Examines Islamisation as both a cultural and religious phenomenon

The spread of Islam and the process of Islamisation (meaning both conversion to Islam and the adoption of Muslim culture) is explored in the twenty-four chapters of this volume. Taking a comparative perspective, both the historical trajectory of Islamisation and the methodological problems in its study are addressed, with coverage moving from Africa to China and from the seventh century to the start of the colonial period in 1800.

Key questions are addressed. 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?

The broad, comparative perspective allows readers to develop a thorough understanding of the process of Islamisation over eleven centuries of its history.

Open Access Chapter

• From Shahāda to ‘Aqīda: Conversion to Islam, Catechisation, and Sunnitisation in Sixteenth-Century Ottoman Rumeli, Tijana Krstić. Read the chapter for free on our website (PDF)

Key Features

• Divided into eight sections: Conversion and Islamisation: Theoretical Approaches; The Early Islamic and Medieval Middle East; The Muslim West; Sub-Saharan Africa; The Balkans; Central Asia; South Asia; Southeast Asia and the Far East
• Ambitious in scope, it offers a broad chronological and geographical range covering every significant region of the Muslim world
• Contributions illustrate the most innovative modern research from a variety of disciplines including art, archaeology, literature and history
• Includes fourteen maps and seventeen figures

Contributors

• Reuven Amitai, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
• Blain Auer, University of Lausanne
• Daniel Beben, Nazarbayev University in Kazakhstan
• Michael Brett, SOAS, University of London
• Philipp Bruckmayr, University of Vienna
• Richard W. Bulliet, Columbia University
• Anna Chrysostomides, University of Oxford
• Marco Demichelis, Catholic University of Milan
• Bruno De Nicola, University of St. Andrews
• Devin DeWeese, Indiana University
• Richard Eaton, University of Arizona
• Maribel Fierro, Institute for the Languages and Cultures of the Mediterranean
• James D. Frankel, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
• Timothy Insoll, University of Exeter
• Sanja Kadrić, Ohio State University
• Tijana Krstić, Central European University in Budapest
• Andrew D. Magnusson, University of Central Oklahoma
• Harry Munt, University of York
• Andrew Peacock, University of St Andrews
• Alan Strathern, University of Oxford
• David Thomas, University of Birmingham
• Alexander Wain, The International Institute for Advanced Islamic Studies (IAIS) Malaysia
• Edwin P. Wieringa, University of Cologne