In the early decades of the 8th century AD, Islamic forces were flooding into Europe through the Iberian peninsula, threatening Frankish and Burgundian territory and raiding it with ever-increasing ferocity.
At the battle of Poitiers, also known as Tours, Christian forces under the Frankish leader Charles Martel 'The Hammer' (grandfather of Charlemagne) confronted a massive invading Islamic army.
In Islamic law the world was made up of the House of Islam and the House of War with the Ottoman Sultan--the perceived successor to the Caliphs--supreme ruler of the Islamic world. However, Suraiya Faroqhi demonstrates that there was no iron curtain between the Ottoman and other worlds but rather a long-established network of diplomatic, financial, cultural and religious connections. These extended to the empires of Asia and the modern states of Europe. Faroqhi's book is based on a huge study of original and early modern sources, including diplomatic records, travel and geographical writing, as well as personal accounts.
Professor Seyyed Hossein Nasr
(The George Washington University)
Course Syllabus
Lecture 1 D¯ar al-Isl¯am and Western Christendom
Lecture 2 The Islamic World and the West
Lecture 3 Western Christianity and Islam: Their Views of Each Other Over the Ages
Lecture 4 Islamic Civilization: A Survey of Its Foundation and Growth
Lecture 5 Islamic Theology, Philosophy, and Mysticism and Their Influence on the West
Lecture 6 Islamic Science, Theoretical and Applied: Its Achievements and Influence on Western Science and Technology
Lecture 7 Islamic Art: Its Spirit, Philosophy, Forms, and Influence on Western Art
Lecture 8 Literature in the Islamic World: Arabic and Persian Literature and the West
Lecture 9 The Western Expansion into the Islamic World and the Influence of Western Institutions, Thought, and Art on That World
Lecture 10 The Advent and History of Modernism in the Islamic World
Lecture 11 Islamic Education, Western Educational Institutions, and Ideas in the Islamic World: The Role of Modern Western Science in Education in Islamic Countries
Lecture 12 Modern Western Scholarship on Islam and the Image of Islam in the West
Lecture 13 Islamic Responses to the Modern West: Modernist, Mahdiist, ”Fundamentalist,” and Traditional
Lecture 14 Islam and the West Today
The Encyclopedia of Islam and the Muslim World presents in two volumes some 504 articles, alphabetically arranged, in incremental lengths generally of 200, 500, 1,000, 3,000, and 5,000 words. The work of some 500 scholars appears in these pages, carefully reviewed and edited in a common style for easy access by readers who may presently have limited or no knowledge of Islam. It has also been prepared as a teaching and learning resource for teachers and students, from the high school grades through university. The alphabetical ordering of articles that follow, in the List of Articles, will enable readers to locate topics of interest quickly. A
The Abbasid Caliphs The Abbasid Caliphs were the dynastic rulers of the Islamic world between the middle of the eighth and the tenth centuries. They headed a Muslim empire that extended from Tunisia through Egypt, Syria, Arabia, and Persia to Uzbekistan and the frontiers of India. But unlike previous conquerors, the Abbasid Caliphs presided over a multicultural empire where conversion was a relatively peaceful business.
