This file was last updated on November 2, 2006 C.E.

A HISTORY OF THE ARAB PEOPLES, Albert Hourani, Belknap, Harvard,
Cambridge, Mass., 1991

The preface (xvii-xviii) states the vast topic as the history of Arabic
speakers in Islamic times and renders the obligatory acknowledgements.

There are notes (xix-xx) on geographical names, transliteration and
dating.

The prologue (1-4) highlights the life of ibn Khaldun (1332-1406) and
underlines the geographical and chronological extent of Arabic and
Islamic civilization.

Chapter One, "A New Place in an Old World" (7-21), sets the scene of the
Roman (Byzantine) and Sasanid empires, the Ethiopian and Yemeni
kingdoms, the Arabic tribes, the Christian, Zoroastrian, Jewish and
Pagan religious scene, the cultural vitality of the rich Arabic
language, the appearance of Muhammad, his revelation of the Koran,
migration to Medina and influence throughout Arabia.

Chapter Two, "The Formation of an Empire" (22-37): Three of Muhammad's
first four successors (khalifs) were assassinated. Enthused the Arabs
swept through and beyond the Sasanid empire and as far as Spain.
Mu'awiya moved the capital to Damascus. Karbala, Husayn's martyrdom,
separated Shiah and Sunni. The Abbasids in 750 succeeded to power,
Baghdad their new capital. They stressed spiritual foundations of their
authority and sought to hold military support with non local soldiers.

Chapter Three, "The Foundation of a Society" (38-58): Abbasid caliphs
retained spiritual authority even after political power passed in 945.
Distant regions, rural areas and Shiites little felt or recognized
caliphate rule even at its height. There did emerge a vast economically
connected, Arabic speaking Islamic civilization. Communal worship at the
mosque (supporting such ancillary structures as hospitals, hostels and
law courts) refined Islamic identity.

Chapter Four, "The Articulation of Islam" (59-79): various views existed
on the nature of God, His justice, human free will and responsibilities,
the identity and extent of Islamic institutional authority. Scholars
harmonized Koranic teaching with accounts of early Islamic community
consensus, weighed the authenticity of alleged chains of transmission
and strove to relate new situations to past guidance. Greek philosophy,
science and metaphysics was translated. Mysticism, Sufiism appeared;
reason and revelation were understood as complementary.

Chapter Five, "The Arab Muslim World" (83-97): Dynasties rose and fell.
Eastern invaders and Spanish reconquerors were felt. Islam expanded in
India, in Africa and in Turkey. Five geographical areas (Arabia, Fertile
Crescent, Nile Valley, Maghrib and Andalus or Iberia) are described.
Minorities, including Jews and Christians, are mentioned. Minority
languages existed, though Arabic throve.

Chapter Six, "The Countryside" (98-108): Geography influenced lifestyle;
wholly nomadic and wholly settled populations could be the minority at
this time. Nomadic Banu Hilal in North Africa and Asian Turks and
Mongols greatly impacted settled life. Such factors as increasing marsh
land also contributed to agricultural decline. Family, clan and tribal
identities connected individuals and provided attitudes (for such things
as gender roles) independent of urban religious teaching.

Chapter Seven, "The Life in Cities" (109-129): Much self sufficiency
still provided occasion for trade, markets and permanent urban centres.
Cosmopolitan cities benefited from learned judges mediating disputes,
applying the considered guidance of the Koran and caring for funds
supporting urban institutions. There were slaves ideally kindly treated.
Religious minorities in general faced both restrictions and protection.
Upper class women were rarely seen outside the home. Sharia might accord
women more recognition than had preIslamic Arabia, though not full
equality with men.

The mosque and marketplace were two great public urban areas. Civil
authority often located its complex outside the city proper. Buildings,
whether poorer huts, appartment buildings of three of four storeys or
richer residences, tended to include courtyards. Tapestries and carpets
adorned rooms sparse to European eyes. Bread was a staple, the grain
supply a major government concern. Healthy and varied diets existed.
Cities attracted seekers of learning and formed a chain of culture as
exemplified in the life of ibn Battuta (1304-c.1377).

Chapter Eight, "Cities and Their Rulers" (130-144): Dynasties, even if
emerging from the countryside, required cities, the support of the
learned, bureaucracies, markets, as well as armies, agricultural produce
and trade. As caliphates arose in Spain and Egypt and political control
in Baghdad effectively passed from the caliph, there occurred
articulation of ideal theological theory.

Chapter Nine, "Way of Islam" (147-157): The pillars of Islam
(declaration of faith, prayer, charity, fasting, pilgrimage) sustained a
sense of community. Defending this was also a duty. There were orders of
mystics (Sufis). Popular religion continued feelings of sacred places,
saints whose birthdays provided fairs, tombs sanctuaries and beneficial
spiritual influences.

Chapter Ten, "The Culture of the Ulema," (158-171): Law as understood by
the major schools of the learned included what Westerners might consider
manners and excluded some aspects of constitutional law, of commercial
law and of criminal law. From the eleventh century C.E., colleges
teaching law took graduates of Koranic schools and taught them Arabic
grammar, history, Koranic interpretation, etc. Impressive collections of
biographies were written. Logical reasoning could defend the faith. Al
Ghazali wrote impressively on theological themes, rising to mystic
considerations.

Chapter Eleven, "Divergent Paths of Thought" (172-188): Ibn Sina
(Avicenna 980-1037) marked a culmination of Aristotlian philosophy in
Arabic. Ibn Rushd (Averroes 1126-1198) asserted the agreement of
philosophical and Koranic knowledge, suggesting some Koranic passages
are symbolic. Theosophic thought found expression in such writers as ibn
Arabi (1165-1240). Ibn Taymiyya (1263-1328) upheld the significance of
Islamic harmonious acceptance of diversity. Shii felt the influence of
Neoplatonic thought. Shii mujtahids developed legal understanding. Shii
commemorated Imam Husayn's martyrdom. In Iraq, In Spain, in Egypt, there
were brilliant expressions of Jewish culture.

Chapter Twelve, "The Culture of Courts and People" (189-205): Political
division provided various courts at which poets flourished, impressive
palaces and their gardens and fountains. Royal support contributed to
awesome mosques. Moving lyrical poetry throve in Spain. Romances centred
on the life of a heroic figure (such as Antar or Iskandar) were popular.
A highly literate society, Arabic civilization sustained great libraries
and many private readers. Much history was written and read. Sciences
(medicine, astronomy, etc.) and the occult were also well represented.

Chapter Thirteen, "The Ottoman Empire" (209-230): Many factors,
including variable climates, plague and war, could reduce a dynasty's
grip on power and facilitate a change, internal or from outside. The
Ottoman Turks took Byzantium in 1453 and extended their rule as far as
Algeria and Western Arabia. The sultans at times claimed the title
caliph. They were the defenders of Sunni Islam against Christian Europe
and the Shiites to the east. They protected the pilgrimage to Mecca.
Their control of a vast empire encountered regional and local pressures.

Chapter Fourteen, "Ottoman Societies" (231-248): Recovery from the
plague increased population. A vast common trading area fostered
prosperity. Cities grew, some sultans greatly enhancing them with new
buildings. The rich and the minorities lived in their separate quarters,
some expanding beyond the old walls, no longer effective against new
artillery. Jews and Christians throve and played key roles in the
flourishing Empire. As Sufi mysticism received invigoration during
splendid Ottoman times (including Murad's arrival in Istanbul c. 1670
from the east with Ahmad al Sirhindi's teaching), likewise the Christian
expulsion of the Jews from Spain energized Jewish mysticism (kabbala) in
the Ottoman Empire. In Arabia, Egypt above the Third Cataract and
Morocco there were vigorous societies. Morocco especially saw culture
and learning, including Sufi mysticism.

Chapter Fifteen, "The Changing Balance of Power in the Eighteenth
Century" (249-262): This was a time of increased power for the circle of
high officials around the sultan, and of greater local autonomy in the
Empire. Traditional scholarship continued. In the Eighteenth Century
Wahabbi return to basics religion found support in the Saudi state.
European technical and scientific advances were little known, though the
increasing European presence and domination of trade was very evident.

Chapter Sixteen, "European Power and Reforming Governments (1800-1860)"
(265-278): European modernization permitted intervention on behalf of
Serbia and Greece and outright French colonization of Algeria. The
Empire itself and smaller segments and states (such as Egypt) reformed
to resist such foreign might. Concessions granted freedoms to European
merchants. Some Muslim merchants gained, though the position of the
learned declined, as may have that of the rural population. Some
disquiet ensued.

Chapter Seventeen, "European Empires and Dominant Elites (1860-1914)"
(279-298): While the Empire extended modern communications and
transportation, European pressures caused loss of territory in the
Balkans and Africa and controlled Gulf States. In 1869 the Suez Canal
opened. European financial domination of the Empire increased. Zionism
arose; European Jews settled in Palestine. European colonists now formed
one eighth of Algeria's population, three fourths of Algiers. Reduction
of fatal disease and famine allowed Arab populations to rise, though
increasingly under foreign control. Cities, houses, personal dress
donned European appearance.

Chapter Eighteen, "The Culture of Imperialism and Reform" (299-314):
European attitudes of superiority were evident to Arabs reading European
languages and translating European works and ideas into Arabic. There
was revival of traditional Arabic literature and the appearance of new
forms such as drama and the novel. Modernism stimulated awareness of the
distinction between essential Islamic principles and changing customs.
Muhammad Abduh (1849-1905), for example, wrote influentially in this
vein. Nationalism (Turkish, Arabic, Egyption, Algerian, Tunisian) arose.
Muslim students chafed under old methods of learning. There were efforts
to improve such. Where learned control was weak, upheavals such as that
of Sudan's mahdi could occur. Sufis were popular, though distrusted by
European authorities.

Chapter Nineteen, "The Climax of European Power (1914-1939)" (315-332):
World War One raised unfulfilled expectations of Arab independence.
Europeans effectively replaced Ottoman domination. Attaturk's new
Turkish state became an influential example for Arab nationalists.
European (including Jews in Palestine) colonization continued in North
Africa and Palestine and was largely urban. Education was largely in
Western hands. England allowed Iraq and Egypt nominal independence and
membership in the League of Nations. French colonists and powerful
economic interests successfully opposed government considerations
favouring Arab majority populations.

Chapter Twenty, "Changing Ways of Life and Thought (1914-1939)" (333 to
349): population increased rapidly, cities even faster. Modern
utilities, automobiles, paved roads, individual stores transformed these
cities. Radio, film, newspapers, novels and poetry expanded the modern
capacity of the Arabic language, even as some European tongues exerted
great influence. Arab nationalism was more linguistic than regionally
based. Movements arose for religious renewal.

Chapter Twenty One, "The End of the Empires (1939-1962)" (353-372):
World War Two weakened the colonial powers and strengthened in Arab
states thoughts for independence and co-operation among themselves.
England under pressure permitted the emergence of Israel. Independent
Arab states appeared from the French and British empires. When England
and France joined Israel to attack Egypt in 1956, global opposition
compelled them to withdraw. Algeria won a hard war for independence.
Egypt's President Nasir was prominent in asserting neutrality in the
Cold War and Arab unity.

Chapter Twenty Two, "Changing Societies (the 1940s and the 1950s)" (373
to 388): Rapid population increase and urbanization continued. There was
agricultural and industrial development. Westerners dominated the
increasingly important oil industry, though the formation of OPEC in
1960 opened up alternative scenarios. Arab governments asserted greater
control over oil revenues, financing public utilities and projects.
Cities continued to look more Western with increased prevalence of
automobiles and the wide streets they require. There was high urban
unemployment.

Chapter Twenty Three, "National Cultures (1940s and 1950s)" (389-400):
Education was widely extended. Arabic radio, films, newspapers and books
communicated deeply and exerted strong Egyptian influence. There were
plays, novels of social realism and poetry conscious of Islam's capacity
for social justice.

Chapter Twenty Four, "The Climax of Arabism (1950s and 1960s)" (401-415)
Concepts of the Third World, of common Arab and Islamic identity, of
social justice were popular. British presence ebbed; Arab migration to
the sparsely populated oil producing states increased. Nasir's Egypt
provided military support to the embattled liberals in the Yemeni Civil
War. In June 1967 Israel attacked Egypt and in swift campaigns against
its neighbours seized the West Bank, Jawlan and Gaza.

Chapter Twenty Five, "Arab Unity and Disunity (since 1967)" (416-433):
Nasir retained popular appeal highlighted by the awesome scenes of grief
on his sudden death in 1970. The 1973 war against Israel and consequent
oil blockade caused international pressure to assure stability between
Israel and its neighbours. US influence increased. Sadat made a separate
peace, Egypt thereby regaining the Sinai. Israeli colonization continued
in the West Bank. Arab economies saw increased private and foreign
involvement. Television and greater movements of people helped spread
the concept of Arab identity. There were political contentions and even
serious fighting (Western Sahara, Lebanon, including the Israeli
invasion in 1982, and the war between Iraq and Iran 1980-1988). In
Palestine the Intifada began.

Chapter Twenty Six, "A Disturbance of Spirits (since 1967)" (434-458):
Kurds struggled for independence and the non Arabic southern Sudan
rebelled. Concern continued for the disadvantaged, women, the complex
issues of traditional Arabic and Islamic ways impacted by modernism.

There are some twenty pages of maps. Also there are genealogies, lists
of rulers, notes and a worthy bibliography (500-529).

This is a well written, informative survey of a vast topic barely
suggested by my poor summary.

Michael McKenny, June 2006 C.E.


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