John Wansbrough is famous for his pioneering studies on the “sectarian milieu” out of which Islam emerged. In his view, Islam grew out of different - albeit rather marginal - Jewish and Christian traditions. In the present volume, which is dedicated to Wansbrough’s memory, specialists in Islamic studies and students of the Jewish and early Christian traditions summarise Wansbrough’s achievements in the past thirty years and chart the future of the tradition study of the “sectarian milieu.”

This book is one of the most important sources for the canon law of the East-Syrian Church. In Canon I of the council held in the year 1318, this collection was proclaimed the authoritative canon law and has since retained its status as the binding legal collection of the East Syrian Church. This second edition reproduces the original manuscript in color.

The Christian era in Syriac and Arabic sources does not always correspond with the western calculations. Until quite recently the members of the Syriac churches used the era of the Seleucids (of Alexander the Great; East and West Syrians) as the era of the creation of Adam (Melkites). The use of the Christian era became more common from the 16th century, due to the closer contacts between the Oriental and the Latin churches.