Chase Robinson

Islamic Civilization in Thirty Lives

Notify me when the book’s added
To read this book, upload an EPUB or FB2 file to Bookmate. How do I upload a book?
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. Alongside the famous characters who colored this landscape—including Muhammad’s cousin ’Ali; the Crusader-era hero Saladin; and the poet Rumi—are less well-known figures, such as Ibn Fadlan, whose travels in Eurasia brought fascinating first-hand accounts of the Volga Vikings to the Abbasid Caliph; the eleventh-century Karima al-Marwaziyya, a woman scholar of Prophetic traditions; and Abu al-Qasim Ramisht, a twelfth-century merchant millionaire.   An illuminating read for anyone interested in learning more about this often-misunderstood civilization, this book creates a vivid picture of life in all arenas of the pre-modern Muslim world.
This book is currently unavailable
456 printed pages
Original publication
2017
Publication year
2017
Have you already read it? How did you like it?
👍👎

Impressions

  • alifashared an impression7 years ago
    👍Worth reading
    🔮Hidden Depths
    💡Learnt A Lot
    💞Loved Up
    🚀Unputdownable

Quotes

  • alifahas quoted7 years ago
    ‘Thucydides invented history, but Ibn Khaldun turned it into a science.’
  • alifahas quoted7 years ago
    man is not self-sufficient, and since food, shelter and the like require cooperation – that is, social organization – man is necessarily a political animal.
  • alifahas quoted7 years ago
    While Zaydis and Isma‘ilis tended towards political activism, even revolution, Imamis were pragmatic quietists.

On the bookshelves

fb2epub
Drag & drop your files (not more than 5 at once)