Overview

Full Product Details

9780691179100

Table of Contents

Reviews

This is the first book-length study of Christian martyrdom in the early Islamic period. It deals with religious conversion and cultural change in the period of late antiquity and early Islam, and looks at not just individuals of the period, but also the world in which they lived. Offering a new conceptual framework and novel usage of primary sources, this original and important work asks all the right questions. --Nadia Maria El Cheikh, American University of Beirut The Spectator's Books of the Year With broad coverage and beautiful writing, this accomplished book presents the first synthetic historical analysis of Christian martyrdom during the formative period of Islam, namely the first three centuries after the Arab conquest. Sahner has done a great service to all those working on the cult of saints in the early medieval eastern Mediterranean and interested in understanding Christian-Arabic literature. --Arietta Papaconstantinou, University of Reading Narratives of violence dominate the public understanding of Islam. Sahner draws upon medieval Christian narratives of conversion, apostasy, and martyrdom to great effect. The result is a subtle but bold account of violence and belief in an earlier age of religious tumult. --Chase F. Robinson, author of Islamic Civilization in Thirty Lives In this book, Sahner mounts a pathbreaking investigation of Christian self-sacrifice under early Islam. He affords us a fresh perspective on the formation of caliphal society and state, and on how the blood of martyrs has seeded the Church--before Constantine, under Islam, and into our own day. --Garth Fowden, University of Cambridge

With broad coverage and beautiful writing, this accomplished book presents the first synthetic historical analysis of Christian martyrdom during the formative period of Islam, namely the first three centuries after the Arab conquest. Sahner has done a great service to all those working on the cult of saints in the early medieval eastern Mediterranean and interested in understanding Christian-Arabic literature. --Arietta Papaconstantinou, University of Reading This is the first book-length study of Christian martyrdom in the early Islamic period. It deals with religious conversion and cultural change in the period of late antiquity and early Islam, and looks at not just individuals of the period, but also the world in which they lived. Offering a new conceptual framework and novel usage of primary sources, this original and important work asks all the right questions. --Nadia Maria El Cheikh, American University of Beirut Narratives of violence dominate the public understanding of Islam. Sahner draws upon medieval Christian narratives of conversion, apostasy, and martyrdom to great effect. The result is a subtle but bold account of violence and belief in an earlier age of religious tumult. --Chase F. Robinson, author of Islamic Civilization in Thirty Lives In this book, Sahner mounts a pathbreaking investigation of Christian self-sacrifice under early Islam. He affords us a fresh perspective on the formation of caliphal society and state, and on how the blood of martyrs has seeded the Church--before Constantine, under Islam, and into our own day. --Garth Fowden, University of Cambridge

With broad coverage and beautiful writing, this accomplished book presents the first synthetic historical analysis of Christian martyrdom during the formative period of Islam, namely the first three centuries after the Arab conquest. Sahner has done a great service to all those working on the cult of saints in the early medieval eastern Mediterranean and interested in understanding Christian-Arabic literature. -Arietta Papaconstantinou, University of Reading This is the first book-length study of Christian martyrdom in the early Islamic period. It deals with religious conversion and cultural change in the period of late antiquity and early Islam, and looks at not just individuals of the period, but also the world in which they lived. Offering a new conceptual framework and novel usage of primary sources, this original and important work asks all the right questions. -Nadia Maria El Cheikh, American University of Beirut Narratives of violence dominate the public understanding of Islam. Sahner draws upon medieval Christian narratives of conversion, apostasy, and martyrdom to great effect. The result is a subtle but bold account of violence and belief in an earlier age of religious tumult. -Chase F. Robinson, author of Islamic Civilization in Thirty Lives In this book, Sahner mounts a pathbreaking investigation of Christian self-sacrifice under early Islam. He affords us a fresh perspective on the formation of caliphal society and state, and on how the blood of martyrs has seeded the Church-before Constantine, under Islam, and into our own day. -Garth Fowden, University of Cambridge The Spectator's Books of the Year

The Spectator's Books of the Year Shortlisted for the British-Kuwait Friendship Society Book Prize Finalist for the Award for Excellence in the Historical Study of Religion, American Academy of Religion

With broad coverage and beautiful writing, this accomplished book presents the first synthetic historical analysis of Christian martyrdom during the formative period of Islam, namely the first three centuries after the Arab conquest. Sahner has done a great service to all those working on the cult of saints in the early medieval eastern Mediterranean and interested in understanding Christian-Arabic literature. -Arietta Papaconstantinou, University of Reading This is the first book-length study of Christian martyrdom in the early Islamic period. It deals with religious conversion and cultural change in the period of late antiquity and early Islam, and looks at not just individuals of the period, but also the world in which they lived. Offering a new conceptual framework and novel usage of primary sources, this original and important work asks all the right questions. -Nadia Maria El Cheikh, American University of Beirut Narratives of violence dominate the public understanding of Islam. Sahner draws upon medieval Christian narratives of conversion, apostasy, and martyrdom to great effect. The result is a subtle but bold account of violence and belief in an earlier age of religious tumult. -Chase F. Robinson, author of Islamic Civilization in Thirty Lives In this book, Sahner mounts a pathbreaking investigation of Christian self-sacrifice under early Islam. He affords us a fresh perspective on the formation of caliphal society and state, and on how the blood of martyrs has seeded the Church-before Constantine, under Islam, and into our own day. -Garth Fowden, University of Cambridge

Finalist for the Award for Excellence in the Historical Study of Religion, American Academy of Religion This book is a real achievement. It is a fascinating read for any scholar of Christian-Muslim relations, since it deals with a sensitive topic analytically and in an academically balanced manner. . . . In addition, although the author declares that he had no intension to connect the past with the present, the book opens up a larger window of understanding for any reader who is interested in current events in the Middle East. ---Risto Jukko, Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations Meticulously researched and documented. Sahner's readings of the sources reflect great skill and care for sound methodology. As a result, the book is a welcome contribution to studies focusing on medieval Christian communities and their relationships with Muslims. ---Charles Tieszen, Scottish Journal of Theology Shortlisted for the British-Kuwait Friendship Society Book Prize The Spectator's Books of the Year Christian Sahner has published an excellent study of a long-overlooked and yet extremely important topic. ---Stephen J. Shoemaker, Medieval Encounters Sahner's excellent book . . . draw[s] a detailed, bold, and colorful view of this new complex society in its formative centuries. Through minute and sensitive analysis of a wide array of martyrological stories Sahner deals with the most significant processes that forged a new society and culture during the first three centuries of Islam. ---Milka Levy-Rubin, Bustan: The Middle East Book Review

Author Information

Christian C. Sahner is associate professor of Islamic history at the University of Oxford and a fellow of St Cross College. He is the author of Among the Ruins: Syria Past and Present.

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available