By Kyle Orton (@KyleWOrton) on 5 July 2025
Roman Eastern Foederati and Arab Monotheism Before Islam
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Tag Archives: Ghassanids
Was Islam’s Ka’ba Always in Mecca?
A Note on the Problems of the “Constitution of Medina” for the Islamic Tradition
By Kyle Orton (@KyleWOrton) on 9 June 2025
The “Constitution of Medina” or “Medina Document” (Sahifat al-Medina) is recorded in the Islamic Tradition literature, which post-dates the ninth century, i.e., two-hundred years after the Prophet Muhammad died, but most modern historians accept the Tradition’s claim that the Sahifa is the authentic record of a covenant between the early Muhammadan community and the Jews of Yathrib to establish governance in the city, dating from around 622 AD. This view is taken because the Sahifa is linguistically distinct from the surrounding material and, crucially, it contains elements that are theologically awkward from the perspective of “final form” Islam that stabilises after 800 AD.
Continue readingA Note on the Family of Elagabalus and Roman Rule in Syria
By Kyle Orton (@KyleWOrton) on 7 February 2025
When Septimius Severus became Roman Emperor in 193 AD, his wife, whom he had married in 187, was Julia Domna, a native of Emesa (now Homs), meaning Rome had its first Syrian Empress.
The Second Speech of the Islamic State
By Kyle Orton (@KyleWOrton) on 19 March 2018
The first leader of the Zarqawi’ist branch of the jihadi movement in Iraq after the declaration of the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI), Hamid al-Zawi (Abu Umar al-Baghdadi), gave his second speech on 3 February 2007, an audio statement entitled, “A Conquest From Allah and an Imminent Victory”. The speech attacks those Sunni Islamist insurgents who would be drawn into the American-backed, Shi’a-led Iraqi government and declares the Karama (Dignity) operation against such organisations and all other foes. Al-Zawi frames much of the speech in starkly sectarian terms and believes that ISI has annexed the anti-American cause. Al-Zawi also claims to believe that the U.S. is on the path to defeat; there is an admission that ISI is struggling, but a reassurance that it is worse for the Americans. An English-language version of the speech was released by Al-Furqan Media and is reproduced below. Continue reading
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