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

• Author: Rippin, A.

The publication and appearance of Arabic texts from authors of the distant past has given new impetus to the goal of rediscovering the early history of Islam - at least to some scholars. Recognizing that material may be uncovered in texts well outside the traditional historical chronological sources, Michael Lecker here embarks on an investigation of the town of Medina at the time of the rise of Islam. In fact, this present work, one manifestation of his prolific research in the general area, focuses not on Medina as a whole but on "the elevated area south of Medina, which in the early Islamic period was called al-Aliya or al- Awali" (p. x). Lecker's aim is to investigate, in depth, "certain aspects of the Prophet's Medinan period and Islamic literature dealing with it" (p. xi).

Lecker's main methodological point follows what is central in the approach so skillfully applied by M. J. Kister and his many students: as many sources as possible need to be scoured for as much information as possible about early Islam and Muhammad, because the sira is not sufficient as a source and all genres of literature "draw from the huge repository of Islamic tradition" (p. xi, n. 8). The best overall source, according to Lecker, is al-Samhudi, who died in 1506, because he had access to books not now accessible to us. But other information also comes from geographical and genealogical details found scattered about.

The assembling of facts is organized in four major chapters. "The Aliya: Orchards and Fortresses" attempts to describe the geographical location and attributes of the area, with special attention to the types of fortifications which were to be found. It is noted that the eastern part of al- Aliya, in which the main Jewish clans (Nadir and Qurayza) and two clans of the Aws Allah group lived, was the most fortified part. The role of these two clans of the Aws Allah is the focus of the next chapter. These people embraced Islam after the Battle of the Ditch in 5 A.H., being the last Arab clans to make the move; they were, in consort with the Jews, the major opposition to Muhammad before that.

One of the villages on the western side of al- Aliya was Quba, which is the focus of chapter three of the book. The analysis here focuses on the various tribes found in the town and their role in the early history of Islam. The town was the site of what has become known as the Dirar Mosque incident in the year 9 A.H., and it is to that which Lecker turns in...