Transregional and regional elites of various backgrounds were essential for the integration of diverse regions into the early Islamic Empire, from Central Asia to North Africa. This volume is an important contribution to the conceptualization of the largest empire of Late Antiquity. While previous studies used Iraq as the paradigm for the entire empire, this volume looks at diverse regions instead. After a theoretical introduction to the concept of 'elites' in an early Islamic context, the papers focus on elite structures and networks within selected regions of the Empire (Transoxiana, Khurasan, Armenia, Fars, Iraq, al-Jazira, Syria, Egypt, and Ifriqiya). The papers analyze elite groups across social, religious, geographical, and professional boundaries. Although each region appears unique at first glance, based on their heterogeneous surviving sources, its physical geography, and its indigenous population and elites, the studies show that they shared certain patterns of governance and interaction, and that this was an important factor for the success of the largest empire of Late Antiquity.

Why are stories told about the Kharijites? The Islamic tradition portrays Kharijism as a heretical movement of militantly pious zealots, a notion largely reiterated by what little there is of modern scholarship on the Kharijites. Hannah-Lena Hagemann moves away from the usual studies of Kharijite history 'as it really was' and instead examines its narrative function in early Islamic historiography. From the Kharijites' origins at the Battle of Siffin in 657 CE until the death of the caliph 'Abd al-Malik b. Marwan in 705 CE, Hagemann's literary analysis provides a fresh perspective on Kharijite history and highlights the need for a serious reassessment of the historical phenomenon of Kharijism as it is currently understood in scholarship.

Why are stories told about the Kharijites? The Islamic tradition portrays Kharijism as a heretical movement of militantly pious zealots, a notion largely reiterated by what little there is of modern scholarship on the Kharijites. Hannah-Lena Hagemann moves away from the usual studies of Kharijite history 'as it really was' and instead examines its narrative function in early Islamic historiography. From the Kharijites' origins at the Battle of Siffin in 657 CE until the death of the caliph 'Abd al-Malik b. Marwan in 705 CE, Hagemann's literary analysis provides a fresh perspective on Kharijite history and highlights the need for a serious reassessment of the historical phenomenon of Kharijism as it is currently understood in scholarship.