This book, based substantially on the author's doctoral dissertation(UCLA, 1981), presents an economic interpretation of the early history ofIslam. By studying the trends and consequences of pre-Islamic Makkah'scommercial activities, it seeks to bring out both the material bases of therise of Islam and the element of continuity between pre-Islamic Makkah andearly Islamic history.The author bases his work on the following postulate: the developmentof merchant capital in sixth-century Makkah allowed it to become the dominantpolitical and economic power in Arabia. The most successful wielder of thisstatus, the Banii Umayyah, eventually consolidated its position as the wielderof authority. The growth of commercial capitalism, which caused social transformations within Makkah and made the effective regulation of its externalrelations a necessity so as to safeguard its commercial interests, resulted inthe development of several institutions, such as sadaqah (charitable offerings),rifadah (support), siqayah (providing water to the pilgrims to Makkah), ilaf(a pact guaranteeing safety and safe-conduct), hums (those people inhabitingthe haram at the time of the Prophet’s appearance who observed rigorousreligious taboos), and hilf (confederacy). However, institutional developmentin Makkah proved inadequate to the demands created by rapid economicprogress.The resultant problems gradually formed the material basis which causedthe advent of Islam. Islam, in turn, sought to promote Makkah’s commercialcapitalism through, for example, the concept of a monotheistic God’s absoluteand everlasting authority, which solved the problems associated with thebreakdown of pre-Islamic Makkah’s tribal authority, and through its conceptof an ummah which transcended tribal barriers and made social and economicmobility possible ...