HST6754 - The Formation of the Early Islamic World: Muslims, Jews and Christians, 600-945 CE

This special subject investigates the formation of early Islam and the interactions between Islam, Judaism, and Christianity in the late antique and early medieval regions of the Levant, Mesopotamia, Fars, the Arabian Peninsula, and Egypt. We will follow how the minority Muslim rulers navigated relationships with the majority Jewish and Christian communities they ruled over through examining textual and archaeological primary sources. We will employ a multi disciplinary approach, drawing upon the methodologies of history, archaeology, anthropology, and theology, and exploring topics such as: the formation of Islamic law and the place of non-Muslims within it; when and how the Muslim profession of faith developed; the debate surrounding the licit or illicit nature of images within Islam and what it held in common with contemporary Christian and Jewish debates over images; historically shared beliefs, traditions, and celebrations amongst Jewish, Christian and Muslim communities; ethnic tensions between Arab and non-Arab Muslims; inter-religious marriage; and conflicts between communities and how they were resolved.