The historical course of Islam 3

📚 Part 3 of 6 in the series on the history and civilisation of Islam.

In the third session of the cycle “A reading in the history of the Islamic world”, Gerdi Demneri carries on through the American historian Marshall Hodgson's “The Venture of Islam”, focusing on the Earlier Middle Period — from the fall of the High Caliphate in 945 to the Mongol sack of Baghdad in 1258.

This is the period in which the Islamic world moves from a unified caliphate to an international civilisation with many centres of power: the “Shiite century” with the Fatimids in Egypt and the Buyids in Baghdad, the rise of the Seljuks and Nizam al-Mulk's Sunni reform through the Nizamiyya madrasas, Imam al-Ghazali's great synthesis of philosophy, shariah and Sufism, the institutionalisation of Sufism through the tariqas, and the confrontation with the Crusades down to the appearance of Salah al-Din.

Some of the points covered: 📌 Why Hodgson divides the periods by civilisation rather than by dynasty 📌 “The Shiite century”: the Fatimids, the Buyids and the fall of the caliphate 📌 The Seljuks and the restoration of Sunni power 📌 Nizam al-Mulk, the Nizamiyya madrasas and the “Siyasatnama” 📌 Imam al-Ghazali: the synthesis of philosophy, shariah and Sufism 📌 The institutionalisation of Sufism through the tariqas 📌 The Crusades, the loss of Jerusalem, and Salah al-Din

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