This book has its origin in a Dutch symposium on Late Antiquity and Early Islam organized by the Zenobia Foundation in 2015. That resulted in the publication of a collection of 10 papers (excluding the introduction) entitled Mohammed en de Late Oudheid (Verloren, 2018). Of these original 10 papers, 7 are republished here in English translation, 3 have been omitted, and 2 new papers (Webb, Cordoni) have been added. Hence this remains substantially the same volume as the initial Dutch-language publication despite a very different title. However, the new title is as misleading in its own way as that of the original Dutch publication. While the first title may have suggested an emphasis on the biography of the Islamic prophet Muhammad that was entirely lacking within the book itself, the new title could easily lead one to expect an emphasis on how the surrounding states, primarily the Byzantine empire, struggled both militarily and intellectually to adjust to the emergence of a new Arab empire. In fact, the emphasis remains primarily on the change wrought within the new Arab empire itself and, surprisingly, upon that wrought upon the conquerors themselves rather than upon the conquered. Only one (Vroom) of the nine papers (excluding the introduction) considers the effects that the growth of this new Arab empire had upon those situated outside of it. Since this volume is intended to contribute to the study of the transition from Late Antiquity to Early Islam, some combination of these terms could have provided a less misleading title instead.