A survey and evaluation of the geographical references in the Qur'an with suggested solutions for various problems and issues.
This reference book examines the various geographical references made in the Qur'an. It looks extensively at "the people of 'Ad," the people of Thamud," the Midianites, Medina and Mecca. This is the is the book that first suggested that the Holy City of Islam is really Petra in Jordan rather than Mecca in Saudi Arabia. Note from Publishers
Highly interesting! Both from the method as well as from the presentation with the many illustrations. It is a refreshing approach which is worth being commented in detail.
Dr. Gerd-R. Puin, Germany, author of The hidden origins of Islam : new research into its early history
This remarkable work investigates in great detail the history and
evolution of many of the tribes and cultures of Arabia and adjacent
lands and their contact and trade with regions as distant as China.
Gibson presents new, but well-researched, theories on many historical
events which still affect our world today. These range from the
development of navigation, overland and maritime trade routes and,
perhaps, most controversially, his convincingly argued proposal that
Petra was the original Holy City of Islam which was later shifted to
Mecca.John E. Hill, author of Through the Jade Gate to Rome: A Study of the Silk Routes during the Later Han Dynasty, 1st to 2nd Centuries CE, Cooktown, Queensland, Australia
His work is well researched, drawing evidence from a broad field of scholarship, particularly Islamic, including early primary sources - listed bibliographically in a separate appendix. Carefully laying the groundwork, he develops his arguments, augmented by a welcome complement of photographs, illustrations, drawings, charts, tables, and chronologies. Further, Gibson employs a profusion of maps- satellite and cartographic. These all, wonderfully illustrated, are so numerous that they could well merit their own index for the avid researcher. (In fact, a glossary would also be helpful for non-Arabic speakers.) Detailed appendices provide an annotated timeline of Islam, particularly its first 500 years, plus extensive citations of textual variants in early Qur’anic manuscripts. Ronald P. Hood, PhD, Wesleyan University, Marion Indiana |
