Islamic civilization in thirty lives : the first 1,000 years / Chase F. Robinson.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Robinson, Chase F., author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Islamic civilization.

Middle East--Biography.

Middle East.

Middle East Region.

Genre:

Biographies.

Physical Description:

272 pages : color illustrations, color maps ; 25 cm

Other Title:

Islamic civilization in 30 lives

Place of Publication:

California : University of California Press, 2016.

Summary:

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.

Contents:

Part 1 Islam & Empire 600-850 13

1 Muhammad the Prophet (632) 20

2 'Ali cousin, caliph and forefather of Shi'ism (66a) 31

3 'A'isha wife of the Prophet (678) 37

4 'Abd al-Malik engineer of the caliphate (705) 42

5 Ibn al-Muqaffa' translator and essayist (759) 48

6 Rabi'a al-'Adawiyya renunciant and saint (801) 54

7 al-Ma'mun caliph-patron (833) 60

Part 2 The Islamic Commonwealth 850-1050 69

8 'Arib courtesan of caliphs (890) 74

9 al-Hallaj 'the Truth' (922) 79

10 al-Tabari traditionalist rationalist (923) 85

11 Abu Bakr al-Razi free-thinking physician (925 or 935) 90

12 Ibn Fadlan intrepid envoy (fl. tenth century) 90

13 Ibn Muqla vizier, scribe, calligrapher? (940) 100

14 Mahmud of Ghazna conqueror and patron (1030) 107

15 al-Biruni cataloguer of nature and culture (c.1050) 112

Part 3 A Provisional Synthesis 1050-1250 119

16 Ibn Hazm polemicist, polymath (1064) 128

17 Karima al-Marwaziyya hadith scholar (1070) 134

18 al-Ghazali 'Renewer' of Islam (1111) 139

19 Abu al-Qasim Ramisht merchant millionaire (c. 1150) 148

20 al-Idrisi cosmopolitan cartographer (1165) 153

21 Saladin anti-Crusader hero (1193) 160

22 Ibn Rushd (Averroes) Aristotelian monotheist (1198) 169

Part 4 Disruption & Integration 1250-1525 178

23 Rumi Sufi 'poet' (1273) 188

24 Rashid al-Din physician, courtier and global historian (1318) 194

25 al-Hilli paragon of Shi'ism ascendant (1325) 200

26 Ibn Taymiyya stubborn reactionary (1328) 205

27 Timur sheep-rustler, world-conqueror (1405) 212

28 Ibn Khaldun social theorist and historian (1406) 220

29 Mehmed II irofiqueror and renaissance man (1481) 229

30 Shah Isma'il esoteric charismatic (1524) 238.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 248-266) and index.

ISBN:

0520292987

9780520292987

OCLC:

945028023