Islamic Civilization in Thirty Lives (eBook)

The First 1,000 Years

Chase F. Robinson (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2017
University of California Press (Verlag)
978-0-520-96627-7 (ISBN)

Infos

Religious thinkers, political leaders, lawmakers, writers, and philosophers have shaped the 1,400-year-long development of the world's second-largest religion. But who were these people? What do we know of their lives and the ways in which they influenced their societies?
 
In Islamic Civilization in Thirty Lives, the distinguished historian of Islam Chase F. Robinson draws on the long tradition in Muslim scholarship of commemorating in writing the biographies of notable figures, but he weaves these ambitious lives together to create a rich narrative of Islamic civilization, from the Prophet Muhammad in the seventh century to the era of the world conquerer Timur and the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II in the fifteenth.
 
Beginning in Islam’s heartland, Mecca, and ranging from North Africa and Iberia in the west to Central and East Asia, Robinson not only traces the rise and fall of Islamic states through the biographies of political and military leaders who worked to secure peace or expand their power, but also discusses those who developed Islamic law, scientific thought, and literature. What emerges is a fascinating portrait of rich and diverse Islamic societies. Alongside the famous characters who colored this landscape—including Muhammad’s cousin ’Ali; the Crusader-era hero Saladin; and the poet Rumi—are less well-known figures, such as Ibn Fadlan, whose travels in Eurasia brought fascinating first-hand accounts of the Volga Vikings to the Abbasid Caliph; the eleventh-century Karima al-Marwaziyya, a woman scholar of Prophetic traditions; and Abu al-Qasim Ramisht, a twelfth-century merchant millionaire.
 
An illuminating read for anyone interested in learning more about this often-misunderstood civilization, this book creates a vivid picture of life in all arenas of the pre-modern Muslim world.

Inhalt

Preface
Conventions, abbreviations & equivocations
Introduction

Part 1
Islam & Empire
1.Muhammad  the Prophet 
2.‘Ali  cousin, caliph and forefather of Shi‘ism  
3.‘A’isha  wife of the Prophet  
4.‘Abd al-Malik  engineer of the caliphate
5.Ibn al-Muqaffa‘  translator and essayist 
6.Rabi‘a al-‘Adawiyya  renunciant and saint 
7.al-Ma’mun  caliph-patron  

Part 2
The Islamic Commonwealth
8.‘Arib  courtesan of caliphs  
9.al-Hallaj  ‘the Truth’  
10.al-Tabari  traditionalist rationalist  
11.Abu Bakr al-Razi  free-thinking physician  
12.Ibn Fadlan  intrepid envoy  
13.Ibn Muqla  vizier, scribe, calligrapher?  
14.Mahmud of Ghazna  conqueror and patron  
15.al-Biruni  cataloguer of nature and culture 

Part 3
A Provisional Synthesis
16.Ibn Hazm  polemicist, polymath 
17.“Karima al-Marwaziyya  hadith scholar 
18.al-Ghazali  ‘Renewer’ of Islam 
19.Abu al-Qasim Ramisht  merchant millionaire
20.al-Idrisi  cosmopolitan cartographer 
21.Saladin  anti-Crusader hero  
22.Ibn Rushd (Averroes)  Aristotelian monotheist  

Part 4
Disruption & Integration
23.Rumi  Sufi ‘poet’  
24.Rashid al-Din  physician, courtier and global historian 
25.al-Hilli  paragon of Shi‘ism ascendant  
26.Ibn Taymiyya  stubborn reactionary 
27.Timur  sheep-rustler, world-conqueror  
28.Ibn Khaldun  social theorist and historian  
29.Mehmed II  conqueror and renaissance man  
30.Shah Isma‘il  esoteric charismatic 

Glossary
Suggestions for Further Reading
Notes
Bibliography
Sources of Illustrations
Index

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 3.4.2017
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Sonstiges ► Geschenkbücher
• Themenwelt: Geschichte ► Teilgebiete der Geschichte ► Religionsgeschichte
• Themenwelt: Geisteswissenschaften ► Religion / Theologie ► Islam
• Schlagworte: Ali • ancient manuscripts • Arabia • Artifacts • Asia • Civilization • College Students • color images • early Muslim world • fall of islamic states • International Politics • Islam • islam heartland • islamic life • Islamic states • lawmakers • Lives • major figures • mecca • Muhammad • muslim scholars • Muslim Studies • North Africa • Paintings • Philosopher • Philosophers • Philosophy • poet Rumi • Political Leaders • Political Science Major • portrait of islamic society • Relations • Religious Studies • Religious Thinkers • rich narrative • rise and fall • Saladin • Scholarship • Spain • writers
• ISBN-10: 0-520-96627-9 / 0520966279
• ISBN-13: 978-0-520-96627-7 / 9780520966277