Islam in the Middle Ages: the origins and shaping of classical Islamic civilization / Jacob Lassner and Michael Bonner

Includes bibliographical references and index.

1. Arabia on the eve of Islam -- 2. Muhammad Prophet of Islam : origins -- 3. The Prophet's mission : Mecca -- 4. The Prophet's mission : Medina -- 5. The Meccan response and the triumph of the ummah -- 6. Succession, conquest, and expansion : the ummah becomes an "Arab kingdom" -- 7. The Hashimite restoration : a revolution shaped by images of an idealized past -- 8. The split between the Hashimites : 'Alids versus Abbasids/Shiites versus Sunnites -- 9. Centralizing power : the rise of a universal Islamic empire -- 10. Emerging cracks within the universal Islamic empire -- 11. The changing political climate : heralding the end of the formative period of medieval Islam -- 12. The Qur'an and its commentators -- 13. The major themes of Muslim scripture -- 14. The formation of Islamic law and legal tradition -- 15. The formation of different schools of Islamic law -- 16. Islamic theology and popular religion -- App. 1. Dynastic orders -- App. 2. Glossary of technical terms -- App. 3. Chronology -- App. 4. Illustrations.