Introduction and overview of the life of Muhammad -- Ibn Khaldun's social and economic theory -- Pre-Islamic Arabia -- The role of Abraham, Hagar, and Ishmael -- Recent and current scholarship -- Possible influences on Muhammad's inspiration -- The Jews of Arabia: a recent re-examination -- Richard Bell's origin of Islam in its Christian environment -- W. Montgomery Watt's Muhammad -- Muhammad at Medina: William Muir's analysis -- Muhammad and the Jews -- Concluding sociological reflections