Muslims, Jews and Pagans examines in detail the available source material on the ¿Aliya area south of Medina on the eve of Islam and at the time of the Prophet Müammad. It provides part of the necessary background for the study of the Prophet's history by utilizing in addition to the Prophet's biographies, various texts about the history, geography and inhabitants of this area.
The topics include the landscape, especially the fortifications, the delayed conversion to Islam of part of the Aws tribe, the Qubä village and the incident of Masjid al-¿irar in 9 AH. The three appendices deal with historical apologetics, pointing to the social context in which the Prophet's biography emerged during the first Islamic century.