Islamisation: Comparative Perspectives from History

About the Book

In 24 chapters, this volume explores the spread of Islam and the process of Islamisation over 11 centuries of its history: both conversion to Islam and the adoption of Muslim culture. Taking a broad, comparative perspective, the volume addresses key questions. What is meant by Islamisation? How far was the spread of Islam as a religion bound up with the spread of Muslim culture? To what extent are Islamisation and conversion parallel processes? How is Islamisation connected to Arabisation? What role do vernacular Muslim languages play in the promotion of Muslim culture? Discover both the historical trajectory of Islamisation and the methodological problems in its study, with coverage moving from Africa to China and from the 7th century to the start of the colonial period in 1800.

Table of Contents:
Introduction: Comparative Perspectives on Islamisation A.C.S. Peacock Part I. Conversion and Islamisation: Theoretical approaches 1. Global Patterns of Ruler Conversion to Islam and the Logic of Empirical Religiosity Alan Strathern 2. Conversion out of Personal Principle: ʿAli b. Rabban al-Tabari (d. c. 860) and ʿAbdallah al-Tarjuman (d. c. 1430), Two Converts from Christianity to Islam David Thomas 3. The Conversion Curve Revisited Richard W. Bulliet Part II. The Early Islamic and Medieval Middle East 4. What did Conversion to Islam mean in 7th-Century Arabia? Harry Munt 5. Zoroastrian Fire Temples and the Islamisation of Sacred Space in Early Islamic Iran Andrew D. Magnusson 6. ‘There is no god but God’: Islamisation and Religious Code Switching, 8th to 10th Centuries Anna Chrysostomides 7. Islamisation in Medieval Anatolia A.C.S. Peacock 8. Islamisation in the Southern Levant after the End of Frankish Rule: Some General Considerations and a Short Case Study Reuven Amitai Part III. The Muslim West 9. Conversion of the Berbers to Islam/Islamisation of the Berbers Michael Brett 10. The Islamisation of al-Andalus: Recent Studies and Debates Maribel Fierro Part IV. Sub-Saharan Africa 11. The Oromo and the Historical Process of Islamisation in Ethiopia Marco Demichelis 12. The Archaeology of Islamisation in Sub-Saharan Africa Timothy Insoll Part V. The Balkans 13. The Islamisation of Ottoman Bosnia: Myths and Matters Sanja Kadrić 14. From Shahāda to ‘Aqīda: Conversion to Islam, Catechisation and Sunnitisation in 16th-Century Ottoman Rumeli Tijana Krstić Part VI. Central Asia 15. Islamisation on the Iranian Periphery: Nasir-i Khusraw and Ismailism in Badakhshan Daniel Beben 16. Khwaja Ahmad Yasavi as an Islamising Saint: Rethinking the Role of Sufis in the Islamisation of the Turks of Central Asia Devin DeWeese 17. The Role of the Domestic Sphere in the Islamisation of the Mongols Bruno De Nicola Part VII. South Asia 18. Reconsidering ‘Conversion to Islam’ in Indian History Richard M. Eaton 19. Civilising the Savage: Myth, History and Persianisation in the Early Delhi Courts of South Asia Blain Auer Part VIII. Southeast Asia and the Far East 20. China and the Rise of Islam on Java Alexander Wain 21. The Story of Yusuf and Indonesia’s Islamisation: A Work of Literature Plus E.P. Wiering 22. Persian Kings, Arab conquerors and Malay Islam: Comparative Perspectives on the Place of Muslim Epics in the Islamisation of the Chams Philipp Bruckmayer 23. Islamisation and Sinicisation: Inversions, Reversions and Alternate Versions of Islam in China James D. Frankel

About the Author :
A.C.S. Peacock is Professor of Middle Eastern and Islamic History at the University of St Andrews, and holds a PhD from the University of Cambridge. His previous publications include The Great Seljuk Empire (2015) and Early Seljuq History (2010).

Review :

'An important landmark in the field, and one that should become a standard point of reference for Islamic studies scholarship for many years to come.'

--R. Michael Feener, The Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies "Journal of Islamic Studies "