Hagarism: The Making of the Islamic World [Hardcover]

Patricia Crone (Author), Michael Cook (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 27, 1977

This is a controversial study of the origins of Islamic civilisation, first published in 1977. By examining non-Muslim sources, the authors point out the intimate link between the Jewish religion and the earliest forms of Islam. As a serious, scholarly attempt to open up a new, exploratory path of Islamic history, the book has already engendered much debate. This paperback edition will make the authors' conclusions widely accessible to teachers and students of Middle Eastern and Islamic studies.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'The authors' erudition is quite extraordinary, their industry everywhere evident, their prose ebullient.' Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies

'Here, then, is a work of brilliance and deep intellectual penetration ... without doubt it constitutes a landmark in the history of scholarship.' The Times Higher Education Supplement

Book Description

This is a controversial study of the origins of Islamic civilisation that examines non-Muslim sources that point out an intimate link between the Jewish religion and the earliest forms of Islam. This book is for teachers and students of Middle Eastern and Islamic studies.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 268 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press; 1st Ed. edition (May 27, 1977)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0521211336
• ISBN-13: 978-0521211338
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,073,642 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

36 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Provocative Thesis & Revisionist History, December 31, 2005

By 

Kirk H Sowell (Washington D.C.) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hagarism: The Making of the Islamic World (Paperback)

As the other reviews to this book seem to have been written by reviewers with an axe to grind, I thought that I would say a few words about this short book. The first important thing to understand is that while Cook and Crone, both reputable scholars, put forth a carefully argued thesis here, their view is very much the minority view among non-Muslim scholars of Islam. The controversial element: while Muhammad was likely a real person, an migrant who founded a movement around 622, most other elements of early Islamic tradition, including the revelation of the Quran and the central role of Mecca, are likely invented traditions fabricated in the latter part of the seventh century.

While it is difficult to imagine that Islam as we think of it was invented after the conquests (circa 633-650), the Cook/Crone thesis is not without hard evidence. For example, coins with Quranic verses differ from the official version sixty years after it was supposedly standardized by Uthman. Some early non-Muslim sources - of very limited quantity - do seem to support a radically different story than the standard one. The fact that the tradition was not written down until well over a century after the fact certainly calls it into question if it is contradicted by other evidence, however sketchy.

One element of the thesis I find interesting is the argument that the break between Muslims and Jews took place not in the late 620s, as Muslim tradition claims, but after the conquest of Palestine. Only then, so the argument goes, was the focus of Islam reoriented toward Mecca from Palestine. I find this interesting because it would throw a great deal of light onto how exactly the Muslims managed their amazing conquests with so much apparent ease. That Christians and Jews in Palestine and Syria were unhappy with Byzantium is widely known, but this thesis adds much to that point.

13 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Valuable first step to historic interpretation, March 26, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Hagarism: The Making of the Islamic World (Hardcover)

The historic interpretation of the Koran is, for political reasons, still in its infacy. This book is a valuable first step.

When the "Christoph Luxenberg" book is translated into English this year (2004), it will stimulate more interest.

For a good overview of the issues presented, go to Atlantic Monthly (on-line), Jan 1999, and check out the article by Toby Lester "What is the Koran?"

18 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars dhimmitude exposed, February 2, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Hagarism: The Making of the Islamic World (Hardcover)

Contrary to most modern so called scholarly analyses of Islam, which are apologetic, Hagarism exposes some of its falsehoods and is very helpfull for anyone who wants to research about the subject without self imposed dhimmi attitude of fear and adjustment to the current Muslim ideology.