ABSTRACT
Bypassing a long tradition of oriental studies that examined whether the prophet of Islam had been sincere or merely a hypocrite, Weber enquired into the teachings of Mohammed in accordance with universalistic criteria. Weber argued that the orientation of the prophet was “fundamentally political”, meaning that Mohammed was a political prophet to the same extent as the pre-Exodus Jewish prophets. Mohammed had refused to take vengeance or to apply the laws of war to them, meaning death and the sharing of their spoils. The definitive adhesion of the noblemen and the dominant from Koreich took place later when Mohammed had triumphed over his adversaries and he reentered peacefully again into Mecca. Mohammed exercised political functions: the judiciary, the administration of the community and especially the fiscal administration, that is, the distribution of the bounty as the leader of the Holy War.
