The acclaimed author of Rubicon and other superb works of popular history now produces a thrillingly panoramic (and incredibly timely) account of the rise of Islam.
No less significant than the collapse of the Roman Republic or the Persian invasion of Greece, the evolution of the Arab empire is one of the supreme narratives of ancient history, a story dazzlingly rich in drama, character, and achievement. Just like the Romans, the Arabs came from nowhere to carve out a stupefyingly vast dominion—except that they achieved their conquests not over the course of centuries as the Romans did but in a matter of decades. Just like the Greeks during the Persian wars, they overcame seemingly insuperable odds to emerge triumphant against the greatest empire of the day—not by standing on the defensive, however, but by hurling themselves against all who lay in their path
Author(s): Tom Holland
Edition: 1
Publisher: Anchor
Year: 2020
Language: English
Pages: 549
Tags: Islam
Title
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: The Controversies
Chapter 2: Basic Beliefs in Islam
Chapter 3: Life of Prophet Muhammad and the Birth of Jihad
1. The Birth and Early Life (C. 570–610)
2. Prophetic Mission in Mecca (610–622)
3. Was Muhammad Driven Out of Mecca?
4. Were the Meccans a Cruel People?
5. Exemplary Tolerance of Meccans
6. Muhammad’s Campaign of Terror Against Meccans (623–630)
7. The Seeding of Jihad
8. The Raid of Nakhla
9. The Great Battle of Badr
10. The Disastrous Battle of Ohud
11. The Battle of the Ditch (Trench)
12. The Conquest of Mecca and Capture of the Ka’ba
13. Muhammad’s Exemplary Forgiveness of Meccans
14. Muhammad’s Dealing With the Jews
15. Muhammad’s Exhortation to Draw the Jews to Islam
16. Jewish Doctrines in Good Light in Islam
17. Muhammad’s Bitterness With the Jews
18. Muhammad’s Violence Against the Jews
19. Muhammad’s Dealing With the Christians
20. Christian Influence on Muhammad’s Mission and Creed
21. Influence of Other Beliefs and Legends on Muhammad’s Creed
22. Christian Thoughts in Islam
23. Condemnation of Christianity in the Quran
24. Muhammad’s Hostility Toward Christians
25. Muhammad’s Anti-Christian Hostility in His Death-Bed
26. Muhammad’s Threatening Missives to Christian Rulers
27. Muhammad’s Expeditions Against Christians
28. Muhammad’s Dealing With Christian Delegations
29. Status of Non-Muslims in Islam as Accorded by Muhammad
30. Jews in Islam
31. Christians in Islam
32. Muhammad’s Jihad and Its Outcome
Chapter 4: Propagation of Islam: By Force or Peacefully
1. The Early Wars for Spreading Islam
2. Propagation of Islam: Quranic Commands and Prophetic Model
3. Muslim Scholars on the Wars for Spreading Islam
4. Protecting Sovereignty of the Islamic State
5. Overcoming Tyranny of Foreign Rulers
6. Freeing Weak Countries From Oppressive Rulers
7. Removing Tyranny and Oppression
8. Welcome in Spain
9. How So Many Hindus Survived in India?
10. Why So Many People in India Are Still Hindus?
11. How Conversion Took Place in India?
12. Conversion by the Sword
13. Conversion Through Enslavement
14. Enslaved Women as Reproduction Tools
15. Humiliation & Economic Burdens Contributing to Conversion
16. Conversion Under Brutal Aurangzeb
17. Brutal Conversion in Kashmir
18. Deceptive Propaganda About Conversion
19. Voluntary Conversion
20. Conversion of Lower Caste Hindus
21. Peaceful Conversion by Sufis
22. Conversion by Traders in Southeast Asia
23. What Enabled the Conversion of the Otherwise Resistant Infidels of Southeast Asia to Islam So Quickly After Muslims Gained Political Power?
Conclusion
Chapter 5: The Arab-Islamic Imperialism
1. Islamic Imperialism: Quranic Commands & Prophetic Model
2. The Perception of Islamic Rule
3. Why Islamic Rule Is Not Colonialism?
4. Economic Exploitation in Islamic Expansion
5. The Cultural Imperialism of Islam
6. Contribution of Islam to Conquered Lands
7. The Underdeveloped Society of the Arabs
8. Prohibition of Intellectual Pursuits in Islam
9. Islam Egalitarian or Racist?
10. Islam’s Extirpation of Egalitarian Buddhism
11. How the Muslim World Excelled Intellectually and Materially?
12. Calling Colonies Home
Chapter 6: Islamic Imperialism in India
1. 'The Hindu Women and Children Went Out Begging at the Doors of the Musalmans.'
2. The Islamic Conquest and Rule
3. India Before the Coming of Islam: An Advanced Civilization
4. A Tolerant and Humane Society
5. Muslim Codes of War
6. Indian Tolerance in the Eyes of Muslim Chroniclers
7. Tolerance & Chivalry of Hindu Rulers During the Muslim Period
8. Hindu-Muslim Divide: A British Invention?
9. Hindu-Muslim Discord, Partition of India & British Complicity
10. The 1947 Riots and Massacres: Who Is Responsible?
11. The Mopla Rebellion
12. Direct Action Riots in Calcutta
13. Anti-Hindu Riots Move to East Bengal
14. Hindu Counterattack in Bihar
15. Riots Move to Pakistan
16. Sikh and Hindu Retaliation
17. Premeditated Ethnic Cleansing of Hindus and Sikhs
18. Ethnic Cleansing of Muslims
19. Who Bears the Responsibility?
20. Islam’s Impact on the Social, Intellectual and Cultural Life of India: On Education and Learning
21. Caste System Worsened
22. Islam Created the Practice of Jauhar
23. Sati Worsened Under the Muslim Rule
24. Islam Promoted Child-Marriage
25. Islam Created the Deadly Thuggee Cult
26. Islam’s Impact on Religious Demographics: Past & Present
27. Muslim Rule and Poverty
28. Legacy
Chapter 7: Islamic Slavery
1. Quranic Sanction of Slavery
2. The Prophetic Model of Slavery
3. Slavery in the Ancient World
4. Enslavement by Muslims in India
5. Enslavement by Muslims Elsewhere
6. The Ottoman ‘Dewshirme’
7. Status of Slaves
8. Suffering of Slaves
9. Fate of Slaves
10. Sex-Slavery & Concubinage
11. Eunuchs and Ghilman
12. Islamic Slave-Trade
13. European Slaves
14. The Viking Slave-Trade & Muslim Connection
15. European Slave-Trade & Islamic Complicity
16. Denials of Islamic Slavery
17. Humane Treatment of Slaves in Islam
18. Islam Aggravated Slavery
19. Slavery, Theologically & Historically, An Integral Part of Islam
20. Special Cruelty and Casualty of Islamic Slavery
21. Abolition of Slavery & Islamic Resistance
22. European Struggle Against Islamic Slavery in North Africa: The British Struggle
23. The U.S. Struggle and Strike-Back
24. The British-Led European Strike-Back
25. Muslim Resistance Against the Ottoman Ban on Slavery
26. Continuation & Revival of Slavery in Muslim Countries
27. Muslims Bring Slavery to the West
Conclusion
Chapter 8: The Last Word
Bibliography
Endnotes
