Preliminary versions of some chapters of this book were presented at various conferences. Chapter 1, at the conference on “Jews and Muslims: a Revised Evaluation”, School of Oriental and African Studies, London, March 1996; Chapter 3, at “Languages and Cultures of the Middle East”, TCMO, University of Nijmegen, October, 1997; Chapter 4, at the “Seventh Colloquium: From Jāhiliyya to Islam”, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem, July-August, 1996.

A previous version of Chapter 10 was published as “Apes, Pigs, and the Islamic Identity”, Israel Oriental Studies 17 (1997), 89–105, and an earlier version of Excursus B was published as “Apocalypse and Authority in Islamic Tradition: the Emergence of the Twelve Leaders”, Al-Qanṭara 18 (1997), 11-42.

I am grateful to Roza I.M. El-Eini for editing the English style, and to Lawrence I. Conrad for his editorial suggestions and numerous useful notes and comments. My thanks are also due to Ed Breisacher, Manager Director of the Darwin Press, for his careful reading of the text and for spotting further errors and typos. Last but not least, to my wife Raya who read the final proofs, and was able to catch several other slips of mine. The translation of Qurʾanic verses throughout the book is my own, drawing heavily on Arthur J. Arberry, The Koran Interpreted (Oxford, 1964).