Muhammad and the Origin of Islam in the...

The book being described functions as a bibliographic dictionary, crafted by a team of experts including Byzantinists and Paleoslavists. It offers a comprehensive look at medieval writings about Muhammad, the Arabs, and the rise of Islam, specifically those recognized within the Slavia Orthodoxa region, with a particular focus on its eastern part, such as Rus'. This collection features works penned in Church Slavic from the 9th to the mid-16th centuries. The influence of Byzantine literature on Old Rus' perceptions of Islam is significant, indicating that most of the sources in this publication are Byzantine texts from the 6th to 14th centuries, translated into the literary language of the Orthodox Slavs. Additionally, the book delves into relics originally composed in other Eastern Christian languages, like Syriac and Arabic, as well as Western languages like Latin, which were incorporated into Slavic tradition through Greek intermediaries.The primary objective of this book is to address a gap in existing research concerning inter-religious debates during the Middle Ages. Previous studies predominantly focused on relations between Christians and Muslims through Greek and Latin writings or those in various Middle Eastern languages, largely overlooking the Church Slavic contributions. Remarkably, many texts included in this compilation, along with Slavic translations of Byzantine works, have not been previously published. This monograph provides new insights derived from direct manuscript research, highlighting its contribution to the field.