Tamara Sonn is the Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani Professor in the History of Islam at the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University. She has published numerous books, including Interpreting Islam: Bandali Jawzi's Islamic Intellectual History (1996), Comparing Religions through Law: Judaism and Islam (with J. Neusner, 1999), and most recently The Religion Toolkit: A Complete Guide to Religious Studies (with J. Morreall, 2011) and 50 Great Myths About Religion (with J. Morreall, 2014).

Foreword ix

Preface xi

Maps xiii

1 Many Paths to One God: Establishing the Ideals 1

The Quran 1

The Quran and Other Scriptures 7

Themes of the Quran 12

The Exemplary Life of Muhammad, Prophet of Islam:

The Sunna 21

The Early Muslim Community and the Pillars of Islam 24

The Successors (Caliphs) 27

Early Communal Disputes 29

Conclusion 31

2 The Pursuit of Knowledge in the Service of God and Humanity: The Golden Age 34

Institutions 35

Law 36

Political Structure 43

Cultural Achievements 45

Spirituality and the Mystical Tradition: Sufism 54

Conclusion 68

3 Division and Reorganization 71

The Crusades and Other Disasters 71

The Decline of the Abbasids and Rise of the Ottomans 77

Persia: The Safavid Empire 84

India and the Rise of the Mughals 87

Understanding Developments in Islamic History 95

Conclusion 99

4 Colonialism and Reform 101

Colonialism 101

The Outcome of World War I 110

The Effects of Colonialism and Themes of Islamic Reform 117

Modern Iterations of Islamic Reform and New Challenges 125

Islamist Approaches to Reform 129

Conclusion: Mainstream Islamists and Radicals 135

5 Contemporary Islam: The Challenges of Democratization and Complications of Global Politics 139

Turkey 141

Iran 144

Pakistan, Afghanistan, and al?]Qaeda 154

Indonesia 166

Tunisia and the Arab Spring 168

What about Terrorism? ISIS, Boko Haram, Islamic Jihad, Hamas, and Hezbollah 173

Conclusion: Asking the Right Questions 185

Further Reading 195

Index 000