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Patricia Crone

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description Patricia Crone Overview

Patricia Crone (1945-2015) was a Danish-American historian of early Islam and the Middle East. She became widely known for Hagarism: The Making of the Islamic World, published in 1977 with Michael Cook, which offered a revisionist interpretation of Islam's origins based partly on non-Muslim sources. Crone later pursued more detailed studies of early Islamic political, economic, and intellectual history. She held research and teaching positions in Britain and the United States, including at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton.

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What is Patricia Crone's Hagarism about?

Hagarism: The Making of the Islamic World is a 1977 book about the origins of Islam and the early Islamic state. Patricia Crone wrote it with Michael Cook, drawing on early Islamic and non-Muslim sources.

Why was Hagarism considered controversial?

The book proposed a reconstruction of early Islamic history that differed sharply from traditional accounts based on later Muslim historical narratives. Its argument about an Arab movement influenced by Jewish messianism attracted substantial criticism.

Did Patricia Crone write Hagarism alone?

No. Hagarism was co-authored by Patricia Crone and Michael Cook and published in 1977.

Is Hagarism representative of all of Patricia Crone's historical work?

It is her most famous revisionist work, but Crone wrote broadly on early Islamic political and economic history. Hagarism should be read as a provocative 1977 intervention rather than as an uncontested summary of the field.

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