Mohammed and the Rise of Islam

The standpoint from which this book is written suggests and regards Mohammed as a great man, who solved a political problem of appalling difficulty – the construction of a state and an empire out of the Arab tribes. The book endeavours in recounting the mode in which Mohammed accomplished this, to do justice to his intellectual ability and to observe towards him the respectful attitude which his greatness deserves. The volume is neither an apology nor an indictment.

As far as the fecundity of the content is concerned, the book has taken a cue from different Arab sources and many scholarly works of earlier historians, efforts of many European scholars on Mohammedan antiquities and Islamic traditions. In condemning traditions unhistorical, the book has ordinarily considered the obelus of scholars like Ignaz Goldziher, Thodor Noldeke and Julius Wellhausen sufficient.