Reflections on the Identity of the Arabian Conquerors of the Seventh-Century Middle East

Abstract

This paper offers some reflections on the nature of the identity of the seventh-century Arabian conquerors of the Middle East based on the author’s own experience of writing about this topic in his book In God’s Path (Oxford 2015). This subject has been considerably enlivened by the influential and provocative publications of Fred Donner (Muhammad and the Believers, 2010) and Peter Webb (Imagining the Arabs, 2016). What follows is an attempt to respond to and engage with these publications and to offer some thoughts on how this debate might productively move forward.