The Banu Sulaym: a contribution to the study of early Islam

This is the first attempt to study an Arabian tribe in monograph form. The book is a history of the Banū Sulaym during the transition period from Jāhiliyya to Islam. It focuses on Sulaym’s links with the Prophet Muḥammad and with the people of Mecca and Medina. The book expands the rather meager evidence found about them in Islamic historiography by exploring other types of literature, such as geography, genealogy and biography. It contributes to a better understanding of the Arabian environment in which Islam emerged.