How did the first Islamic community emerge? In late antiquity, the Roman Empire had difficulty enforcing its position on the nature of Christ’s divinity, which was rejected by Monophysites in Egypt and Syria, as well as by religious communities in the Sasanid Persian Empire. This presentation locates the origins of the Islamic movement within the dynamics of the religious conflicts that convulsed the Middle East leading up to the 8th century a.d.

Peter von Sivers is an associate professor of history at the University of Utah. Von Sivers’ research focuses on classical Islamic history, medieval and early modern Spain and North Africa, as well as Islamic philosophy and science. He is working on a monograph with the working title Islamic Origins and the Umayyad Empire.