Muhammad and the Origins of Islam (Suny Series in Near Eastern Studies) (Suny Series, Near Eastern Studies) [Paperback]

F. E. Peters (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: State University of New York Press (March 31, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0791418766
• ISBN-13: 978-0791418765
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,026,253 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

F. E. Peters

Francis Edward Peters is Professor Emeritus of History, Religion and Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies at New York University. A native of NYC, where he attended Regis H.S. and still lives, he was trained at St. Louis University in Classical Languages (AB, MA) and in Philosophy (Ph.L.), and received his Ph.D. from Princeton in Islamic Studies. Peters, though formally trained as both a classicist and an Islamicist, is best known as a historian of religion, a field where he was a pioneer, and is now the leading scholar, in the comparative study of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. It is a subject on which he has written more than twenty books, most notably the two volume The Monotheists (Princeton, 2003), The Children of Abraham. A New Edition (Princeton, 2004) and The Voice, The Word, The Books: The Sacred Scriptures of the Jews, Christians and Muslims (Princeton 2007). His most recent, Jesus and Muhammad: Parallel Tracks, Parallel Lives appeared from Oxford University Press in 2010, and he has contributed as well to the Oxford Bibliographies Online. .

In addition to his more than forty years teaching everything from Homer to Hasidism in the classrooms of NYU (where he chaired both the Classics and the Middle Eastern Studies departments and won a number of teaching awards), as well as accepting visiting professorships and guest lectureships at many of America's and the Middle East's top universities, Peters has been featured on CBS' TV series Sunrise Semester and on a variety of TV documentaries and served as New York's WPIX TV anchorman for the original moon landing. He has three audio courses on tape and CD in the Barnes and Noble Portable Professor series. He is presently serving as Distinguished Visiting Professor at the General Theological Seminary in New York City and has assisted in curating public exhibitions at Holy Cross College, The British Library and The New York Public Library.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Life of Prophet Mohammed, May 28, 2001

By 

Muzaffer Muctehitzade "hacibey" (Boston, Ma USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Muhammad and the Origins of Islam (Suny Series in Near Eastern Studies) (Suny Series, Near Eastern Studies) (Paperback)

One of the best books about Prophet Mohammed (PBH), his life and religion of God. Author provides first a good history of Arabia prior to birth of Prophet where you get a good understanding of the environment, there are a lot of references to old greek, persian and Byzantium historians. Than mostly relying on Ibn Ishak's "Life of Mohammed" the birth and life of Mohammed is written. There are few references to Hadiths that may not necessarily be sahih or reliable but considering that they are muslim sources, author seems to take them as they are. I found this book written very nicely, all key events are described with quotations from the original sources and time to time author makes interpretations or value judgments. I found the ancient history of arabia very useful, provides you perspective and who is who type of information.