The Arabs and Arabia on the eve of Islam / edited by F.E. Peters.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

The nature of Arab unity before Islam / G.E. von Grunebaum -- The role of nomads in the Near East in late antiquity (400-800 C.E.) / Fred M. Donner -- The Bedouinization of Arabia / Werner Caskel -- Trans-Arabian routes of the pre-Islamic period / Daniel T. Potts -- Al-Hira: some notes on its relations with Arabia / M.J. Kister -- Pre-Islamic Bedouin religion / Joseph Henninger -- Idol worship in pre-Islamic Medina (Yathrib) / Michael Lecker -- The origin of the Jews of Yathrib / Moshe Gil -- Haram and Hawtah, the sacred enclave in Arabia / R.B. Serjeant -- Pre-foundations of the Muslim community in Mecca / Fazlur Rahman -- Mecca before the time of the prophet: attempt of an anthropological interpretation / Walter Dostal -- The "sacred offices" of Mecca from Jahiliyya to Islam / Gerald R. Hawting -- Hanifiyya and Ka'ba: an inquiry into the Arabian pre-Islamic background of Dīn Ibrāhīm / Uri Rubin -- Pre-Islamic monotheism in Arabia / Hamilton A.R. Gibb -- Belief in a "high god" in pre-Islamic Mecca / W. Montgomery Watt -- The Ka'ba: aspects of its ritual functions and position in pre-Islamic and early Islamic times / Uri Rubin -- The role played by the organization of the "Hụms" in the evolution of political ideas in pre-Islamic Mecca / Ugo Fabietti -- The campaign of Hụlubān: a new light on the expedition of Abraha / M.J. Kister.