A History of the Muslim World to 1405: The Making of a Civilization

Preface
Acknowledgements
Note on Transliteration and Dating
Part One The Formative Period 610–950
     1. Origins
          Southwestern Asia in the Seventh Century
               The Byzantine Empire
               The Sasanian Empire
               The Arabian Peninsula
          The Rise of Islam
               The Meccan Environment
               Muhammad
               A Framework for a New Community
          Conclusion
          Notes
          Further Reading
     2. Arab Imperialism
          Arab Conquests
               Arabia and the Fertile Crescent
               Iran
               North Africa and the Iberian Peninsula
               Central Asia and the Indus River Valley
          Umayyad Administration
               The Caliphate
               The Administration of Non-Muslims
               The Administration of Muslims
               Arab Warriors
               Non-Arab Converts
               Regulating Women’s Roles
               The Rationalization of Society
          Dissolution of the Arab Empire
          Conclusion
          Notes
          Further Reading
     3. The Development of Sectarianism
          ‘Ali and the Politics of Division
               Political Dissension
               ‘Ali’s Caliphate: Shi‘ites and Kharijites
               Karbala
          The Abbasid Revolution
          Shi’ite Identities
               The Ghulat and the Zaydis
               The Husayni Alids
               The Centrality of Muhammad al-Baqir and Ja‘far al-Sadiq
               The Imamis
               The Isma‘ilis
               The Shi‘ite Movement
          The Sunni Consensus
          Conclusion
          Further Reading
     4. The Center Cannot Hold: Three Caliphates
          The Abbasid Caliphate
               The Early Period
               Military and Economic Problems
               The Assertion of Regional Autonomy
          The Fatimid Caliphate
               Isma‘ili Activism
               A Second Caliphate in the Umma
          The Umayyad Caliphate of Cordoba
               The Consolidation of Umayyad Power
               A Third Caliphate in the Umma
          Economic Networks
               A Single Economy
               Overland Trade
               Maritime Commerce
          Conclusion
          Notes
          Further Reading
     5. Synthesis and Creativity
          The Origins of Islamic Law
               Assimilation and Adaptation
               Groping Toward an Islamic Jurisprudence
               The Development of the Shari‘a
               The Synthesis of al-Shafi‘i
               Consolidation of the Madhhabs
               The Impact of the Shari‘a
          Early Sufism
               The Contemplative Life
               Testing the Limits of Transcendence
               The Accommodation of Sufism
          The Reception of Science and Philosophy
               Science (“Natural Philosophy”)
               Philosophy
          The Development of an Islamic Theology
               The Reception of Rationalism
               The Critique of Rationalism
          Conclusion
          Notes
          Further Reading
Part Two A Civilization Under Siege 950–1260
     6. Filling the Vacuum of Power 950–1100
          The Buyid Sultanate
          The Advent of the Turks
               Origins
               The Saljuq Invasion
               The Great Saljuqs and the Saljuqs of Rum
          The Fatimid Empire
               The Conquest of Egypt and Palestine
               Religious Policies
               The New Egyptian Economy
               Ominous Developments
          The Nizaris (“Assassins”)
          The Muslim West
               Norman Invasions of Muslim Territory
               The “Hilali Invasion” of Ifriqiya
               A Berber Empire
               The Collapse of the Umayyad Caliphate of Andalus
               The Incorporation of Andalus into the Maghrib
          Conclusion
          Further Reading
     7. Barbarians at the Gates, 1100–1260
          The Period of the Crusades
               The First Crusade
               The Franks on the Defensive
          The Loss of Andalus
               Provisional Solutions: The Great Berber Empires
               The Disintegration of the Almohads and of Andalus
          Realignment in the East
               The Collapse of the Great Saljuqs
               Sunni–Nizari Rapprochement
               The Mongol Campaigns
          Conclusion
          Further Reading
     8. The Consolidation of Traditions
          Science and Philosophy
               Mathematics and the Natural Sciences
               Philosophy
               The Sunni Resolution to the Tension between Reason and Revelation
          Consolidating Institutions: Sufism
               The Emergence of Lodges and Tariqas
               Speculative Mysticism
          Consolidating Institutions: Shi‘ism
               Twelver Shi‘ites
               The Isma‘ilis
               The Impact of “The Foreign Sciences” and Jurisprudence
          The Transmission of Knowledge
               Schools
               The Legacy to Europe
          English Words Derived from Arabic
          Conclusion
          Notes
          Further Reading
     9. The Muslim Commonwealth
          Frontiers and Identities
               Frontiers Defining the Dar al-Islam
               Frontiers within the Dar al-Islam
               Identities
          The City and the Countryside
               The City
               The Countryside
          Conversion to Islam
               A Muslim Minority
               The Pace of Conversion Quickens
          The Issue of Authority in the Muslim World
          Conclusion
          Notes
          Further Reading
Part Three Mongol Hegemony, 1260–1405
     10. The Great Transformation
          The Mongol Khan
               The Qipchaq Khanate
               The Il-khanate
               The Chaghatay Khanate
          New Centers of Islamic Culture
               The Mamluke Empire
               The Delhi Sultanate
               The Ottoman Sultanate
          Scourges
               Plague
               Timur Lang
          Conclusion
          Further Reading
     11. Unity and Diversity in Islamic Traditions
          Intellectual Life in the Fourteenth Century
               The End of the “Golden Age”?
               Against All Odds
               Ibn Taymiya
               Ibn al-Shatir
               Ibn Khaldun
               Hafez
               Ibn Battuta
          Law
               The Queen of the Sciences
               The “Closing of the Gate of Ijtihad”?
          The Varieties of Religious Expression
               “Orthodoxy” and “Heterodoxy”
               The Proliferation of Sufi Groups
               Sufism Triumphant
               Sufism as Social Critique
               Sufism Syncretism and Shi‘ism
          Conclusion
          Further Reading
Glossary
Index
Plates