1). I was thinking really in terms of the conquest of Palestine - so the mid-630s. If you accept the traditional narrative then clearly it would be meaningful to talk about conversion at this date.
2). If you assume that Islam is something that develops out of the new conquest society then the answer seems less obvious.
Oh I see.,on that year 635 or so.. Is it not too early as a starting date of Islam? and that means
you are accepting everything from traditional Islam and you are extending it as this as true Islamic story of conquest of Palestine
The Muslim Arab army attacked Jerusalem, held by the Byzantine Romans, in November, 636. For four months the siege continued. Ultimately, the Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, Sophronius, agreed to surrender Jerusalem to Caliph Umar in person. Caliph Umar, then at Medina, agreed to these terms and traveled to Jerusalem to sign the capitulation in the spring of 637. Sophronius also negotiated a pact with Caliph Umar, known as the Umariyya Covenant or Covenant of Omar, allowing for religious freedom for Christians in exchange for jizyah (Arabic: جِـزْيَـة), a tax to be paid by conquered non-Muslims, called "dhimmis." Under Muslim Rule, the Christian and Jewish population of Jerusalem in this period enjoyed the usual tolerance given to non-Muslim theists
So you are accepting the fact that Caliph Umar
WHO WAS MUCH YOUNGER TO PROPHET AND WAS PROPHET'S FATHER IN-Law.... and you are accepting the traditional Islamic fact that Abu Bakhra
((Bakr),, I call him as Bakhra)) was father of Aisha and father in-law of prophet of Islam., Hence you accept present Mecca and Medina are the Towns where Islam actually started ...
correct me if understood you wrong dear zeca....,
Then you have to give me something about Caliph Omer... So what did we know from Non-Islamic sources on that guy?? after all that area was full of scribes from various languages...
me thinks 2nd one far better idea.. as Islam is a religion of converts ... and you can see that in every country that is islamized from Islamic story narrations ., you can begin from year 790 or so from Iran, Somalia.. Nigeria.. Indonesia.. Pakistan... Bangladesh Malaysia .. etc etc nations where nations of recent converts starts using Islamic narrative to gain politcal and economic military superiority using Islamic rules/sharia laws and push others out of their faith or pay something for their safety .. I mean this is after the year 1200 or so..
Topic: Qur'anic studies today