Caliphate : the history of an idea / Hugh Kennedy.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Kennedy, Hugh (Hugh N.), author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Caliphate--History.

Caliphate.

History.

Caliphs--History.

Caliphs.

Islamic Empire--History--622-661.

Islamic Empire.

Islamic Empire--History--661-750.

Islamic Empire--History--750-1258.

Islamic Empire--Kings and rulers.

Kings and rulers.

Genre:

History.

Physical Description:

xxiii, 309 pages ; 25 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

New York : Basic Books, 2016.

Summary:

Caliphate is a grand and sweeping history of the caliphate since the death of the prophet Mohammed until the last official caliph in the 13th Century, and its modern incarnations under various Islamist groups today. Contrary to popular belief, Islamic law is not a codified set of legislations, and thus there cannot be one definition of the role of the caliph. Rather, this title has been the subject of serious debate and transformation over time. In Caliphate, historian and Middle East expert Hugh Kennedy lifts the veil on the changing and contested position of the caliph and explores the fascinating succession of various leaders of the Islamic world since the death of the Prophet in 632 until the modern day. Kennedy begins in 7th century Medina, the Prophet Muhammad's city in the Hejaz desert, in the hours following the prophet's death. In the end, Kennedy delves into the modern fate of the caliphate, as the British manipulate the 19th Century caliphs to spur dissent against the Ottomans in the Arab provinces, and Islamist leaders call for the creation of a Muslim caliphate. We witness the emergence of another Abu Bakr as "caliph" in 2014, as Kennedy untangles the twisted and distorted Qur'anic history ISIS uses to justify its barbaric acts. An authoritative new account of the dynasties of leaders who shaped the Arab world, The Caliphate reveals the legacy of one of the most potent political ideas in modern history.

Contents:

The first caliphs

The executive caliphate: the rule of the Umayyads

The early Abbasid Caliphate

The culture of the Abbasid Caliphate

The later Abbasid Caliphate

Three authors in search of the caliphate

The caliphate of the Shi'ites

The Umayyads of Córdoba

The Almohad caliphs

The caliphate under the Mamluks and Ottomans

The twentieth century and beyond.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 291-293) and index.

Other Format:

Online version: Kennedy, Hugh (Hugh N.), author. Caliphate

ISBN:

9780465094387

0465094384

OCLC:

945797023