Islam in Historical Perspective

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.

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