Early Islamic Qiblas: A survey of mosques built between 1AH/622 C.E. and 263 AH/876 C.E.

Absolutely the very best book on the early history and foundations of Islam I have read. The author has spent over 30 years living and doing on the ground research on the geographical, factual history of Islam. Lots of the results of his research is included in this very readable, enjoyable book. What he has to say is among the greatest discoveries in our age. His historical discovery is so important and powerful that it surly ranks up there with the discovery of DNA. The entire world is heavily impacted today by Islam, and the vast majority of people know nothing about Islam, and much less about the foundations of Islam. Most Muslims do not know these facts, and if they did it would dramatically change their lives.Everyone interested in our world today, and the impact history has on us, should read this book. Great life's work by the author.

Read the last 100 pages (172-272) of this book. It provides insights into early islam. I have visted Petra and seen the evidence presented here in. Islam a judeo christian monotheistic sect adapted to its needs by the winning side of arab imperialist empire. What we experience today as islam is nothing more than Abbasid propoganda. Today the helm has been taken up by the Kingdon of Saudi Arabia.

Incredible work resulting from decades of scholarly research by Dan Gibson. Highly recommended for anyone wanting to critically examine the classical account of early Islamic history.

Well written book, I highly recommend this book to everyone - Priceless!!!

When I first heard the thesis of this book, I thought, "Great, another loony revisionist theory on the history of religion." But to my surprise, Gibson's argument wasn't based on some dubious speculation on the meaning of an obscure Semitic root, or some "long-lost" map that "changes everything!" Rather, Gibson had hard, physical evidence that the traditional story of an early qibla change from Jerusalem to Mecca within Muhammad's lifetime couldn't be the full picture. Buildings aren't easily moved, and the story they tell points to a fascinating retelling of what is already a fascinating period of early Islam.Gibson has carefully incorporated precise details of the orientation of dozens of early mosques in such a way that shows it highly unlikely that the mosques of the first century of Islam were uniformly pointing to Mecca, nor to Jerusalem as often claimed for earlier mosques. He also demonstrates clearly that these mosque orientations were not simply a result of measurement error on the part of the builders, but that they clearly had a common target in mind, which they point to with even greater accuracy than later mosques point to Mecca.Because Gibson clearly shows us how he came to his measurements and which mosques he is using, I am hopeful that other scholars can build on his work, confirm or adjust his measurements, and flesh out the story that these buildings tell us. Gibson, of course, has gathered a great deal of "soft" evidence in addition to his archaeological survey, which cumulatively make the case even stronger. I hope that scholars of early Islamic history will test Gibson's data and analysis and grapple with their implications for early Islamic history.

This is an important book to obtain while it is available to use as a reference to guide in understanding the spiritual nature of Islam prior to many adjustments as Islam spread throughout the world. While there is a article by Prof. King whom criticize this book on a platform, the author of this book provided a rebuttal against those claims as well.To understand some aspects of Islam, the key might be held in the Ancient city of Petra, and this is extremely exciting news for me.

This book confirmed my doubts about origins of Islamic history . The Muslim world knows nothing about the original Muslim faith except what Abbassids have left us. All the books of hadith produced during the Abbassid caliphate are pure fabrications with no evidence. However, I have heard in persian personal libraries secretive quranic manuscripts and documents exists that have left in families for generation but no one dares to bring them to open.

Gibson claims to revolutionize our understanding of the prayer direction (qibla) toward the Kaaba in Makka. He maintains that Islam began in Petra, not Makka, and that the focus of Muslim prayer for the first two centuries was in this direction. The amount of historical amnesia that would be necessary to support this claim is beyond reckoning. How did all of the places in Arabia receive names that appear in documents that arise before two centuries after the rise of Islam?As evidence for his theory, Gibson attempts to show that dozens of early mosques face Petra. But he completely ignores what modern scholarship has established regarding the early qibla. Gibson compares medieval mosque orientations with modern directions of Petra and Makka and has thus completely misunderstood the data. The result is an amateur hack job that is an insult to real scholarship.

FANTASTIC book Worth Reading Brilliant

Print quality and maps are great. But it was supposed to be HARDCOVER and I got normal paper back from Repro Seller.