So I've finished reading Holland's book on the origins of Islam and I have to say I am not very impressed. I've revised my goals a bit and I will no longer be doing a point-by-point refutation of his book since much (as Holland himself admits) is speculatory, far too broad to refute directly and simply … Continue reading Abraha, the year of the elephant, and the location of Mecca in Tom Holland’s “In the Shadow of the Sword”
history
A new Arabic papyrus dating within 12 years of the Prophet Muhammad
بسم الله In 2014 Islamic historian Fred Donner gave a talk on an very curious papyrus page dating from the very early Islamic era. The letter is of tremendous interest for reasons I will mention in this post. Papyrus E17861 The text is a personal letter talking about the distribution of a sum of money among relatives. It … Continue reading A new Arabic papyrus dating within 12 years of the Prophet Muhammad
I’m currently reading…
"The Canonization of Islamic Law" by Ahmed El Shamsy. This is a great book! It's a new theory on the development of Islamic Law during the earliest centuries of Islam. I've gotten through 1/3rd of it so far, my current chapters are exploring the reasons for the rise and entrenchment of Shafi'ism in Arabian lands. … Continue reading I’m currently reading…
Pondering Islam 