Islam : A New History from Muhammad to the Present by John Tolan
– Tauseef Ahmad Parray
Islam—as a religion, culture and civilization, and worldview—has-been discussed and debated in numerous works, past and present, by Muslims and non-Muslims. Such is the upsurge in the literature on Islam, especially from the West, that books on Islam are a “legion” now. The book under review is a new addition to this very genre which narrates the history of Islam from 7th century Arabia to the 21st century, extending across all the continents—from Asia to Africa and from Europe to UK and USA. Authored by JohnTolan,a well-established author and an American “historian”, the book under review offers “a new history of Islam” by taking a step back and looking at the history of Islam“in all its richness and complexity over fourteen centuries” with the aim to “transform the way we see Islam and its history”(p. xv).Though Tolan is “not a Muslim, much less a theologian” but a “historian” (p. xiv, cf. p. 250),he claims to have written “a new history of Islam” because “scholarship on the beginning of Islam has progressed in important ways over the past thirty or forty years, and this recent work is little known beyond a narrow group of specialists” (p. xv; italics mine).
Originally published in French in 2022as Nouvelle historie de L’islam, the English version “is not simply a translation of the French edition but a re-writing and expansion” (p. xi).Organized thematically, the book consists of ten (10) chapters covered under three main parts: Part-I, Foundations(Chapters 1-4),Part-II, Expansion (Chapters 5-7),and Part-III, Modernities (Chapters 8-10). These chapters are preceded by Acknowledgements (p. xi) and a 5-page Introduction (pp. xiii-xvii) and ending with Notes (pp. 251-258), (chapter wise) Selected Bibliography (pp. 259-264),and a rich Index (pp. 265-283).
In the Introduction,Tolan begins by asking: What is Islam?—a “strange question since we all think we know its answer” (p. xiii), and answers it as:
Islam is a religion, with its sacred text, the Quran, revealed to the prophet Muhammad [pbuh]. From this revelation, and from the words and acts of the prophet (collected in the hadiths, or prophetic traditions), comes a religion with its doctrines, rituals, law (sharia),and beliefs.
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Tauseef Ahmad Parray (Ph.D.), is Assistant Professor of Islamic Studies, Government Degree College Ganderbal, , Jammu & Kashmir. |
Yet when we look closer, things become more complicated because the several billion Muslims living from the age of the prophet until today have forged widely varying conceptions about Islam. There is of course division between Sunnites and Shiites […] and there is a diversity of opinions of jurists, theologians, mystics, and others about what is essential in Muslim beliefs and practices. The Islam lived and practiced by the first caliphs is not the same as that of scholars of Abbasid Baghdad, …, or the Islam of eminists of the twenty-first century. Islam is a religion characterized by a great diversity of beliefs and practices, a religion that has spread across an enormous territory and encompassed hundreds of languages and cultures.
Islam is also a culture and a civilization. […] The umma (communityof believers) is planetary. […] Indeed, it is often difficult to distinguish between religion on the one hand and culture and civilization on the other, so closely are they intertwined in Muslim history.”(pp. xiii-xiv)
The book is not a conventional, chronological narrative of Islamic history, from past to present, but a thematic history and analysis of some major events and aspects—social, political, religious, intellectual, etc.—of fifteen centuries of Islamic history, starting from 7th century Arabia and extending “across all the continents”, illustrating “the complexity and diversity of Muslim civilization” through chosen examples from the history of Islam and Muslims (p. xv).This becomes evident from the chapter titles as well:(1) The Quran and the Birth of a Community of Believers; (2) The Umayyad Dynasty and the Birth of an Imperial Religion;(3)Abbasid Baghdad: Crucible of a Multi confessional Civilization;(4) The Three Caliphates of the Year 1000 [CE]; (5) Invasions and Reconfigurations of the Muslim World (11th-13th Centuries);(6)The World of Ibn Battuta; (7) Muslim Empires (14th-17th Centuries);(8)Colonization and Its Discontents, 1789-1918; (9) Decolonization, Nationalism, and the Emergence of Political Islam, in the 20th Century; and (10) Between Reform and Radicalism: Being Muslim in the 21st Century.
In Chapter 1,“The Quran and the Birth of a Community of Believers” (pp. 3-22), Tolan analyses the major aspects of Prophetic era, both in Makkah and Madina, by opening with the event when the Prophet received the first revelation in 610 CE. While narrating the history of the Prophet, Tolan considers the Quran as he “only document from the first century of Islam and the best source for understanding the life of Muhammad [pbuh]and his companions in Mecca and Medina”, and is of the opinion that Hadith and the classical Sirah works, such as Ibn Ishaq/ Ibn Hisham, are the “other principal source[s] for the life of the Prophet”, which “preserve narrative elements that correspond to the era of Muhammad [(pbuh), while as other elements were clearly added later”(p. 5).Thus, in writing the biographies of great religious figures or the biography of the Prophet,“it is difficult, often impossible”, he writes, “to separate historical facts from pious legends, biography from hagiography” (p. 5).
Repeating the phrase “the Muslim tradition says/ according to the Muslim tradition”, Tolan, in the section “Quran and Hadiths”, for example, says: “The Quran … consists of a series of revelations that, according to Muslim tradition, Muhammad [pbuh] received and transmitted to those around him over a period of twenty-two years” (610-632 CE), and further states that it consists of “6,236 verses (ayat) divided into 114 suras varying in length from 3 to 286 verses” (pp. 7, 8).Similarly, in a section on “The Coalition of Medina”, Tolan argues that in Medina, “Muhammad [pbuh] was a
piritual leader as well as political and military commander.” (p. 16)
In the next three chapters, 2-4, of Part-1, Tolan narrates the major events, thematically, of the Caliphate era (pp. 23-29) and the “Establishment of Umayyad Dominion(pp. 29-33) in chapter 2, which gave birth to an “Imperial Religion” (p. 23); the Abbasids, as the “Crucible of a Multi confessional Civilization” (pp. 48-71)in chapter 3; and then mentions the “Three Caliphates of the Year 1000 [CE]” (pp. 72-93) in chapter 4,referring to the Abbasids of Baghdad, “The Fatimids: The Rise of a Shia Caliphate” in Egypt (pp. 74-80), and “The Umayyads of Cordoba”, Spain(pp. 80-86). He also discusses topics like “Dhimmis” (pp. 41-43), “Theology of Jihad” (pp. 43-45), both in chapter 3; and the emergence of Sufism(pp. 69-71) in chapter 4.
With respect to the cultural and intellectual developments of Baghdad, Tolan says that “Baghdad remained a major cultural and intellectual centre” (p. 63), which helped not only in the “intellectual flourishing” in the areas of science, technology, and social sciences, but also in the development of religious sciences, like Muslim law and juristic schools, theology, tafsir, and “sciences of hadith” (pp. 64, 65, 66, 67).
Regarding the three rival caliphates of Abbasids, Fatimids, Umayyads of Spain, Tolan states: “The Fatimid Caliphate emerged in Ifriqiya (Tunisia) in 909 and conquered Egypt in 969, founding Cairo as its new capital. In 929 Abd al-Rahman III, descendant of the Umayyad caliphs of Damascus, proclaimed himself caliph in Cordoba, Hence, in the tenth and eleventh centuries, threre were rival claimants to the title of Caliph, in Baghdad, Cairo, and Cordoba. Since then, the Muslim world has been politically fragmented, yet these divisions did not prevent the constant movement of people, goods, and ideas” (pp. 72, 74).
In part-II, Expansion, Tolan’s book covers a period of over six centuries, from the 11th to the 17thcenturies,in chapters 5-7, which respectively discuss the period of the “Invasions and Reconfigurations of the Muslim World: 11th to 13th Centuries” (chapter 5, pp. 97-115), “The World of Ibn Battuta” (chapter 6, pp. 116-139), and “Muslim Empires” of 14thto 17th centuries in chapter 7 (pp. 140-164)—such as the “Rise of the Ottoman Empire”, which specifically highlights the contribution of Suleiman, the magnificent, and his successors (pp. 142-153),“Sultanates of India and Indonesia” like Mughal Empire, Sultanate of Aceh, etc. (pp. 153-160), and “West Africa” (pp. 160-164).
He contextualizes this period with the developments and “tremendous diversity”—religious, political, and intellectual—of the Muslim world, a diversity that “grew in the following centuries” as seen in the form of “the arrival of invaders from the north:Turks, ‘Franks’ (European Christians who arrived during the crusades),and Mongols”, producing “tremendous upheaval at the centre of Muslim world” (p. 97).
With respect to the developments taking place in 14thcentury, a period when “the world of Islam stretched from Morocco to Sumatra and from Mali to the banks of Volga” (p. 116)—a “fascinating testimony of which is provided by the Moroccan traveler, Ibn Battuta, who traveled, among others, from the “Tangiers to Mecca and Baghdad”, the heart of the Muslim world (pp. 119-124) and from “Africa to China” (pp. 124-131) to Mali (pp. 131-133).For Tolan, when one reads Ibn Battuta’s Rihla, one discovers “varying facets of Ibn Battuta: pilgrim, worldly traveler, Sunni Muslim meeting men and women of various religions” (p. 134),and thus summarizes aptly his travels and contribution under the heading “IbnBattuta, Pilgrim, Scholar, and Muslim Confronts Religious Diversity” (pp. 134-139). He, thus, uses this “unique testimony to paint a portrait of the Muslim world in the mid-fourteenth century in all its richness and diversity” (p. 117).
He also discusses topics like “The Crusades and the Arrival of ‘Franks’ in the Muslim World” (pp. 101-105), “The Reconquist and the Place of Subjugated Muslims in Christian Spain” (pp. 108-109), and “Counter-Crusades and the Rise of Saladin” (pp. 109-111) in chapter 5;and “Suleiman the Magnificent” (pp. 149-153) and Mughal Emperor Akbar’s Din-i-Ilahi (pp. 154-155) in chapter 7.
In Part-III, Modernities, chapters 8-10 cover the period of 18th to 21st centuries and focuses on the legacy of colonialism, modern decolonization, and its impact on Islam throughout the world: “Colonization and Its Discontents,1789-1918” in chapter8 (pp. 167-196) covers topics like British India, the dismemberment of the Ottoman empire, Egypt from Bonaparte to Muhammad Ali, emergence of the Wahhabites, French conquest of Algeria, reforms and rivalries between Egypt and the Ottoman empire, Qajar Iran, Islam and statecraft in 19th century Africa, Arab Cultural Renaissance (Nahda) in the 19th century. Similarly, in the 9th chapter, “Decolonization, Nationalism, and the Emergence of Political Islam in the Twentieth Century” (pp. 197-221), it discusses the themes and topics like “Wahha bites and Muslim brothers from Arabia to Egypt (1925-1949)”(pp. 200-204),“France and Its Empire: Secularism at Home, Sectarianism in the Colonies”(pp.204-207),“Decolonization and Nationalism (1945-1967)” (pp. 207-216), and “The Emergence of Political Islam” (pp. 216-221).
The last chapter, “Between Reform and Radicalism: Being Muslim in the 21st Century” (pp. 222-250),consists of two main themes: the former examines “the challenges posed to Muslims by globalization and geopolitical crises”(p. 224; cf. pp. 224-233),followed by a discussion on “Reform and Debate in Islam”(pp. 233-250) which looks at “various forces for reform that demonstrate the great diversity and dynamism of Islam” in the 21st century (p. 224). Tolan begins by arguing that while 20th century saw “the emergence of new forms of political Islam; the twenty-first century has seen struggles between various visions of how to reconcile Islam and politics” (p. 222). He further writes: “Between the mid-nineteenth century and the beginning of twenty-first century, Muslims all over the world have been caught up in debates about their relationship between Islam and modernity. Should Muslims modernize Islam or, on the contrary, Islamize modernity?” (p. 233; italics mine)Tolan discusses this by referring to works and thoughts of Gamal al-Banna (1920-2013), whom he describes as the one of the “sharpest critics of the cult of traditional Islam” (p. 236);Indonesian Harun Nasution (1919-1998), a Muslim intellectual who sought to “revive the spirit of rationalist theology” (p. 239); Muhammad Arkoun (1928-2010), a “prominent Muslim intellectual” of present times (p. 239);and “Muslim feminists”like Amina Wadud (p. 240).He also discusses “Muslim immigration to Western countries” (p. 242) and Islam in America/ Europe/UK/ France, etc., arguing that “Islam in Western countries is diverse” (p. 249).
In this part, Tolan also discusses topics like “Emergence of the Wahhabites” (pp. 174-177), and “the Nahda, Arab Cultural Renaissance” (pp. 189-196) in chapter 8;“The Emergence of Political Islam” (pp. 216-221) in chapter 9;and the issue of “veil or headscarf” as a controversial topic (pp. 234-236), Black Americans, Nation of Islam (pp. 244 ff.), etc. in chapter 10.
In the introduction, Tolan mentions that he is writing “a new history of Islam”, but not as a Muslim or a theologian, but simply as a historian (p. xiv),and at the end of this book, he repeats it as: “I simply dare to hope that this little book on the history of Islam written by a historian who is not a Muslim will be able to give readers an idea of the great richness and diversity of Islam throughout fifteen centuries of history and on all continents” (p. 250; italics mine). He has narrated the history of Islam, from past to present, and wraps up by concluding as: “It will be up to Muslims from across the world … to write the next chapters in the history of Islam”, daring to hope that “the much-heralded clash of civilizations will not take place” (p. 250).
Though one cannot agree with everything Tolan describes or narrates, or the ways he interprets historical events, one cannot disagree with his style ,thematic arrangement, and embracing and wrapping up all such breadth, diversity, and complexity—socio-political, religious, cultural, and intellectual—so perceptively. Summing up fifteen centuries in just 250 pages is a challenge in itself, but Tolan has done a remarkable job by such an accomplishment, though it has its limitations and flaws, which he graciously admits :“This book is of course partial and incomplete: I have chosen a few examples to illustrate the complexity and diversity of Muslim civilization”(p. xv).
Despite some potential limitations, and keeping aside the disagreements, Tolan’s Islam—A New History is a valuable resource for students and scholars, offering comprehensive coverage, insightful narration, diverse perspectives, and rich annotations that shed light on the diversity and complexities of Islamic history.