Product Description

This lavishly illustrated book begins in the pre-Islamic world and details the birth, development, and growth of Islam through to the present. It is arranged both thematically and chronologically, tracing the growth of Islamic faith, laws science, art and philosophy through time and across the world, and discussing as well the spread of Islam throughout the middle East, Africa, India, Central and East Asia, and finally Europe and North America. The contributors are all top-level scholars and experts in their fields; they bring a variety of backgrounds and points of view to the work.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #90214 in Books
• Published on: 2000-01-27
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 768 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
The entire history of Islamic civilisation is, of course, too much to cover in a single volume, but John Esposito comes close. In a book topping 700 pages and containing over 300 photographs, Esposito brings together experts in fields such as early Islamic history, art and architecture, science and medicine, Islam in Africa and Southeast Asia, and contemporary Islam. Beginners will be swimming in new discoveries, while old hands will find connections and facts they never suspected. Majid Fakhry, for instance, shows not only the influence of philosopher Ibn Rushd (Averroes) on European intellectuals but also unveils the claims and counterclaims within Islamic philosophy over time. Dru Gladney takes us on an eye-opening journey through Islamic Central Asia and even China, where the Muslim Hui people are recognised as the country's third-largest minority nationality. And have you ever seen an exquisite mosque with towering spires made entirely of mud-brick, like there are in West Africa? Unfortunately, Esposito apparently couldn't find room here for separate sections on Sufism or Islamic literature, but there are more than enough mosques, paintings, historical maps, and tapestries throughout to keep you turning pages and learning with fascination. --Brian Bruya

About the Author
John Esposito is a professor at Georgetown University and the founder of the Center for Muslim-Christian understanding at the institution. He is a long-time Oxford author.

Customer Reviews

A good history
There is a general level of scholarly quality that books from the Oxford press rarely fall below.

One such quality book is John Esposito's recent volume on the history of Islam. Published in 1999, this one might well have included the word Illustrated in the title, for it is lavishly illustrated throughout with pictures, photographs, maps, and drawings. It provides a wide-ranging and in-depth account of Islam. 'Although Islam is the youngest of the major world religions, with 1.2 billion followers, Islam is the second largest and fastest-growing religion in the world. To speak of the world of Islam today is to refer not only to countries that stretch from North Africa to Southeast Asia but also to Muslim minority communities that exist across the globe. Thus, for example, Islam is the second or third largest religion in Europe and the Americas.'

This is an accessible volume -- technical terms have been kept to a minimum, and the writing is cast in a readable, narrative format. Yet this volume is still of good service to scholars and specialists, with indexing and chapter topics that are arranged conceptually as well as chronologically. Including both Muslim and non-Muslim scholars, the contributors are experts in different disciplines and come from a variety of national and religious backgrounds.

The first section of the book covers the beginnings of Islam: the development of faith and scripture in the Koran, community and institutional development, early personalities in Islam, and contributions to art and science. Included in this section is the early interactions of Christianity and Islam, which have provided in many ways the continuing framework of tension between the West and the Muslim world.

The second section of the book looks at the decline of Islam as an 'imperial' religion, and the splintering of the Muslim world into kingdoms, sultanates and smaller bodies inside other political structures -- these various groupings provided different bases for Islam, which in turn developed differing regional expressions in terms of practice and outlook.

The next sections address the developments of colonialism and the post-colonial problems and opportunities that face Islam, both in political and religious terms, as well as the relationship of Islam to the modern world both at it impacts Islam in countries officially Muslim as well as in more pluralistic nations. 'At the dawn of the twenty-first century, Islam is indeed a global presence that blurs old distinctions between the Muslim world and the West. Islam is truly a world religion, necessitating coverage of both Islam and the West and Islam in the West.'

Tracing an early history of Islam presents many of the same problems encountered in doing such for any religion -- to what extent can the scholars remain objective? What does objectivity mean? To what extent can scriptural and traditional sources of stories be regarded as historically authoritative, and to what extent have details been changed to achieve other, more religious ends? Little is known (in the historically authoritative sense) about the Prophet Muhammad's early life. Apart from the Koran, most of the texts with historical information about Muhammad and the early years of Islam were recorded later, perhaps (like the New Testament or the Hebrew Scriptures) by people who chose to emphasise some items and overlook other details that do not conform with what modern scholars are hoping for in their research.

Well indexed, with timelines and other reference aids, this is a great volume for scholarly work as well as for interesting reading about this religion which impacts with great importance on the world scene. Many Christians tend to forget that Islam grows out the traditions of worship of the God of Abraham, the same God worshipped by Moses, Elijah, and Jesus.

This is a wonderful volume -- for the typical Western reader, if you were to only read one book on Islam, this would be it!

Inaccurate earlier historical details
I found that some of the earlier historical events were misrepresented, in particular the events leading to the first and second civil wars.
In addition to this, I also felt that there was not enough detail for this period, considering the significance of the era on Islamic history.
Later topics, such as the coverage of the development of the modern Islamic world, had more depth and I believe were much more qualitative in their content.
In summary, the book seemed rather dry and in parts very thin, although some good chapters did redeem it to an extent. For the layman, I would recommend that they try "Islam - Empire of Faith; Jonathan Bloom, Sheila Blair". It reads much better, and does not have the same problem of "lumpy" content.

Comprehensive (especially geographically)
Has a partciular focus on the development of Islam geographically. Has some good chapters on Islam, philosophy (Fakhry) and jurisprudence (Kamali) by leading authorities.