Özet:

This paper discusses Fred M. Donner’s thesis on the rise and spread of Islamic movement in the 7th century and assesses criticism towards the movement in the Western science world. It initially provides brief information about Donner’s academic life, works, methodology and success and then reveals the views on his thesis called the Movement of Believers and the dynamics of rapid expansion of the movement within the historical context. Donner’s main argument is that Muhammad as a religious leader had initiated a monotheist and an ecumenist religious movement consisting of the Muslims of pagan background along with the Jews and Christians. According to him, the initial aim of the movement was to revive pietistic monotheism rather than to create a separate community of believers. Almost a century later, the Movement of Believers became a single and an exclusive belief group which we now know as Muslim community, by excluding the Jews and Christians in the reign of Umayyad Caliph Abdulmalik b. Marwan. The subsequent sections of the paper touch upon reactions against Donner’s thesis in the West and finally give place to critical analyses.

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