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Book: Muslim Identities

Chapter: 1. Arabia Prior to the Advent of Islam

DOI: 10.1558/equinox.43098

Blurb:

This chapter explores the Arabian Peninsula prior to the rise of Islam. After examining some of the problems involved in studying this period, it then asks (and seeks to answer) basic questions such as: Who were the Arabs? What kind of religions existed in Arabia? The chapter provides the traditional Muslim account and then more skeptical approach of Western scholarship, before striking a synthesis between these two accounts.

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