Muslims, Jews, and Pagans: Studies on Early Islamic Medina

This text examines the available source material on the `Uliya area south of Medina on the eve of Islam and at the time of the Prophet Muhammad. It provides some of the necessary background for the study of the Prophet's history by utilizing, in addition to the Prophet's biographies, various texts about the history, geography and inhabitants of this area. The topics include the landscape, notably the fortifications, the delayed conversion to Islam of parts of the Aws tribe, the Quba' village and the incident of Masjid al-Dirar in 9 A.H. The three appendices deal with historical apologetics, pointing to the social context in which the Prophet's biography emerged during the first Islamic century.