History of the Jews of Arabia

Gordon Darnell Newby is the chair of the Department of Middle Eastern and South Asian Studies at Emory University and a professor in the graduate program of West and South Asian religions. His books include The Making of the Last Prophet: A Reconstruction of the Earliest Biography of Muhammad and A Concise Encyclopedia of Islam.

A daring venture... because of its attempt at reconstructing the history of a once-important but little-known group based on very sparse data. - Religious Studies Review ""The Jews of Arabia maintained a thriving, vital Diaspora community for centuries. While Muhammad was spreading Islam around Medina in the seventh century, there were Arabian Jewish merchants, poets, pastoral nomads, farmers, sculptors, and warriors. One of the findings of this scholarly synthesis is that Arabian Jewry influenced Muhammad's developing vision of his prophetic mission.... By identifying a body of shared experiences of Jews and Muslims, Newby's study gives hope for peaceful coexistence in the Middle East."" - Publishers Weekly