Part I. The Near East before Islam:
Introduction
Religions of late antiquity
Arabia before Islam
Early seventh century
Part II. The Emergence of Islam, 600-750:
Approaches and problems
Origins of the Muslim community
Early Islam in the Near East
Umayyad period
Beginnings of sectarianism
Non-Muslims of early Islam
'Abbasid revolution
Part III. The Consolidation of Islam, 750-1000:
Issues of Islamic identity
Religion and politics
Shi'ism
Formation of Sunni traditionalism
Asceticism and mysticism
Non-Muslim communities
Part IV. Medieval Islam, 1000-1500:
Medieval Islamic Near East
Sunni 'revival'?
Common patterns in social and political organization
Modes of justice
Transmission of religious knowledge
Sufism
Popular religion
Epilogue:
From medieval to modern Islam.