chronicles, Sunnu tribal union, Xianbin tribal union, Yuwen, Kumosi, mujun, struggle, Sun dynasty, historian Wuyang Xu, Siberian Mongoloid race, Muslim historians

The Influence of Bani Jafer Ibn Kilab Al-Amrieen in Early-Islam Epoch: An Analytic Historical Study

This study deals with The Influence of Bani Jafer Ibn Kilab Al-Amrieen in Early-Islam Epoch: An Analytic Historical Study. It summarizes the role and place of one of Arab tribes in Early-Islam epoch. It shades the light on important events in the history of this tribe, some of which were positive others were negative in its history . More importantly, this tribe was known for its important stances in Muslim history. Some of its tribesmen were well-known so this study is an introduction to show its role and influence in Muslim history.

Islam and Muslims in “non-religious” Japan: caught in between prejudice against Islam and performative tolerance

AbstractThis paper examines how Islam in Japan tends to be tolerated as (foreign) “culture,” especially within the framework of tabunka kyōsei, multicultural coexistence, and cosmetic multiculturalism to circumvent religious apathy, phobia of religion, and prejudice against Islam. In doing so, this paper will: first provide a history of Muslim–Japanese relations and Muslim communities in Japan as well as an overview of the total estimate of the Muslim population in Japan as of 2018; historicize and denaturalize religious apathy, phobia of religion, and prejudice against Islam among the general Japanese public; analyze the rhetoric of tabunka kyōsei and its relation to cosmetic multiculturalism as well as its problematics; investigate the cases of local oppositions to the building projects of mosques and my observations made at events organized by Muslim groups; and conclude with a critical remark on the cosmetic multiculturalist understanding of “Islamic culture” and its approach to tabunka kyōsei.

Oral history and historical writing among Arabs - Critical Analytical Study –: التاريخ الشفاهي والكتابة التاريخية عند العرب - دراسة تحليلية نقدية –

The aim of the study is to demonstrate the efforts of Muslim historians in preserving oral history and making it an important foundation of the historical material. The inductive syllabus was used in the study, and the results of it showed that the early historians adopted a set of characteristics and controls that are compatible with the nature of Islamic history, and these things in its entirety participated in the emergence of the curriculum Criticism of historical narratives, and in light of the results, a number of recommendations and proposals were presented to study oral history, preserve it, and develop ways of adopting it.

PEMIKIRAN PENDIDIKAN ISLAM IBN KHALDUN

Ibn Khaldun is known as an expert in Islamic science, history or Muslim historians, as a philosopher, economist, politician and educator. He is known as the father of sociology. Education is not only limited to a teaching and learning process that is limited by time and space, but more broadly education is a process where students are able to live, absorb and even capture natural events throughout the ages. Ibn Khaldun's thoughts on Islamic Education are not only concerned with religious only but also in terms of worldliness, according to him, both of them are not inferior. Importantly, both must be given to students. Therefore, he emphasized that science and education are social phenomena that characterize human types. Learning material according to him should be are aqliyah and naqliyah. the method it offers is very relevant in modern world education. His thoughts on education could be reference in modern world education. Because what he has to offer is very prioritizing theory and practice in education must be applied well, especially Islamic education. Because education must come from alqu'ran where Islamic teachings must be applied to reality life.

The Princess and the Prophet: The Secret History of Magic, Race, and Moorish Muslims in America by Jacob S. Dorman

Reviewed by: The Princess and the Prophet: The Secret History of Magic, Race, and Moorish Muslims in America by Jacob S. Dorman Justine M. Bakker Black religion, esotericism, Africa, Moorish Muslims, Moslem, magic, race, orientalism, polyculturalism, bricolage Jacob s. dorman. The Princess and the Prophet: The Secret History of Magic, Race, and Moorish Muslims in America. Boston: Beacon Press, 2020. Pp. 336. We're only a couple of pages in when Jacob Dorman breaks the news: Noble Drew Ali was not a native of North Carolina, nor was he born as Timothy (or Thomas) Drew. No, the man who would come to establish the Moorish Science Temple of America (MSTA) was born as John Walter Brister, a native of Carlisle, Kentucky (6, 22, 124). The evidence: a mole on the right side of his nose, which Dorman identified by blowing up and comparing two photographs. "A microhistorical proof has seldom rested on such microscopic evidence," he concludes with a flair of drama (11). Dorman's monograph—his second, following the well-received and more conventionally academic Chosen People (2012)—reads like a detective novel. To some degree, Dorman's aims seem to align with other scholars intrigued by the quest for the "true" origins of Black religious leaders (the many theories that exist about Fard Muhammad, founder of the Nation of Islam, are perhaps the most obvious example); a quest that, when it begins to border the sensational, can become problematic. Dorman's revelation and the book as a whole are, however, evidently the result of over fifteen years of meticulous archival research that offers more than a new interpretation of Noble Drew Ali's identity; it presents a new interpretation of the role and position of Islam in Black—and white—America.1 We meet Brister at the age of thirteen, as bandleader of a famous "kid band" that performed on Broadway. At eighteen, Brister exchanged his cornet for a turban, performing as a "hindoo magician" who went by the name of "Armmah Sotanki." Between 1898 and 1913, the "Sotanki" troupe, which also included Brister's wife Eva Alexander (the princess of the title), would don a number of "Oriental disguises" as part of their stage magic acts (103–5). A skilled snake-handler, Eva would soon outshine her husband in [End Page 425] fame, even when the latter, upon taking up residency in Chicago, "resumed his musical career" sometime after 1902 (113). It is at this point in the story that Dorman delivers another bombshell revelation: digging up a record from the Freeman, he announces that in 1914, Walter Brister was pronounced dead (115). Dorman speculates that Brister may have taken on the identity of his half-brother, Thomas Drew. At some point during 1913 or 1914, he began to identify as "Moslem" and started the Canaanite Temple, in a barbershop in New Jersey. Brister/Drew returned to Chicago in 1925 where he began preaching on street corners, applying "everything he had learned as a performer, magician, and healer to the new role of Noble Drew Ali, but also incorporat[ing] a strong new element of religious reform and economic solidarity" (185) as well as a heavy dose of patriotism and respectability politics. Dorman convincingly depicts Brister as a religious bricoleur—or "cultural virtuoso" (201)—who created a new identity and movement based on a wide variety of sources, including the rituals of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine and Rosicrucian and Theosophical writings. Only a few years later, on July 20, 1929, Noble Drew Ali passed away. His death remains a mystery. While others have attributed it to tuberculosis or police violence, Dorman floats the possibility that the Prophet's intimate connections with Chicago's corrupt political scene—to which he dedicates a few chapters—might have had something to do with it. Shedding new light on Noble Drew Ali, The Princess and the Prophet will prove indispensable for those interested in (this) Black esoteric religion; the more so because, as Dorman emphasizes in his Epilogue, the Prophet has had a lasting influence on African-American Islam. For instance, the Nation of Islam, whose founder is rumored to have been a member of the MSTA but...

Conversion to Islam: Competing Themes in Early Islamic Historiography by Ayman S. Ibrahim

Reviewed by: Conversion to Islam: Competing Themes in Early Islamic Historiography by Ayman S. Ibrahim Mohammad H. Faghfoory Ayman S. Ibrahim, Conversion to Islam: Competing Themes in Early Islamic Historiography Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2021, Table of Contents viii–ix, acknowledgments xi, Note on transliteration xiii, Conversion topoi xv, Muslim Historians under the Abbasids xvii, Glossary xix+246 pages, Primary Sources Authors 247-253, Works Cited and Index 265–291. In this thought provoking, meticulously researched, and clearly written book, Ayman Ibrahim demonstrates the interplay between history and historiography. He analyzes different aspects of conversions during the first three centuries of Islam, as represented in historiographical accounts. As such, the book contains research on conversions, not necessarily as they occurred but how Muslim historians understood and described the process of conversions. Naturally, conversion meant different thing to different people and social groups. In a long introduction, Ibrahim describes the framework of his approach where he also gives a detailed analysis of previous studies on conversion. He challenges the views of scholars who underestimate the significance of historiographical sources, and instead relied on non-historiographical sources such as biographical dictionaries, geographies, belle letters, and legal texts or addressed a specific region. The fact is that those earlier studies are unique in their own ways. If there is an issue with their approach it is not because those engaged used non-historiographical or “wrong sources” as Richard Bulliet wrote, but in their treatment of the vast world of Islam as a monolithic and homogenous region, rather than a world comprised of diverse peoples, cultures, languages, historical experiences, and ethnic or linguistic identities. To complement those studies, Ibrahim states that his book “is the first scholarly inquiry to trace, identify, and analyze conversion themes in Islamic historiography during the first three centuries of Islam.” Ibrahim regards Islamic historiography in general and that of conversions in particular as the product of the mind of the historians whose ability to record the events of their time was subject to political, religious, and social considerations. Therefore, rather than recording the events as they unfolded, historiography became “a tool devised to form the historical memory of the [End Page 88] faithful rather than as a precise sketch of the past.” As a result, narrating conversions reflects more than simply change of religion by some, but “the interaction between the historian’s agenda and the vibrant political and sectarian contexts at the time of writing.”1 In this feature lies the weakness as well as the strength of the historiographical narratives of conversion. There are some important questions to ask regarding early conversions. Who were the earliest converts to Islam and why did they convert to this new religion? What were the motivations of different people to convert? What was the role of social, political, and economic factors in conversions? How different and/or similar were conversions of people in different geographical regions? What part faith in Islamic doctrine that inspired a desire for piety among people played in the process of conversions? Ibrahim provides answers to these questions by classifying the converts into six groups in accordance with the time and circumstances of their conversion, their motivations, and the degree of sincerity or lack thereof among converts. The groups include the earliest coverts (awa’il), notables and chiefs (wujaha), those who performed a good deed after embracing Islam (hausn islam), those who accepted Islam after they were defeated in 8/629 when the Prophet conquered Mecca (tulaqa), and finally those who negotiated conversion in return for financial incentives from the Prophet (mu’allafa qulubuhum), and the People of the Book.2 These narratives enabled the community to construct a value system and develop criteria to judge the quality of the faith of the converts. Hence, as Ibrahim states, the new converts’ faith was assessed by virtue of their intentions, sincerity, deeds, material expectations, and political compromise.3 These themes can be identified in all phases of the period under investigation during the Umayyad and Abbasid caliphates even though the emphasis on each theme shifted from one theme to another at each phase. It is safe to assume that during the time of the Prophet and the period...