A History of Islamic Societies

A History of Islamic Societies provides an authoritative and comprehensive treatment of the civilisations and patterns of life of Muslims throughout the world. Part I deals with the formative era of Islamic civilisation from the revelation of the Qur'an to the Thirteenth century and examines the transformation of Islam from a complex of doctrines and cultural systems into the organising principles of Middle Eastern Society. Part II traces the creation of similar societies in the Balkans, North Africa, Central Asia, China, India, Southeast Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. Part III considers the transformation of these societies under the forces of technological change, industrial revolution and European imperialism. It describes the emergence of modern economies, national states and secular ideologies in Muslim countries and seeks to assess the role of past Islamic institutions and present Islamic movements in the shaping of contemporary Muslim society.

This book provides an authoritative and comprehensive treatment of the civilisations and patterns of life of Muslims throughout the world.

List of illustrations; List of figures; List of maps; List of tables; Preface; Acknowledgements; Publisher's preface; Part I. The Origins of Islamic Civilisation: the Middle East from c.600 to c.1200: Introduction: Middle Eastern societies before the advent of Islam; The Preaching of Islam: 1. Arabia; 2. The life of the Prophet; The Arab-Muslim Imperium (632-945): 3. The Arab conquests and the socio-economic bases of empire; 4. The Caliphate; 5. Cosmopolitan Islam: the Islam of the imperial elite; 6. Urban Islam: the Islam of the religious elites; 7. Islamic culture and the separation of state and religion; 8. The fall of the Abbasid empire; From Islamic Culture to Islamic Society: Iran and Iraq, 945-c.1200: 9. The post-Abbasid Middle Eastern state system; 10. Muslim communities and Middle Eastern societies; 11. The collective ideal; 12. The personal ethic; Conclusion: the Middle Eastern Islamic paradigm; Part II. The Worldwide Diffusion of Islamic Societies from the Tenth to the Nineteenth Century: Introduction: the Islamic world and the rise of Europe; The Middle Eastern Islamic Societies: 13. Iran: the Mongol, Timurid, and Safavid empires; 14. The Turkish migrations and the Ottoman Empire; 15. The Arab Middle East; 16. Islamic North Africa and Spain to the nineteenth century; 17. Inner Asia from the Mongol conquests to the nineteenth century; 18. The Indian subcontinent: the Delhi Sultanates and the Mughal empire; 19. The formation of Islamic societies in Southeast Asia; Islam in Africa: 20. Islam in Sudanic, savannah, and forest West Africa; 21. Islam in East Africa and the rise of European colonial empires; Part III. The Modern Transformation: Muslim Peoples in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries: Introduction: modernity and the transformation of Muslim societies: Nationalism and Islam in the Middle East: 22. Iran: state and religion in the modern era; 23. The dissolution of the Ottoman Empire and the modernisation of Turkey; 24. Egypt: secularism and Islamic modernity; 25. The Arab Middle East: Arabism, military states, and Islam; 26. North Africa in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries; Secularism and Islam in Central and Southern Asia: 27. The Indian subcontinent: India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh; 28. Islam in Indonesia and Malaysia; 29. Inner Asia under Russian and Chinese rule; Islam in Twentieth Century Africa: 30. Islam in West Africa; 31. Islam in East Africa; Conclusion: secularised Islam and Islamic revival; Glossary; Bibliography; Index.