Discovering Islam : Making Sense of Muslim History and Society/Akbar S. Ahmed. Reprint. New Delhi, Roli Books, 2003, xx, 251 p., (pbk). ISBN 81-7436-276-2.

Contents: Foreword/Lawrence Rosen. Preface. 1. Introduction: discovering Islam. I. The pattern of Islamic history: 3. Muslim ideal: holy book and prophet. 3. A theory of Islamic history: (a). Ideal caliphs. (b). Arab dynasties: Umayyads and Abbasids. (c). The flowering of Islamic civilization. (d). Decline and fall. (e). Shias: revolution in the revolution. (f). Mahdism and millenarian movements. 4. The great Muslim Empires: Ottomans, Saffavids and Mughals: (a). Ottomans: facing Europe. (b). Saffavids: Shia state. (c). Mughals: encounter with Hinduism. (d). Obsession and synthesis. 5. Sufis and scholars: (a). Sufis, saints and mystics. (b). Two scholars of Islam: Al Beruni and Ibn Khaldun. 6. Islam of the periphery: (a). On the periphery. (b). The Muslim minority in China. (c). Muslims in the USSR. 7. Under European rule: the colonial impact on Muslim society: (a). The disintegration of society. (b). The myth of the noble savage: Muslim tribesman. II. Contemporary Muslim society: 8. Princes and paupers: Muslim societies in Saudi Arabia and South India: (a). Saudi Arabia: the reawakening of the peninsula. (b). The Andalus syndrome in South India: a la recherché du temps perdu. 9. Muslim society turned inside out: ethnicity, women and refugees: (a). ‘Dubai chalo’: ethnic encounters between middle Eastern and South Asian Muslim societies. (b). Muslim women. (c). Afghan refugees: displacement and despair. 10. The reconstruction of Muslim thought: (a). Contemporary Muslim scholarship. (b). Creating Islamic social sciences. 11. Only connect: (a). American society: great Satan or paradise on earth? (b). Connecting. (c). Conclusion: the discovery of Islam. Appendix: Muslim chronology. Glossary of Islamic terminology. Bibliography: suggested readings. Index.

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