Muhammad at Mecca (book)

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Muhammad at Mecca is a book about the Islamic prophet Muhammad's life in Mecca written by the non-Muslim Islamic scholar William Montgomery Watt.

It was first released by Oxford University Press in 1953.

Muhammad at Medina is its sequel.

[edit] Contents

Introduction
I. The Arabian Background
- 1. Economic Basis
- 2. Meccan Politics
- 3. The Social and Moral Background
- 4. The Religious and Intellectual Background
II. Muhammad's Early Life and Prophetical Call
- 1. Muhammad's Ancestry
- 2. Birth and Early Years
- 3. Marriage with Khadijah
- 4. The Call to be a Prophet
- 5. The Form of Muhammad's Prophetic Consciousness
- 6. The Chronology of the Meccan Period
III. The Primary Message
- 1. The Dating of the Qur'an
- 2. The Contents of the Early Passages
- 3. The Relevance of the Message to the Contemporary Situation
- 4. Further Reflections
IV. The First Muslims
- 1. Traditional Accounts of the Early Converts
- 2. Survey of the Eariest Muslims
- 3. The Appeal of Muhammad's Message
V. The Growth of Opposition
- 1. The Beginning of Opposition; the 'Satanic Verses'
- 2. The Abyssinian Affair
- 3. The Manoeuvres of the Opposition
- 4. The Witness of the Qur'an
- 5. The Leaders of the Opposition and their Motives
VI. Expanding Horizons
- 1. The Deterioration in Muhammad's Position
- 2. The Visit to at-Ta'if
- 3. Approaches to the Nomadic Tribes
- 4. Negotiations with Medina
- 5. The Hijrah
- 6. The Meccan Achievement
Excursus
- A. The Ahabish
- B. Arabian Monotheism and Judaeo-Christian Influence
- C. The Hanifs
- D. Tazakka, &c.
- E. List of Meccan Muslims and Pagans
- F. The Traditions of 'Urwah
- G. The Emigration to Abyssinia; the various Lists
- H. The Return of the Emigrants from Abyssinia
Index