I, David Ross, assert my right to be identified as the author of these documents. By all means, quote away; but please identify me as their author, and it'd be nice if you could email me as well.

An explanation of this page

This is the site for House of War (printed by CreateSpace, 10 July 2012) and its sequel Throne of Glass (CreateSpace, 20 October 2014). The Arabs and Their Qur'an (CreateSpace, 25 January 2012) and A Garden for the Poets (CreateSpace, 5 November 2016) are companion volumes of collected essays; now in the BezosBorg. Over in "translations" you will also find the first translation of Paul Casanova's Mohammed et la fin du monde into English - gratis - along with some other, less notorious work.

I have published one article before, but under an assumed name. That name was "J.W. Salopy" and the article was "A Higher-Critical Study of the Relationship between Sura 19 and the Dome of the Rock". This was submitted to the Journal of Higher Criticism in 2004, and it came out in that journal's issue 12.1 in 2006. To summarise the piece, it proposed that sura 3 preceded the Dome of the Rock, that the Dome's parallels to sura 19 were such that it was more likely the Dome preceded sura 19, and that sura 19 preceded suras 21, 23, and 43. The Dome of the Rock bears the date "72"; the Prophet Muhammad, to whom Muslims attribute the transcription of the whole Qur'an, expired in year 11 of that calendar. This was done independently of Stephen Shoemaker, "Christmas in the Qur'an" (pub. date 2003) which came to a similar conclusion about an earlier story in sura 19. That means the Qur'an contains in it at least four Marwanid-era oracles which, therefore, cannot be Muhammadan. Whether they are the word of Allah regardless, I did not attempt to prove.

These PDFs are what I have been working on since early 2003, that article excepted. Eighteen of them went into The Arabs and Their Qur'an, and eighteen more into A Garden for the Poets. Another eleven are in House of War one way or another. Throne of Glass took on at least seven more. These essays are listed below with no links. You'll note from the update log that, really, all of it can be considered "in progress". Consider the linked articles draughts. There are more projects where all this came from. I'll get them here as I finish them.

These PDFs are in logical sequence, later projects dependent on earlier projects. This crosses over; for instance, several essays in The Arabs refer to "The Muhkam of the Wasiya" now in A Garden. Also "Heretic of Rewardashir" is posted here after "Year of the Hajj" because of the logic, where in a chronological order - like in that first part of The Arabs - it goes in the reverse order. The sum of the PDFs together imply a timeline.

One final thing: These articles (like The Arabs) are written to such a level as that in academic journals. There's a bit of a learning curve. If you're new to the topic then I recommend an introductory monograph ... like House of War. I also recommend Robert Hoyland's Seeing Islam as Others Saw It. As a rule of thumb: if you have read and understood Ibn Warraq's collections, then you are good to go.

Free Downloads

• • Essay Collection Abstracts

    • • The Arabs and Their Qur'an: Abstracts.

      • A Garden for the Poets: Abstracts.

  • Jarh and Ta`dil

    • • `Abd al-Razzâq at Rayy. The Tafsir of Abd al-Razzaq. And that of Tabari.

      • A Test for the Jami' of Hakam from Shu'ayb. This started as a lemma to the "Parable" project but it belongs up here. It nails down one of the insufficiently-detailed assumptions that project makes. This is another win for Islam, in that it supports the existence of one of its no-longer-extant sources.

      • Abû Bilâl the Heckler. Anti-Ibadi hadith circa 800 AD.

      • The Bankipur Dissent. Sayyârî before Sayyârî .

      • The Near-Faithful Greek Qurân. Nicetas' translation.

  • Before There Was Mecca

    • • "The Turkish-Islamic Frontier". In A Garden.

      • God’s Sultanate over the Upper Tigris. Isho'yahb III's views of Arab empire 640-59 AD.

      • Songs of the Meccan Hanifa. Sura 3's use of suwar 30, 54, 75; also 10 and 17.

      • The Rebel’s Wind. July 658 CE. Or so say the Maronites.

      • The Patrician, the Logothete and the Confessor. Another window on the early Umayyads. Here is translated, Parisinus 854 (Symeon the Logothete) for c. 640-715 CE.

      • "Amorium". In The Arabs, 3rd ed.

      • "Eclipse over the Pulpit". In The Arabs.

      • "The Year of the Ḥajj". In The Arabs.

      • "The Heretic of Rewardashir". In The Arabs.

      • "Civilising the Last Prophet". In A Garden.

      • May the Rocks Become Dust. Sura 77 perhaps by the prophet of suwar 56, 83:10-17, 86. Ditto.

      • Moses to 'Ad. Sura 73 presenting 54 in 30's terms.

      • Without Peer. Sura 30.

      • Misquoting Qurân. Sura 17 using suwar 54, 55, 56, 73, 80. Its opponents had used them too...

      • Witness to Sura 17. Shahada, gathering 17, 30, 54 but not 10+.

      • The Balance Restored. Down for maintenance.

      • Gaia's Burdens Exposed. Sura 99, Palestine 635 CE.

      • Promised Egypt. Suras 17 and then 10 by the same aging prophet, 640 CE.

      • Blasting the Sultan. Sura 69 blusters against Uthman.

      • The Mansur of Damascus. Sura 3 opens the gates, 630s-40s CE.

      • Jesus' Arraignment. John Damascene and sura 5.

• Point and Counterpoint

  • • "Arabic Influence on the Style of the Qur'an". In A Garden.

    • "The Ḥanapût of Syria". In A Garden.

    • "Parodies of Syrian Christianity in the Early Arab Religion". In A Garden.

    • "Early Umayyad Theories of the Cross". In A Garden.

    • "Return to the Garden". In A Garden.

    • Edom against Ishmael. Down for maintenance.

    • The Propaganda of the Sufyanids. Down for maintenance.

• • The Marwanid Musabbihat

    • • The Treaty of Khâlid. How to rob a church.

      • God's Path Leads through the Caliph. Sura 59 as Umayyad power-play.

      • "The Early Marwânî Building Programme and its Critics". In The Arabs.

      • "The ‘Parable of the Workers’". In A Garden.

      • "Save Me From Heaven". In A Garden.

      • "Inwardly Uncollected". In A Garden.

      • "Ekdikos kai Kritês". In A Garden.

      • "The Servant Whom God Has Sent". In A Garden.

      • The Booty From God’s War. Sura 8 as 'Uthman's last sigh.

      • The Relationship between Sura 4 and the Dome of the Rock. Since I'd thrown an axe between suras 3 and 19 on the Dome, I now had to deal with sura 4. Quick version: sura 4 precedes the Dome and the Dome used sura 4. So, majoritarian Islam wins one here.

      • The Structure of the Musabbihat. Sura 59 precedes suras 57, 61, 62, and 64. The Dome of the Rock shares another introductory parallel with suras 57 and 64, but independent of sura 59.

      • Monks, Muslims, and Sura 57. This plants Sura 57 sometime in the Marwanid Dynasty.

      • In Ranks. Sura 61, the Marwanid law of war. Based on sura 9 among others.

  • The Qur'an in Iraq

    • • "The Scriptures of Abû Turâb". In The Arabs.

      • "Torah to Hadith". In The Arabs.

      • "By the Age and the Misfortunes of Time". In The Arabs.

      • "Abraham and the Heavens". In The Arabs.

      • "Killing the Cranes". In The Arabs.

      • "The Martyr for the Book". In The Arabs, 2nd ed.

      • "The Sermon Against Ibn Mas'ûd". In The Arabs.

      • "Nightfall on the Qur'an". In The Arabs.

      • Between Us and Them. Sura 18, on the Schism.

      • Song for the Resurrected Kingdom. An early Marwanid propagandum, and witness to variant Q. 17:71.

      • "The Furqân". In The Arabs.

      • "A Sufyani-era Qudsi". In A Garden.

      • "The Muhkam of the Wasiya". In A Garden.

      • "The Seal of the Suras". In A Garden.

      • "The Dispute between 'Umar and Ubay b. Ka'b". In A Garden.

      • The Covenant of Those Given the Book. Prophetology in Q. 3:81.

      • The Grant of Command. On those given authority in sura 4.

      • "The Living, the Eternûl". In A Garden.

      • "The Addition of the Book". In A Garden.

      • The Scriptures of the Women. The stylistic segregation of suras 4, 33, and 48.

      • The Central Suras. Ibn Mas'ud and 'Uthman, and their Deuteronomic Korans.

  • Alliance with one's unbelieving kin

    • • Hearing Hell's Roar. Reaction to sura 19.

      • Abraham's Promise. Sura 19 as prooftext during the Marwânid era. Sura 60 is the one using it this time. Watch how sura 9 tries to eject sura 60 from the Qur'an.

      • Sura 58’s Conspiracy Against The Faith. Sura 58 gets paranoid, and Caliph al-Walîd II takes notice.

  • The Prophetic Cycle

    • • "A Partial Developmental Sequence for the Islamic Haggadah". In The Arabs.

      • "A Partial Developmental Sequence for Six Prophetic Suras". In The Arabs.

      • "The Satans' Qur'an". In The Arabs.

      • The Hoodwinked Moslems. Sura 36 against the Sufyanids.

      • Overwhelming the Yemen. Sura 71 also against the Sufyanids.

  • After Abd al-Rahman

    • • The Book of Nathan. Q. 38:26, against the unrighteous caliph.

      • Interceding with God. Sura 39 used a prayer to the Lord of the Angels, now in Hadith; and also suras 6, 10, and 30 (and 22). (Sura 6 used 17; also, 6 used 10.) Sura 39 postdates 695 AD, probably 705.

      • The Iconoclast. Sura 21's context. The most specific date here - late summer / early autumn 705 AD.

      • The Most Ambitious Sura. Sura 21's reception.

      • One Sura against the Jihad. This one sets sura 29 after sura 21 (and 28).

      • The Worst Lies. Suras 53 and, now, 81.

      • Provision is from God. Sura 51 on charity.

      • Fire From The Mountain. Sura 52 sees disaster.

      • The Barren Garden. Sura 68; denying you its fruits.

      • The Muṣallûn. Sura 70, a more Islamic and libertarian sura 32.

      • Determined Allotments. Dating sura 70.

      • Walâyat. The anti-Umayyad sura that wasn't. Sura 42 smashed it.

      • Convocation for Clarity. Sura 42, for democracy. 705 or 715 CE.

      • The Ararat Tax. Sura 23, following suras 21 and 70, is NOT a message "which asks naught for payment from any of you"...

      • The Borderlands of Damdam. Pseudo-Umayya's poetry as Nestorian reaction (upon suras 11, 19).

  • Later Days

    • • Solomon's Revenge. Composite sura.

      • The Testimony of the Jinn. Sura 72; against intercession.

      • Defending Jesus. Sura 43 against sura 21's fanclub.

      • The Reformer from Pharaoh's Family. 40.

      • Plots against the Qurrâ'. Sura 16 tries to canonise sura 39. Probably postdates 705 AD too.

      • Islamic Ethics. 32 > 35. A plea for tolerance.

      • The Alid Shia and Sura 28. Down for maintenance.

  • When the World Ends

    • • The Sinners at Caesarea. Theophilus rearranges events.

      • When Jesus's Army Attacked India. Ghazwat al-Hind, circa 715 AD.

      • Return of the Shah. Propaganda for the Zoroastrian restoration, 720s AD.

      • Embargo against the Turks. The Truth is hurled against Gog and Magog.

      • When the Smoke Clears. Two muhaddithayn backing each other, so to speak. Arguing Thera around 730 AD.

      • The Turning. Sura 46. After sura 35; then, revised.

      • The New Plague. Sura 44 itself around 730 AD.

      • Q for Qurrâ'. Sura 50 and the Last Trump.

      • Daniel's Main Points. Daniel and the Tur-'Abdîn, doin' the penkaye for the 740s AD.

  • Notes Upon The Book

    • • The Spenders in Hypocrisy. The munafiqun of sura 9 survived, until sura 63.

      • Running Over The Sabbath. Sura 62 abrogates the Day Of Rest.

      • Islamic Alimony. Sura 65 expands on sura 2's divorce law. It was resisted outside Iraq. Did a woman write it?

      • The Prophet's Excuse. Sura 66. Constraining the Sira - and also suras 2, 5, 9, and 65 - prior to sura 21. It reassures the people that, no, despite sura 19, the Prophet won't be going to Hell. This was excluded, inside Iraq.

      • Ledger of War. Sura 9.

      • Hanifism. Sura 98.

      • Focus on Chastity. Sura 24, among the last lights of the Book.

      • True Belief against Islam. Sura 49; toward 'Abbâsid Imân.

      • Sodom's Elephant. Down for maintenance.

      • The Last Word. Sura 110.

  • House of War

• • • "An Arabic Mediation".

    • "Sura 13's Sources".

    • "The Preamble to Sura 14".

    • The Prophets' Call. Supporting the argument on Zubayrite propaganda.

    • "Sura 22's Sources".

    • "Sura 41's Sources".

    • "Through the Gates to the Garden".

    • "Again with 'Abd Allâh b. al-Zubayr and the Mahdî".

    • "What was the Color of the Black Stone?"

    • "People of the Qibla".

    • "Quibbling over Qibla".

    • "The Keys to the Garden are Swords".

• • Out Takes

    • • The Camel of Sacrifice. Changing attitudes, 620s-80s CE.

      • A Concern for the Kingdom. Sura 78 carrying on from sura 71. The sura which sura 13 would rather you didn't.

      • Building the Seven Heavens. Sura 67 for the Dome; sura 22 mocking it.

      • Donning the Mantle. Sura 74 continues to assail Yazîd.

      • The Test of Man. Sura 76 slyly opposes the Umayyads.

      • From Hell's Ditch. Sura 85 in Tirmidh.

      • Sura 22's Qur'anic Culture. Appendix to "Sura 22's Sources" above / elsewhere. 6>5; 5>22.

      • What Waits Beside These Roads. Sura 34's passive-aggression.

  • The Making of the Last Book

    • • The Sources of Sura 4. Down for maintenance.

• Throne of Glass

  • • "Sura 32's Sources".

    • Remember the Reminder. Sura 81, shoring up the later suwar.

    • Defending the Days of Allâh. Sura 45 against sura 41. [not in here]

    • "Sura 19's Sources".

    • "Sura 37’s Strophic Structure".

    • "The Devil's Briny Throne".

    • "Shirts of David's Weaving".

    • ṬSM. [not actually in here]

    • "Sura 12’s Sources".

    • Joseph's Temptations.