Islamic History A Very Short Introduction

171 Pages·2010·2.71 MB·English

by  Adam J. Silverstein

Adam J. Silverstein
islamic history
A Very Short Introduction
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Great Clarendon Street, Oxford ox2 6dp
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© Adam J. Silverstein 2010
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Typeset by SPI Publisher Services, Pondicherry, India
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Ashford Colour Press Ltd, Gosport, Hampshire
ISBN 978–0–19–954572–8
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In Memoriam
Michael Fox (1934–2009)
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Contents
Acknowledgements xiii
Preface xv
List of illustrations xvii
Introduction 1
1 The story 9
2 Peoples and cultures 49
3 Institutions 63
4 The sources 80
5 Competing approaches 94
6 Religious signifi cance 108
7 Political signifi cance 119
Conclusions 133
References and further reading 141
Index 147
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Acknowledgements
This book largely reflects the contents of lecture courses
on Islamic history that I have taught at the universities of
Cambridge and Oxford. Though teaching at such esteemed
universities is undoubtedly a privilege, the experience can also
be a ‘school of hard knocks’ for a young lecturer trying out new
ideas. My students, who were routinely brighter and better
prepared than I was, never let me get away with anything
unclear or half-baked. For their input over the years I am very
grateful to them all and in particular to Imogen Ware who
prepared the book’s Index.
I also wish to thank my colleagues Anna Akasoy, Patricia Crone,
David Powers, and Chase Robinson who kindly read early drafts
of the book and saved me from numerous errors of fact and
judgement.
I would like to thank Luciana O’Flaherty and Andrea Keegan for
commissioning the book, Emma Marchant, Kerstin Demata, and
Keira Dickinson for seeing it through the process of publication,
and Erica Martin for help with the illustrations.
Finally, the mushy bit: My parents and my wife, Sophie, read
a draft of the book and gave me many helpful comments on it.
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But they have also given me just about everything else that is
important in life and I cannot quite think how to thank them for
it all. And if I ever seem to them to be lost in thought they should
know that I’m merely struggling to think of ways to make it up to
them. Or thinking about work.
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Preface
In recent years it has become increasingly obvious to non-Muslim
Westerners that Islam matters. Whether or not this is a good
thing continues to occupy a central place in public debates and
in the media. On the basis of some of their recent statements,
Prince Charles appears to be a fan; Pope Benedict XVI – not
so much. The growing visibility of Muslims in newspaper
headlines and on the streets of European and North American
cities has raised important issues concerning integration,
multiculturalism, interfaith relations, and even what it means to
be ‘British’, ‘American’, or ‘Western’ altogether. Do headscarves
and veils have a place in modern Western societies or do they – as
a British foreign minister and the French government have
suggested – obstruct communication and threaten our ‘core
values’ and security?
Regardless of one’s opinions on these matters, it is clear to many
that there is a confl ict brewing between ‘Islam’ and the Judeo-
Christian culture upon which Western civilization is thought to
be based. But why should this be so? After all, Islam is a form
of monotheism that arose in the midst of predominantly Jewish
and Christian communities in the Near East. And when the fi rst
Muslims spread beyond Arabia’s borders, some contemporary
Christians assumed that they were Jews, and some Jews thought
they were Christians. How then are we to explain the enormous
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