In this novel perspective on a much-maligned figure, Michal Biran explains the monumental impact Chinggis Khan has had upon the Islamic World, both positive and negative. Often …
‘Abd al-Rahman b. ‘Amr al-Awza‘i (c.707–774) was Umayyad Syria’s most influential jurist, part of a generation of scholars who began establishing the first formal structures for …
‘Uthman ibn ‘Affan (d. 656) was an early convert to Islam and the third successor to the Prophet Muhammad. As caliph he established the first Islamic navy, consolidated the text of …
Abd al-Rahman III (891 - 961) was the greatest of the Umayyad rulers of Spain and the first to take the title of Caliph. During his reign, Islamic Spain became wealthy and …
Aisha al-Ba‘uniyya (c.1456–1517) was one of the greatest women mystics in Islamic history. A Sufi master and an Arab poet, her religious writings were extensive by any standard and …
'Abd al-Malik, who came to promience during the second civil war of early Islam, ruled the Islamic empire from 692 until 705. Not only did he successfully suppress rebellion within …
Ibn Taymiyya (1263–1328) of Damascus was one of the most prominent and controversial religious scholars of medieval Islam. He called for jihad against the Mongol invaders of Syria, …
‘Abd al-Jabbar ibn Hamdis (1055–1133) survives as the best-known figure from four centuries of Arab-Islamic civilisation on the island of Sicily. There he grew up in a society …
Ahmad ibn Tulun (835–884) governed Egypt on behalf of the Abbasid dynasty for sixteen years. An aggressive and innovative actor, he pursued an ambitious political agenda, including …
In 1928, a young Lebanese woman, Nazira Zeineddine al-Halabi, wrote a book called "Unveiling and Veiling", an indictment of patriarchal oppression in which she boldly stated that …
