The Origins of Islam and Muslim Identity - An Interview with Fred Donner
Channel: Project on Shi'ism and Global Affairs, Harvard
Date: 2020-10-26

Project Associate Mohammad Sagha hosted Fred M. Donner, Peter B. Ritzma Professor of Near Eastern History at the University of Chicago, for a podcast on the origins of Islam, early identity, historiographical issues in scholarship, and conventional understandings of Islamic history, among other topics. Donner's scholarship has significantly contributed to the field of late antique studies of the Near East and re-positioned key debates on the nature of the early Islamic era including theories regarding the message of Prophet Muhammad's monotheistic reform movement and the boundaries of social inclusivity during this formative period.