REVIEWS

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 :
Between Bible and Qur'an: the Children of Israel and the Islamic
self-image.
(Studies in Late Antiquity and Early Islam, 17.) xiii, 318 pp.
Princeton: The Darwin Press, 1999. $29.95.

Rubin tackles the fascinating and crucial issue of the development of the
Islamic self-image and perception of world history in the first few centuries of
Islam. He does so by examining that self-image in relation to monotheistic
groups that preceded Muslims, generally designated as the ‘Children of
Israel’, ‘Jews’, ‘Christians’, ‘those who were before you’, etc. His sources
are extensive and drawn from various types of h1 adı:ths: Sunni and Shii; legal,

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exegetical and historiographical; sound (s1ah1 :ıh1 ) and unsound. The isna: ds are
not examined for authenticity, but general regions in which the h1 adı:ths were
first circulated. Although Rubin examines these sources from a literary point
of view and makes no attempt to determine the historicity of the events
described in them, they are placed within the chronology of the development
of the Islamic self-image.
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Rubin argues that the history of Muh1 ammad was produced under the
impact of later events, particularly the great conquests outside Arabia, and so
the first stages of development of Islamic historical perception should begin
with the events outside Arabia. Hence, chapters i and ii begin by examining
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traditions from the period of the Arab conquest of Syria which reflect the
apologetic needs of the conquerors. Through traditions by Ka"b al-Ah1 ba: r, a
Jewish convert to Islam, an Arab-Jewish messianism is created that provides
divine legitimization for the Islamic conquest. The early Islamic histori-
ographers saw the conquest as fulfilment of a divine promise given in the
Torah and as a renewed version of the Israelite conquest of Canaan. The
messianic theme of the Lost Tribes of Israel, who in these h1 adı:ths fight
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alongside Muslims in an eschatological battle for Constantinople, further

demonstrates that Jews and Arabs shared a divine mission to drive out the
Byzantines from the Holy Land. Chapter ii examines h1 adı:ths that demonstrate
reactions against this focus on Syria and the Promised Land at the expense
of Arabia. The Jewish-Arab messianism was redirected so as to elevate the
H1 ija: z to the rank of the Promised Land. This was done, for example, by
making the Ka"ba a destination of pilgrimage for the prophets before
Muh1 ammad and by linking the Lost Tribes to Arabia.
Chapters iii to v explore the more familiar depiction of the Children of
Israel in early Islamic literature. No longer are they righteous believers.
Instead, because of their sinfulness, they are inferior to the righteous Arabs.
Chapter iii shows how various sins of the Children of Israel already delineated
in the Qur'an (such as the unwillingness of the Israelite spies sent by Moses
to fight for the Promised Land) are used to contrast with devout Muslims
who are ready to follow Muh1 ammad into any battle. Similarly, chapter iv
examines traditions about the Children of Israel's refusal to say h1 it1t1a (derived