Background

Gordon Darnell Newby was born on December 16, 1939, in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States.

Education

In 1962 Newby graduated from the University of Utah, receiving a Bachelor of Arts. He also got a Master of Arts in 1964 and a Doctor of Philosophy in Mediterranean Studies in 1966 from Brandeis University.

Career

Gordon D. Newby started his teaching career as an assistant professor of history at Washington State University in 1966. In 1967 he became an assistant professor of Mediterranean Studies at Brandeis University. He became a member of North Carolina State University as an associate professor from 1976 to 1989, assistant department head from 1980 to 1982; professor of history from 1989 to 1993. He joined Emory University in 1992 as a professor of Middle Eastern Studies and chair of the Department. He served as chair from 1992 to 2001 and from 2004 to 2011.

In the late 1980s, Newby published two scholarly texts, A History of the Jews of Arabia: From Ancient Times to Their Eclipse Under Islam and The Making of the Last Prophet: A Reconstruction of the Earliest Biography of Muhammad.

A History of the Jews of Arabia sheds light on the Jewish communities of Arabia in the century prior to the birth of Muhammad, tracing their antecedents back even further in time. Newby uses literary texts as well as religious writings from Islamic and Judaic sources to piece together a description of the intellectual traditions of Arabian Jewish.

The Making of the Last Prophet once again draws from multiple sources to recreate a long lost document, the Kitab al-Mubtada, or "Book of Beginnings." Although the book does not exist in its original form, it is quoted and named in many other sources, and it is these that Newby explored in an effort to piece together as much as possible of the original text.

Newby is also the author of A Concise Encyclopedia of Islam, an entry in the Oneworld series of reference texts on world religions. The book covers many topics pertaining to Islam, including people, countries with Muslim populations or laws, events of importance to Islam, and the religion's evolving place in world affairs.

Gordon Newby is currently working on a monograph on Apocalypse and Apocalypticism among Jews, Christians, and Muslims at the time of the rise of Islam.

Achievements

• Gordon Darnell Newby is known as a specialist in Islamic, Jewish, and Comparative Studies in the Department of Middle Eastern and South Asian Studies. He has won several awards and honors for his work on the history of the Middle East and is the author of several books and numerous articles on this subject.

Works

More photos

• book

  • A Concise Encyclopedia of Islam

    (Covering everything from Adam to Zakariyyah, this concise...)

    2002
  • A History of the Jews of Arabia: From Ancient Times to Their Eclipse Under Islam

    (The Jewish communities of Arabia had a great influence on...)

    1988
  • The Making of the Last Prophet: A Reconstruction of the Earliest Biography of Muhammad 1989

Views

Newby's research specialties include Early Islam, Muslim relations with Jews and Christians, and comparative studies.

Membership

Newby is a member of the American Academy of Religion, American Society for the Study of Religion, American Oriental Society, Middle East Studies Association, and Medieval Academy of America.

• 

  American Academy of Religion , United States

• 

  American Oriental Society , United States

• 

  Middle East Studies Association , United States

• 

  Medieval Academy of America , United States

Connections

Gordon is married and has four children.