Lindstedt (Ilkka), Muḥammad and His Followers in Context. The Religious Map of Late Antique Arabia, Leiden, Brill, ("Islamic History and Civilization, Volume ; 209"), 2024, ? ISBN 978-90-04-68713-4

Author

Ilkka Lindstedt, Ph.D. (2014), is Lecturer in Islamic theology at the University of Helsinki. He works on pre-Islamic Arabia, early Islam, Arabic historiography, and Arabic epigraphy. Recent publications include: Ilkka Lindstedt, Nina Nikki, and Riikka Tuori (eds.), Religious Identities in Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages: Walking Together & Parting Ways, Brill 2022.

Presentation

This book surveys and analyzes changes in religious groups and identities in late antique Arabia, ca. 300-700 CE. It engages with contemporary and material evidence: for example, inscriptions, archaeological remains, Arabic poetry, the Qurʾān, and the so-called Constitution of Medina. Also, it suggests ways to deal with the later Arabic historiographical and other literary texts. The issue of social identities and their processes are central to the study. For instance, how did Arabian ethnic and religious identities intersect on the eve of Islam? The book suggests that the changes in social groups were more piecemeal than previously thought.

Credit Photo : https://www.flickr.com/people/waltercallens/

A bronze statue of Dhamar Ali Yahbur II, a Himyarite king who probably reigned in late 3rd or early 4th century AD. Displayed in the Sana’a National Museum.
العربية: ذمار علي يهبر، ملك من مملكة حمير اليمنية حكم في أواخر القرن الميلادي الثالث أو بدايات الرابع بعد الميلاد. التمثال يظهر الفن و الحضارة و الفخامة في اليمن القديم. معروض في متحف صنعاء الوطني