CONTENTS
List of Maps vii
Preface I X
Chronology xiii
1 BEGINNINGS
The Prophet (570-632) 3
The Rashidun (632-661) 23
The First Fitnah 3 3
2 DEVELOPMENT
The Umayyads and the Second Fitnah 41
The Religious Movement 45
The Last Years of the Umayyads (705-750) 50
The Abbasids: The High Caliphal Period (750-935) 53
The Esoteric Movements 65
3 CULMINATION
A New Order (935-1258) 81
The Crusades 93
Expansion 95
The Mongols (1 220-1 500) 96
4 ISLAM TRIUMPHANT
Imperial Islam (1500-1 700) 115
The Safavid Empire 117
