A Prophet Has Appeared - Annotated by Stephen J Shoemaker (Hardcover)

About the Book

"The first anthology to compile the most significant non-Islamic sources for understanding the rise of Islam. Early Islam has emerged as a lively site of historical investigation, and scholars have challenged the traditions of both Islam and its academic study by drawing attention to the wealth of non-Islamic sources that describe its rise. A Prophet Has Appeared brings this approach to the classroom. The collection provides students with carefully selected, introduced, and annotated materials from non-Islamic records dating to the early years of Islam, which students and scholars can read alongside the Qur'an and later Islamic materials. Applying historical-critical analysis, the volume aims to place these invaluable sources on more equal footing with the much later Islamic narratives about Muhammad and the formation of his new religious movement. The sourcebook includes new English translations of twenty different authors or sources. Initially written in many languages-not just Greek and Latin, but Syriac, Georgian, Armenian, Hebrew, and Arabic-these texts span a broad geographic expanse from England to Egypt and Iran. Ideal for the classroom and personal library, readers will gain the tools to meaningfully approach a new, burgeoning area of Islamic studies"--

Book Synopsis

Early Islam has emerged as a lively site of historical investigation, and scholars have challenged the traditional accounts of Islamic origins by drawing attention to the wealth of non-Islamic sources that describe the rise of Islam. A Prophet Has Appeared brings this approach to the classroom. This collection provides students and scholars with carefully selected, introduced, and annotated materials from non-Islamic sources dating to the early years of Islam. These can be read alone or alongside the Qur'an and later Islamic materials. Applying historical-critical analysis, the volume moves these invaluable sources to more equal footing with later Islamic narratives about Muhammad and the formation of his new religious movement.

Included are new English translations of sources by twenty authors, originally written in not only Greek and Latin but also Syriac, Georgian, Armenian, Hebrew, and Arabic and spanning a geographic range from England to Egypt and Iran. Ideal for the classroom and personal library, this sourcebook provides readers with the tools to meaningfully approach a new, burgeoning area of Islamic studies.

From the Back Cover

"This excellent and concise volume presents the reader, both novice and informed, with the most important non-Islamic textual witnesses to the rise of Islam during its first century. In accessible English, Stephen Shoemaker has woven these sources together into a coherent narrative focusing particularly on Islamic settlement in and around Jerusalem and Syria. This book will prove essential reading in any undergraduate and graduate course on the early centuries of Islam."--Naomi Koltun-Fromm, Professor of Religion, Haverford College

Review Quotes

"This collection allows students and scholars to have access to carefully selected, introduced, and annotated materials from non-Islamic sources dating to the early years of Islam. Most of the time neglected, these external witnesses are certainly valuable for the understanding of early Islam."-- "ISLAMOCHRISTIANA"

"This is an excellent book and essential reading for anyone interested in the history of Islam during its formative period."-- "Journal of Near Eastern Studies"

"This sourcebook is a valuable contribution to reliable historical data concerning theologically based approaches to the rise of Islam."

-- "CHOICE"

"Indeed, Shoemaker provides one of the most cohesive alternative visions to the emergence of Islam. A Prophet Has Appeared is a pivotal piece of this vision."-- "Reading Religion"

"A marvel of concision and originality; best of all, it is readily accessible to the general reader. . . . A Prophet Has Appeared is one of the most readable and exciting books in Islamic history."

-- "Middle East Quarterly"

About the Author

Stephen J. Shoemaker is Professor of Religious Studies and Ira E. Gaston Fellow in Christian Studies at the University of Oregon. He is a specialist on early Christian apocrypha, devotion to the Virgin Mary, and the rise of Islam. He is the author of The Death of a Prophet, The Apocalypse of Empire, and Mary in Early Christian Faith and Devotion, among many other publications.