The Cambridge Illustrated History of the Islamic World

by Edited by Francis Robinson , Foreword by Ira M. Lapidus

• ISBN13: 9780521669931
• ISBN10: 0521669936
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1999-04-13
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

Islamic peoples account for one fifth of the world's population and yet there is widespread misunderstanding in the West of what Islam really is. Francis Robinson and his team set out to address this, revealing the complex and sometimes contrary nature of Muslim culture. As well as taking on the issues uppermost in everyone's minds, such as the role of religious and political fundamentalism, they demonstrate the importance of commerce; literacy and learning; Islamic art; the effects of immigration, exodus, and conquest; and the roots of current crises in the Middle East, Bosnia, and the Gulf. Throughout, emphasis is placed on the interaction between Islam and the West, from the first Latin translations of the Quran to the fatwa on Salman Rushdie. This elegant book deliberately sets out to dismantle the Western impression of Islam as a monolithic world and replace it with a balanced view, from current issues of fundamentalism to its dynamic culture and art. Francis Robinson is the editor of two outstanding reference works: Atlas of the Islamic World Since 1500 (Cambridge, 1982) and The Cambridge Encyclopedia of India (1989).

Table of Contents

Contributors	vi
Foreword	vii
Ira M. Lapidus
Preface	ix
Introduction	x
PART 1
The Rise of Islam in the World	2	(30)
Patricia Crone
The Emergence of the Islamic World System 1000-1500	32	(30)
Robert Irwin
The Islamic World in the Age of European Expansion 1500-1800	62	(28)
Stephen E Dale
The Islamic World in the Era of Western Domination 1800 to the Present	90	(34)
Satah Ansari
PART 2
The Economy in Muslim Societies	124	(40)
K. N. Chaudhuri
The Ordering of Muslim Societies	164	(44)
Basim Musallam
Knowledge, its Transmission and the Making of Muslim Societies	208	(42)
Francis Robinson
Artistic Expressions of Muslim Societies	250	(41)
Stephen Vernoit
CONCLUSION	291	(28)
REFERENCE GUIDE
Rulers of the Islamic World	308	(4)
Glossary	312	(1)
Bibliography	313	(6)
Picture acknowledgements	319	(1)
Index	320