ajiss


The Emergence of Islam: Classical Traditions
in Contemporary Perspective

Gabriel Said Reynolds
Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2012. 226 pages.

Gabriel Said Reynolds’ The Emergence of Islam, with a new interpretation and
new (although somewhat critical and controversial) insights, is an illustrated,
lucidly, and comprehensively contribution to the study and history of the “emer-
gence” of Islam. Usually such an account is rather “straightforward,” whereas
the question of “how much of this story is historically accurate” is “less straight-
forward” (p. ix). The book’s three parts – “The Prophet Muhammad and the
Rightly Guided Caliphs” (chapters 1 through 3), “The Qur’an” (chapters 4
through7), and “Contemporary Perspectives” (chapter 8) – discuss the emer-
gence of Islamic history from its origins to the contemporary views.

Part 1 presents the “traditional story” from the Prophet’s birth to Ali’s
death (570-661): “Muhammad in Mecca,” “Muhammad in Medina,” and “The
Birth of an Empire.” In this part, Reynolds analyzes how and why pious Mus-
lim scholars wrote Islam’s “story” in this manner and simultaneously offers,
in the same section or part, an appreciation of the Islamic understanding of
the Prophet and his immediate four political successors. 

Part 2 provides a “critical” scholarly perspective of Islam’s rise through
presenting the Qur’an, which, according to the author, is the “most ancient,”
earliest and primordial (p. x), and “most intriguing” source of its emergence
(p. 167). Chapter 4, “The Qur’an and Its Message,” comprises a general pres-
entation of the Qur’an’s message and the strategies it uses to convince the
reader of its truth. Chapter 5, “The Quran and the Bible,” deals with the
Qur’an’s close relationship with Biblical traditions. These are followed by
chapter 6, “Rethinking the Biography of Prophet Muhammad,” and chapter
7, “The Historical Context of the Qur’an,” wherein Reynolds asks what the
Qur’an itself might teach us about the “story” of Islam’s origins. 

In this part, Reynolds uses the “Qur’anist” approach, although not in
the “religious sense of the term” but “by relying on the Qur’an alone,” in
order to “gain a revealing view of Islam’s emergence” (p. 92): “Whereas
most scholars see the Qur’an through the lens of the traditional history of
Islam’s emergence, we will see the history of Islam’s emergence through the
lens of the Qur’an.” (p. xi; italics added). In other words, he bases his nar-
rative only on what is found in the Qur’an: “What we can know about the
emergence of Islam from the witness of the Qur’an alone” (p. 90). Chapters

Book Reviews 125

ajiss301-latest_ajiss  12/10/2012  6:55 PM  Page 125



5 and 6 especially suggest that the “Qur’an was proclaimed in a milieu
where people were hotly debating theology … and where they knew the lit-
erature of the Jews and Christians well” (p. 135). Similarly, in chapter 7
Reynolds states: “Instead of asking what the biography of the Prophet can
teach us about the Qur’an, we will ask what the Qur’an can tell us about the
biography of the Prophet, and about the emergence of Islam in general” (p.
154). 

Part 3 offers insight into contemporary Islamic visions of the Qur’an and
Prophet Muhammad’s life, illustrating thereby how Islam’s interaction and
contact with the West has led Muslims to develop new ideas about the Qur’an
and the Prophet today. This chapter introduces case studies (viz., Egypt, Pak-
istan, and Iran) as bearing witness to the “power of the story of Islam’s emer-
gence to shape the world we live in today” (p. 196). It also discusses “Islam
and Modernity” and “The Qur’an and Scientific Miracles,” thereby making
reference to Maurice Bucaille’s The Bible, the Qur’an, and Science and
“Muhammad and Morality” – with special reference to Muhammad Husayn
Haykal’s Hayat-u-Muhammad/The Life of Muhammad. 

The most important arguments put forth are that (1) the “idea of scien-
tific miracles in the Qur’an” is due to modernity and “a response to the mod-
ern world” in general, as well as to the “increasing awareness among
Muslims of Western critiques of the Qur’an” in particular (p. 200); and (2)
the “Prophet of Islam demonstrated moral, spiritual, and psychological qual-
ities that offer humanity the secret of happiness today” (p. 203). In this chap-
ter’s conclusion, Reynolds answers the question, quoted at the beginning of
this review, regarding the “story” of Islam, as historically, “less straightfor-
ward” (p. ix) in these words: “In the course of this book, it has become ap-
parent that the question of Islam’s emergence is far from settled” (p. 205;
italics added).

Suggesting that both “traditional Muslim scholars and earlier generations
of Western scholars have largely failed to understand the Qur’an’s intimate
relationship with its religious context” (p. 208), Reynolds wrote this book not
to reconcile “critical scholarship and religious thought,” but to offer insights
into two questions: (1) What can we actually know of Islam’s emergence in
history? and (2) How do faithful Muslims understand Islam’s emergence? (p.
208). He has largely realized his goal, especially with regard to the first ques-
tion. One shortcoming/weakness needs to be pointed out, however: He re-
peatedly uses story when referring to Islamic history, instead of history,
narration, and similar terms for its emergence, and traditional for the majority
of references to the “biography of Prophet.” 

126 The American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences 30:1

ajiss301-latest_ajiss  12/10/2012  6:55 PM  Page 126



The book also contains many helpful features: a timeline illustrating the
traditional chronology of Islam’s development from 570-661, a simplified ge-
nealogical chart of the Prophet’s family tree, photographs of Islamic manu-
scripts and monuments, reproductions of classical Islamic art objects, charts
and maps, three types of test boxes (viz., excerpts from original Islamic
sources, simple introductions to Islam’s basic beliefs and concepts), brief bi-
ographies of key Muslim figures (e.g., Khadijah, Abu Bakr, Jesus, and Kho-
meini), questions for review, a glossary, a suggested reading list, and an index.
Each of the book’s three parts opens with an introduction and closes with a
conclusion, which enables readers to get an idea of the information that each
part seeks to convey.

These features, along with the author’s new insights, make this book a
significant and most important resource. Many of these insights, however, are
complicated, controversial, and in need of a critical and significant analysis.
The Emergence of Islam’s overall accessible and well-researched methodology
shows an objective assessment of scholarly arguments and historical accounts
that makes it a highly recommended must-read work for all of those who are
interested in a new and/or (re-)reading of Islamic history in general, and in
understanding the classical Islamic traditions in contemporary perspective in
particular. In short, it is meant for everyone who wishes to become acquainted
with the history of Islam and the Qur’an.

Tauseef Ahmad Parray 
Doctoral Fellow, Department of Islamic Studies 

Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, India

Book Reviews 127

ajiss301-latest_ajiss  12/10/2012  6:55 PM  Page 127