A classic account of the life and thought of the Prophet Mohammad and the development of early Islam from one of the most historians of the twentieth century. Rodinson's lucid and engaging study situates the prophet in his social context, opening the world of the early seventh-century Middle East. The development of Islam helped to knit together the most antagonistic tribes and peoples under a common purpose, transforming Arabia from a nomadic to a settled society. In the book, Rodinson studies the development of Mohammad's thought, the role of ideology in the development of Islam, and the economic and social context in which it developed.