Study Guide for F. E. Peters

F. E. Peters teaches Islamic history at New York University, and has written many books including, besides this one on Muhammad, The Children of Abraham: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, 1982; Aristotle and the Arabs, 1968; Hajj, the Muslim Pilgrimage to Mecca, 1994; Mecca: A Literary History of the Muslim Holy City, 1994; Jerusalem: The Holy City in the Eyes of Chroniclers, Visitors, Pilgrims, and Prophets from the Days of Abraham to the Beginnings of Modern Times, 1985.

• Terms, Names, Places:
• Abd al-Muttalib
  Quraysh
  Ka'ba
  Zamzam [Zamazm]
  Haram
  Hajj
  Abdullah
  Abraha, Yeman, Abyssinia
  Ibn Ishaq: the most important biographer of Muhammad, whose 'Sira' -- the story of the life of -- of Muhammad was written about 150 years after Muhammad's death. You will notice that many of the selections in this piece are quoted from Ibn Ishaq. We have the full biography, in English, in the library.
  "The Sacred Months"
  "Hums" -- those Arabs who were considered [and considered themselves] to be the most pious and religious of the early Arabs.
  

Questions:

• 1. Peters provides an account of Arabia just prior to Muhammad's birth, and of his earliest years. How does Peters explain the role of Mecca and its Ka'ba prior to Muhammad, and how did Muhammad change Meccan use of this place?
• 2. What in "international relations" affecting Arabia had an impact on Muhammad early in his life?