Table of Contents

Preface

Acknowledgments

Note on Transliteration and Dates

1 Arabia: The Cradle of Islam

2 Muhammad and the Beginnings of Islam: The Making of the Muslim Community

3 After Muhammad: The Rightly Guided Caliphs and the Conquests

4 The Murder of ‘Uthman, the Fitna Wars, and the Rise and Consolidation of the Umayyad Dynasty

5 The Principal Source of Islam: The Qur’an

6 The Prophetic Hadíth and Sunna and the Emergence of the Shari‘a

7 The Problem of the Just Ruler and the First Divisions Within the Community

8 The ‘Abbásid Revolution and Beyond

9 Islamic Scholarship Under the ‘Abbásids: The Rise and Development of the Schools of Law

10 Islamic Scholarship Under the ‘Abbásids: Theological Debates and Schools of Thought

11 Twelver Shi‘ism and Zaydism

12 Shi‘ism as a Revolutionary Movement: The Isma‘ilis

13 Ascetic and Mystical Movement in Islam: Sufism

14 Intellectual Struggles in Premodern Islam: Philosophy Versus Theology

15 Transmission and Conservation of Knowledge: ‘Ulamá’ , Mádrasas, and Sufi Lodges

16 The Basic Beliefs and Practices of Islam: Islamic Life Cycle

17 Islamic Art and Religious Architecture (Mosque)

18 Women in Islamic Societies

19 Islam and the West

20 Islam in the Gunpowder Empires: The World of Islam Faces Modernity and European Colonialism

21 Renewal and Reform in Islam: The Emergence of Islamic Modernism and Reformism

22 Islam as a Political Force and Vehicle of Opposition

23 Islam Reinterpreted: Major Trends in Islamic Thought Today

24 The Ideology and Practice of Globalized Jihadism

Bibliography

Index

About the Author

Alexander Knysh is Professor of Islamic Studies at the Department of Near Eastern Studies at the University of Michigan and Academic Project Director, at St. Petersburg State University, Russian Federation.

Reviews

Authoritatively written and astutely arranged, Islam in Historical Perspective provides a comprehensive, historically contextualized narrative of the development of the Islamic tradition from its origin to the present day. Erik S. Ohlander, Indiana University–Purdue University Fort Wayne, USAPraise for the first edition: An intellectually stimulating, lucidly written work with excellent discussion questions at the end of each chapter. I look forward to assigning the second edition to my students. Dr Younus Mirza, Allegheny College, USA