The Wiley Blackwell History of Islam

A theoretically rich, nuanced history of Islam and Islamic civilization with a unique sociological component

This major new reference work offers a complete historical and theoretically informed view of Islam as both a religion and a sociocultural force. Uniquely comprehensive, it surveys and discusses the transformation of Muslim societies in different eras and various regions, providing a broad narrative of the historical development of Islamic civilization.

This text explores the complex and varied history of the religion and its traditions. It provides an in-depth study of the diverse ways through which the religious dimension at the core of Islamic traditions has led to a distinctive type of civilizational process in history. The book illuminates the ways in which various historical forces have converged and crystallized in institutional forms at a variety of levels, embracing social, religious, legal, political, cultural, and civic dimensions. Together, the team of internationally renowned scholars move from the genesis of a new social order in 7th-century Arabia, right up to the rise of revolutionary Islamist currents in the 20th century and the varied ways in which Islam has grown and continues to pervade daily life in the Middle East and beyond.

This book is essential reading for students and academics in a wide range of fields, including sociology, history, law, and political science. It will also appeal to general readers with an interest in the history of one of the world’s great religions.

ARMANDO SALVATORE is the Keenan Chair in Interfaith Studies and a Professor of Global Religious Studies (Society and Politics) at the School of Religious Studies, McGill University.

ROBERTO TOTTOLI is a Professor of Islamic Studies at the Department of Asian, African, and Mediterranean Studies, University of Naples "L'Orientale."

BABAK RAHIMI is an Associate Professor of Communication, Culture, and Religion at the Department of Literature, University of California, San Diego.

List of Contributors ix

Preface xv

Introduction: The Formation and Transformations of the Islamic Ecumene 1
Armando Salvatore, Johann P. Arnason, Babak Rahimi, and Roberto Tottoli

Part I Late Antique Beginnings (to ca. 661) 37

1 Agrarian, Commercial, and Pastoralist Dynamics in the Pre‐Islamic Irano‐Semitic Civilizational Area 39
George Hatke

2 Imperial Contests and the Arabs: The World of Late Antiquity on the Eve of Islam 59
Isabel Toral‐Niehoff

3 Pre‐Islamic Patterns of Social Organization and Cultural Expression in West Central Arabia 77
Mohammed A. Bamyeh

4 Muhammad’s Movement and Leadership 97
Anna Aysȩ Akasoy

Part II The High Caliphate (ca. 661–946) 115

5 The Trajectory of the High Caliphate: Expansion and Contraction 117
Amira K. Bennison

6 Developments within the Religious Sciences during the Rise and Decline of Empire 137
Devin Stewart

7 Shi‘is, Sufis, and Popular Saints 159
Ahmet T. Karamustafa

8 Contested Fields, Knowledge Mobility, and Discipline Crystallization 177
Paul L. Heck

Part III The Earlier Middle Period (ca. 946–1258) 195

9 Cosmopolitan Expansion and the Fragmentation of Governance 197
Amira K. Bennison

10 Scholarship, Speculative Thought, and the Consolidation of Sunni Authority 215
Bruce Fudge

11 Alternative Patterns of Legitimacy: Sunni–Shi‘i Debates on Political Leadership 235
Asma Afsaruddin

12 The Crystallization and Expansiveness of Sufi Networkswithin the Urban‐Rural‐Nomadic Nexus of the Islamic Ecumene 253
Babak Rahimi and Armando Salvatore

Part IV The Later Middle Period (ca. 1258–1453) 273

13 Pax Mongolica and its Impact on Patterns of Governance 275
Michele Bernardini

14 Religious Knowledge between Scholarly Conservatism and Commoners’ Agency 291
Caterina Bori

15 The Consolidation of Sunni and Shi‘i Legitimacies 311
Babak Rahimi

16 Organizational Patterns and Developments within Sufi Communities 329
Devin DeWeese

Part V Early Modernity and Civilizational Apogee (ca. 1453–1683) 351

17 Early Modern Islamicate Empire: New Forms of Religiopolitical Legitimacy 353
Matthew Melvin‐Koushki

18 The ‘Ulama’ as Ritual Specialists: Cosmic Knowledge and Political Rituals 377
A. Azfar Moin

19 New Sociopolitical Formations and the ‘Renaissance’ of Philosophy 393
Sajjad Rizvi

20 The Apogee and Consolidation of Sufi Teachings and Organizational Forms 413
Rachida Chih

Part VI Facing the Global Rise of European Power (ca. 1683–1882) 433

21 Global Transformations in the ‘Muslim World’: Connections, Crises, and Reforms 435
Ali Yaycioglu

22 Intellectual Creativity in a Time of Turmoil and Transition 459
Ethan L. Menchinger

23 Islamicate Knowledge Systems: Circulation, Rationality, and Politics 479
Jane H. Murphy

24 From Saints and Renewers to Mahdis and Proto‐Nationalists 499
John O. Voll

Part VII Colonial Subjection and Postcolonial Developments (ca. 1882–present) 519

25 Struggles for Independence: Colonial and Postcolonial Orders 521
SherAli Tareen

26 The ‘Ulama’: Challenges, Reforms, and New Patterns of Social Relevance 543
Jakob Skovgaard‐Petersen

27 The Role of Intellectuals within Late‐Colonial and Postcolonial Public Spheres 561
Mohammed A. Bamyeh and Armando Salvatore

28 The Sociopolitical Entanglements of Sufism 585
Jamal Malik

Index 607

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