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The birth of Islam in the 7th century and its subsequent outward
expansion from the Arab world has been one of the most influential
occurrences in world history. During its first few decades, the new
faith inspired conquests from Spain to northern India. In this
illuminating study, the author tracks the rise of Islam from it 7th
century beginnings with the life of the Prophet Muhammad to the
collapse of the Islamic empire in the early 10th century. He
demonstrates how a sophisticated, new religion and society emerged
to become one of the world's most vital and sustained cultures. The
opening chapter provides an outline of the history of early Islamic
society over a period of roughly three centuries, from the early
7th to the early 10th centuries, concentrating on pre-Islamic Arab
countries and the life of the Prophet. Subsequent chapters treat
Arab-Islamic conquests; the early Islamic empire; and society and
religion, particularly in the early Abbasid period (750-925 C.E.).
The spread of urbanization throughout the early Islamic world is
highlighted. Fifteen brief biographies of key figures such as
Qur'an commentators, empire-building caliphs, scholars, and
military leaders help to add a personal human element to the data,
and 15 translated primary documents ranging from key Qur'annic
passages to contemporary accounts of military campaigns bring the
history to life. A glossary of terms, a timeline, and selected
bibliography aid student research. The work is fully indexed.
Concubines and Courtesans contains sixteen essays that consider,
from a variety of viewpoints, enslaved and freed women across
medieval and pre-modern Islamic social history. The essays bring
together arguments regarding slavery, gender, social networking,
cultural production (songs, poetry and instrumental music),
sexuality, Islamic family law, and religion in the shaping of Near
Eastern and Islamic society over time. They range over nearly 1000
years of Islamic history - from the early, formative period
(seventh to tenth century C.E.) to the late Ottoman, Safavid and
Mughal eras (sixteenth to eighteenth century C.E.) - and regions
from al-Andalus (Islamic Spain) to Central Asia (Timurid Iran). The
close, common thread joining the essays is an effort to account for
the lives, careers and representations of female slaves and freed
women participating in, and contributing to, elite urban society of
the Islamic realm. Interest in a gendered approach to Islamic
history, society and religion has by now deep roots in Middle
Eastern and Islamic studies. The shared aim of the essays collected
here is to get at the wealth of these topics, and to underscore
their centrality to a firm grasp on Islamic and Middle Eastern
history.
"What sets this text apart from many others is its focus on the
socioeconomic, political, and cultural milieu in which a new
religious movement was born and has thrived; its discussion of the
origins of Islamic law, spirituality and theology, mysticism,
philosophy, and culture; and an appendix of individual page-length
biographies of important figures. Also included is a helpful
glossary of terms, a 'photo essay,' selections from primary
sources, and an annotated bibliography. . . . Gordon's discussion
of the sociocultural origins and authority of the Qur'an is very
good. He also highlights an area of Islamic studies often ignored
in general introduction, the role of urbanization in the
development of Islamic civilization worldwide. . . . [T]his is a
very useful and informative general introduction." -- The Historian
The Works of Ibn Wadih al-Ya'qubi, a three volume set, contains a
fully annotated translation of the extant writings of Abu al-'Abbas
al-Ya'qubi, a Muslim imperial official and polymath of the
third/ninth century, along with an introduction to these works and
a biographical sketch of their author. The most important of the
works are the History (Ta'rikh) and his Geography (Kitab
al-buldan). It also contains a new translation of al-Ya'qubi's
political essay (Mushakalat al-nas) and a set of fragmentary texts
drawn from other Arabic medieval works. Al-Ya'qubi's writings are
among the earliest surviving Arabic-language works of the Islamic
period, and thus offer an invaluable body of evidence on patterns
of early Islamic history, social and economic organization, and
cultural production. Contributors: Laila Asser, Paul Cobb, Lawrence
I. Conrad, Elton Daniel, Fred Donner, Michael Fishbein, Matthew S.
Gordon, Sidney H. Griffith, Wadad Kadi (al-Qadi), Lutz
Richter-Bernberg, Chase F. Robinson, Everett K. Rowson
Ahmad ibn Tulun (835–884) governed Egypt on behalf of the
Abbasid dynasty for sixteen years. An aggressive and innovative
actor, he pursued an ambitious political agenda, including the
introduction of dynastic rule over Egypt, that put him at odds with
his imperial masters. Throughout, however, he retained close ties
to the Abbasid house and at no point did he assert outright
independence. In this volume, Matthew Gordon considers Ibn
Tulun’s many achievements in office as well as the crises,
including the betrayals of his eldest son and close clients, that
marred his singular career.
The Works of Ibn Wadih al-Ya'qubi, a three volume set, contains a
fully annotated translation of the extant writings of Abu al-'Abbas
al-Ya'qubi, a Muslim imperial official and polymath of the
third/ninth century, along with an introduction to these works and
a biographical sketch of their author. The most important of the
works are the History (Ta'rikh) and his Geography (Kitab
al-buldan). It also contains a new translation of al-Ya'qubi's
political essay (Mushakalat al-nas) and a set of fragmentary texts
drawn from other Arabic medieval works. Al-Ya'qubi's writings are
among the earliest surviving Arabic-language works of the Islamic
period, and thus offer an invaluable body of evidence on patterns
of early Islamic history, social and economic organization, and
cultural production. Contributors: Laila Asser, Paul Cobb, Lawrence
I. Conrad, Elton Daniel, Fred Donner, Michael Fishbein, Matthew S.
Gordon, Sidney H. Griffith, Wadad Kadi (al-Qadi), Lutz
Richter-Bernberg, Chase F. Robinson, Everett K. Rowson
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