Bücher der Reihe Cambridge Studies in Islamic Civilization

Yohanan Friedmann uses the Qur'anic and classical sources to explain Islamic attittudes to interfaith relations. While they were usually tolerant, coercion was employed occasionally against marginal elements. Friedmann's erudite study sheds light not only on medieval attitudes, but also on the approach of some radical Islamic movements today.

By examining a wide range of Arabic and Persian literature from the eighth to the thirteenth century, this 1997 book shows the tension that existed between the traditional egalitarian ideal of early Islam, and the hierarchical impulses of the classical period.

Why and under what circumstances did the religion of Islam emerge in a remote part of Arabia at the beginning of the seventh century? Traditional scholarship maintains that Islam developed in opposition to the idolatrous and polytheistic religion of the Arabs of Mecca and the surrounding regions. In this study of pre-Islamic Arabian religion, G. R. Hawting adopts a comparative religious perspective to suggest an alternative view. By examining the various bodies of evidence which survive from this period, the Koran and the vast resources of the Islamic tradition, the author argues that in fact Islam arose out of conflict with other monotheists whose beliefs and practices were judged to fall short of true monotheism and were, in consequence, attacked polemically as idolatry. The author is adept at unravelling the complexities of the source material, and students and scholars will find his argument both engaging and persuasive.

This book considers the importance of the silk trade in Safavid Iran and its commercial relationship with its European neighbours. Theoretical and innovative, it makes a major contribution to debates on the social and economic history of the pre-modern world.

In the Middle Ages, Damascus was one of the most important cities of Eurasia. Michael Chamberlain focuses on the city to develop a new approach to the relationship between society and culture in the medieval Middle East.

This is the first book-length study of the ideas and teachings of the leading tenth-century Ismaili theoretician Abu Ya'qub al-Sijistani.

Yossef Rapoport explores the prevalence of divorce in medieval Islamic society. In so doing, he reveals that women possessed a surprising level of economic independence which they manipulated to initiate divorce as often as men. The book makes a significant contribution to the social history of an understudied period.

Thomas Allsen's latest book breaks new scholarly boundaries in its exploration of cultural and scientific exchanges across Mongol Eurasia. Contrary to popular belief, Mongol rulers were intensely interested in the culture of their sedentary subjects and, under their auspices, commodities, ideologies and technologies were disseminated from East to West.

First published in 2000, Chase Robinson's book takes account of the research available in early Islamic history, interweaving history and historiography to interpret the political, social and economic transformations in the Mesopotamian region after the Islamic conquests. This is a sophisticated study in a burgeoning field in Islamic studies.

Masters explores the evolution of Christian and Jewish communities in the Ottoman empire over four hundred years. Early communities lived with the hierarchy of Muslim law, but the nineteenth century marked the beginning of tensions between Muslims and Christians and the twentieth-century rhetoric of religious fundamentalism.

In a unique study of rural administration in the Ottoman Empire, Amy Singer explores the relationship between Palestinian peasants and Ottoman provincial officials around Jerusalem in the mid-sixteenth century.

In this 2002 book, David Powers analyses the application of Islamic law through cases which took place in the medieval Maghrib. The source for these disputes are fatwas issued by the muftis, which the author uses to situate each case in its historical context and to interpret the legal principles.

By focusing on the trading partnership between the Genoese and the Turks, the author demonstates how this interaction contributed to the economic development of the early Ottoman state. The book considers the economic aspirations of the early Ottomans and their integration into the economy of the Mediterranean basin.

Spanning three centuries of Ottoman history, this book offers an interpretation of relations between the central Ottoman Empire and provincial Iraqi society in the early modern period.

In a fascinating account, the author considers the significance of cloth and colour in the political and cultural life of the Mongols. Situated within the broader context of the history of the Silk Road, the book will interest not only historians of the Middle East and Asia, but also art historians and textile specialists.

This study describes and explains the revolutionary changes which transformed the agricultural life of the Islamicized world in the four centuries following the early Arab conquests. Professor Watson discusses eighteen crops - from sorghum and rye to the watermelon - which spread through the Near East and North Africa during this period.

This 1994 book analyses the economic significance of the Indian, mercantile communities trading in Iran, Central Asia and Russia in the early modern era. It demonstrates the vitality of Indian mercantile capitalism and offers unique insight into the social characteristics of an Indian trading community in the Volga-Caspian port of Astrakhan.

Adam Sabra explores poverty and charity in medieval Islamic society. Thus he sheds light on a world far removed from elite society, hitherto the province of Mamluk studies. This trend, in conjunction with comparisons between the Islamic world, Europe and China, will entice scholars from within the field and beyond.

The book traces the history of the Delhi Sultanate, the first Islamic state established in India. This represents the first comprehensive treatment of the period and it will make a significant contribution to medieval Indo-Muslim history. Students of Islamic and Indian history will find it a valuable resource.

This is the first book-length study of popular culture in Islamic society, drawing together a wealth of Arabic sources to explore literature, religious celebrations and annual festivities in medieval Cairo and addressing questions of relevance throughout the Islamic world and beyond.

From 1260 to 1323, the Mamluk state in Egypt and Syria was at war with the Ilkhanid Mongols based in Persia. This is a comprehensive study of the political and military aspects of the early years of the war, from the battle of 'Ayn Jalut in 1260 to the battle of Homs in 1281.

The author applies an alternative literary-critical reading of the early Islamic sources to demonstrate how medieval narrators devised elusive ways of shedding light on the political, social and religious debates of the 'Abbasid' period. This book represents a landmark in the field of early Islamic historiography.

In a pioneering reinterpretation, the authors challenge the orientalist perception of the Islamic city. Considering the histories of three Ottoman cities, they emphasize their essentially Ottoman character. The authors exploration of the sources and the agendas of those who have conditioned our response to these cities will make this book essential reading.

This book is a study of the writings of Ibn Barrajan, an influential Sunni mystic who introduced a worldview to the Muslim West based in Muslim scripture and Neoplatonic cosmology. It will be of interest to researchers of the medieval Islamic world, and those studying the history of mysticism and Sufism in the Muslim West.

This book shows how regulations that applied to minorities in early Islamic societies were based on traditions originating from the conquerors and the conquered.

Through a close examination of legal, historical, and theological sources, this book considers a largely neglected area of Islamic law, calling into question a controversial popular notion about Islamic law today, which is that Islamic law is a divine legal tradition that has little room for discretion or doubt, particularly in Islamic criminal law.

Kaya Sahin's book offers a revisionist reading of Ottoman history during the reign of Suleyman the Magnificent (1520-66). By examining the life and works of a bureaucrat, Celalzade Mustafa, Sahin argues that the empire was built as part of the Eurasian momentum of empire building and demonstrates the imperial vision of sixteenth-century Ottomans. This unique study shows that, in contrast with many Eurocentric views, the Ottomans were active players in European politics, with an imperial culture in direct competition with that of the Habsburgs and the Safavids. Indeed, this book explains Ottoman empire building with reference to the larger Eurasian context, from Tudor England to Mughal India, contextualizing such issues as state formation, imperial policy and empire building in the period more generally. Sahin's work also devotes significant attention to the often-ignored religious dimension of the Ottoman-Safavid struggle, showing how the rivalry redefined Sunni and Shiite Islam, laying the foundations for today's religious tensions.

Jerusalem was never just another Ottoman town, but in the heyday of the Ottoman Empire it displayed many of the characteristics of a Muslim traditional society. Professor Cohen uses the Arabic and Turkish archives to reconstruct a vivid and detailed picture of everyday life in this lively urban centre.

This study of two contrasting towns in Anatolia focuses on their domestic environment. Through her use of documents from the kadi registers of Ankara and Kayseri, Dr Faroqui follows changes in patterns of house ownership over approximately a century. The urban society thus revealed differs from the patterns generally associated with the 'Islamic city' model.