When Christians First Met Muslims

"Michael Philip Penn’s When Christians First Met Muslims is an extremely important text. The sources Penn collated in Syriac are among some of the earliest reports we have about the emerging community there. Scholars of the latest of 'late antiquity,' of early Byzantium, and of the early community of believers around Muhammad will benefit from having these sources in English. Penn's scholarship is truly superior.” —Ellen Muehlberger, author of Angels in Late Ancient Christianity

“Syriac sources preserve our earliest historical information for Christian-Muslim encounters, written by Christian contemporaries who experienced firsthand the massive changes brought by the Arab conquests of the seventh century and thereafter in the Middle East. This volume offers a new collection of vivid and lucid translations that open to the reader new vistas on how religions interact, adapt, and flourish, even under circumstances of inexorable change. Michael Penn is a religion scholar of rare dexterity in handling primary sources, secondary scholarship, and cutting-edge critical theory, all with equal command. Here is a volume for scholars and students of religion, history, and culture. It will matter enormously for all who share an interest in Christianity or Islam.”—Susan Harvey, Willard Prescott and Annie McClelland Smith Professor of Religious Studies at Brown University

"As a source for the early Islamic period and for the earliest responses of Christians to the new historical conditions of the post-conquest period this collection is a useful tool for both scholarly research and classroom teaching. Even those few of us who work on Syriac sources do not commonly have an immediate grasp of the range of texts covered in When Christians First Met Muslims. This handy book will contribute to a further appreciation for the unique variety of perspectives Syriac Christians had on early Islam."—Adam H. Becker, Associate Professor of Classics and Religious Studies at New York University