Center for Religion and Civic Culture

The character known from the Bible as Sarah, the wife of Abraham, is never mentioned by name in the Qur>än. It is clear, however, that Sarah is the intended personage in the Quranic renditions of the three visitors to Abraham, a story that can be found also in Genesis 18:1-16. 2 The exegetical comments treating these Qur>anic passages and the various tales that evolved to provide detail to the many Qur>anic references to Abraham all refer to her by the name Sarah. This is fully in keeping with the Genesis rendition. Nonetheless, the biblical story of Abraham and Sarah in some ways proved problematic to Islam, and one such example is the issue of Sarah's genealogical relationship with her husband.

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JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

The prophet Muhammad lived to witness the success of Islam in Arabia by the time of his death in 632, C.E. Initially, however, he failed to win his fellow Arabs to Islam in Mecca, the pagan city of his birth. In fact, Muhammad's prophetic activities and behavior made him persona non grata in his native city; he was forced out of town in 622 and found success only after having made his great hijra or Emigration to Medina, a large agricultural settlement populated by many Jews as well as other inhabitants who practiced the indigenous religious traditions of Arabia. It would be Medina where Islam would take hold. Medina would also serve as the crucible wherein would be forged the complex relations between Jews and Muslims and between Judaism and Islam.