Table of Contents

Introduction ROBERT IRWIN; Part I. Religion and Law: 1. Islam JONATHAN BERKEY; 2. Sufism ALEXANDER KNYSH; 3. Varieties of Islam FARHAD DAFTARY; 4. Islamic law WAEL B. HALLAQ; 5. Conversion and the Ahl al-Dhimma David J. Wasserstein; 6. Muslims and the natural world Richard Bulliet; Part II. Societies, Politics and Economics: 7. Caliphs, kings and regimes Said Arjomand; 8. The city and the nomad Hugh Kennedy; 9. Rural life and economy Andrew M. Watson; 10. Demography and migration Suraiya N. Faroqhi; 11. Mechanisms of commerce Warren C. Schultz; 12. Women, gender and sexuality Manuela Marin; Part III. Arts, Literature and Learning: 13. Education Francis Robinson; 14. Philosophy Richard C. Taylor; 15. Sciences in Islamic societies Sonja Brentjes with Robert G. Morrison; 16. Occult sciences and medicine S. Nomanul Haq; 17. Literary and oral cultures Jonathan Bloom; 18a. Arabic literature Julia Bray; 18b. Persian literature Dick Davis; 18c. Turkish literature Cigdem Balim; 18d. Urdu literature Shamsur Rahman Faruqi; 19. History writing Li Guo; 20. Biographical literature Michael Cooperson; 21. Art and architecture Marcus Milwright; 22. Music Amnon Shiloah; 23. Cookery David Waines; 24. Muslim accounts of the Dar al-Harb Michael Bonner and Gottfried Hagen.

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A panoramic vision of Islamic cultures and societies from the origins of Islam to 1800.

About the Author

Robert Irwin is senior research associate of the History Department, School of Oriental and African Studies, London University. His previous publications include For Lust of Knowing: The Orientalists and Their Enemies (2006), Night and Horses and the Desert: An Anthology of Classical Arabic Literature (1999) and The Arabian Nights: A Companion (1994).