Society and Religion from Jahiliyya to Islam

In this second collection of his articles, Professor Kister has continued his investigation into the social and religious history of Arabia. The papers are based essentially on a study of the traditions preserved in the early Arabic sources, many unpublished. As the author demonstrates, these sources represent an invaluable mine of information on the history and religious life of pre-Islamic Arabia and on the transformations that affected customs, law and beliefs after the coming of Islam. Particular articles also deal with such questions as the relations and confrontation between nascent Islam and Judaism and Christianity, the contacts between tribal society and sedentary population, and the emergence of new popular customs and beliefs. Dans ce second receuil d'articles, le professeur Kister, poursuit ses recherches sur l'histoire sociale et religieuse de l'Arabie. Les essais sont essentiellement bases sur une etude des traditions conservees par les premieres sources arabes, dont beaucoup n'ont jamais ete publiees. Ainsi que l'auteur le demontre, ces sources representent une mine d'information inestimable sur la vie religieuse et l'histoire de l'Arabie pre-islamique et sur les changements qui affecterent coutumes,lois et croyances apres l'avenement de l'Islam. Certains articles , traitent plus particulierement, de sujets, tels les rapports et les affrontements entre la force naissante de l'Islam et le Judaisme et Christianisme pre-existants; ou encore des contacts entre societe tribale et population sedentaire, ainsi que de l'emergence de nouvelles coutumes et croyances poulaires.