ISLAM AND THE ARABS

by Rom Landau ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 14, 1959

Rom Landau is Professor of Islamic and North African Studies at the College of the Pacific in San Francisco. This book presents a comprehensive picture of Islam and the Arabian civilization, directed toward the student and the non-specialist. Within the first four chapters he considers the religious and military state of Arabia before the Prophet; the concept of God in the Koran; the Caliphate and the sects and dynasties originating after the death of Muhammed; the development and decline of Muslim power in Egypt, Arabia and Syria; the Mongol invasion followed by the Ottomans; the abolishment of the sultanate and the caliphate in 1924 which marked the end of a religio-political empire that had begun with Muhammed. Topically, he then briefly traces the expansion of Islam in the West -- particularly in Moorish Spain; the Crusades; Muslim contributions in law, philosophy, science, the domestic arts, architecture, literature; and in a final chapter he concentrates on the problems resulting from the emergence of a ""once dependent peoples from colonialism to national sovereignty"" and the inroads of Communism in the Near East. At the end of each chapter a glossary of terms and a chronology of events is provided.

Pub Date: July 14, 1959

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Macmillan

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1959

Categories: NONFICTION