By Kyle Orton (@KyleWOrton) on 27 August 2026
Podcast: What Do We Know About Islam’s Origins?
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Tag Archives: Arab Empire
Arculf and Jerusalem: A Snapshot of the Arab Empire Before Islam
Review: “The Sacred City” (2016)
Islamic State Has Alternative Suggestions for the Ten Days of Dhul Hijjah. It’s Jihad.
A Note on the Mu’tazilites and the Office of the Caliph
By Kyle Orton (@KyleWOrton) on 4 June 2025
Muslim belief is that the Qur’an is “uncreated” (ghayr makhluq). While the Qur’an was revealed to Muhammad over twenty-three years (610-32 AD), the “speech of God” (kalam Allah) in these revelations had existed co-eternally with God. This was once a point of serious dispute in Islamic theology, and the outcome of that debate was an important waymarker in the development of Islam.
Islamic State Profiles its “Hidden Figures”
Jewish Influence At the Origins of Islam
When Did the “Roman” Empire Become the “Byzantine” Empire?
By Kyle Orton (@KyleWOrton) on 12 June 2021
A painting representing the Byzantines use of “Greek fire” to repel the Arab siege of Constantinople, 674-78
The use of the word “Byzantium” for the Eastern Roman Empire is inescapable, though it is best thought of as a term of convenience rather than definition. For one thing, the inhabitants never called themselves “Byzantines”: they always thought of themselves as “Romans”, though using the Greek work “Romaioi”. The easiest way to see the problem is to ask: When did the Byzantine Empire begin? Continue reading
