Adam J. Silverstein, ‘Islamic History: A Very Short Introduction' (Oxford University Press, 2010) Islamic history matters. This is the principal message of Adam J. Silverstein's superb new book, “Islamic History: A Very Short Introduction” (Oxford University Press, 2010). Silverstein is a University Research Lecturer in Near and Middle Eastern Studies and a Fellow of The Queen's College, Oxford University. He is also a Fellow in Jewish-Muslim Relations at the Oxford Center for Hebrew and Jewish Studies. He has taught Islamic history at the Universities of Cambridge and Oxford. He is the author of “Postal Systems in the Pre-Modern Islamic World” (Cambridge Studies in Islamic Civilization: Cambridge University Press, 2007). Silverstein's goal is to introduce readers to the “story, study, and significance of Islamic history.” This is a daunting task for a slender book of 38,000 words, but he proves that less is more. He begins in seventh-century Arabia with the religious mission of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). The first Islamic state was established in Madina, and grand empires built by Muslims would follow. Silverstein traces their development over the centuries and across the vast geography of the Islamic world. Silverstein's broad history lesson includes a discussion of the essential elements of Islamic civilization. He covers architecture, literature, politics, religion, law and language. Silverstein also considers the work of many Muslim intellectuals, such as historians Al-Tabari (838-923) and Ibn Khaldun (1332-1406). Ibn Khaldun was a giant among men, and a pioneer of the social sciences. Indeed, Historian Arnold Toynbee referred to Ibn Khaldun's “Muqaddimah” (1377) as “a philosophy of history which is undoubtedly the greatest work of its kind that has ever yet been created by any mind in any time or place.” Silverstein highlights some of the internal Islamic debates over the centuries. These great debates reveal the vitality and diversity of intellectual thought and theological opinion within the Islamic community. This is a helpful reminder that Islam is not a monolithic faith, and that unity does not demand uniformity. Silverstein considers the contentious debate sparked by Edward W. Said's book, “Orientalism” (1978). Said charged that Western scholarship on Arabs and Muslims was infected by Eurocentric and racist biases. Though flawed, Said's critique was highly influential and not easily dismissed, even by its harsh critics. Silverstein states that “in recent decades, Islamic Studies has been guided by a conscious effort to empathize with Muslim societies – past and present – as well as a reticence to present historical arguments that might offend Muslims.” However, he worries that “conscious attempts to ‘be nice' can stifle open and serious academic debate, thereby preventing Islamic Studies from attaining the professional standing that other branches of Near Eastern Studies enjoy.” Is an Islamic Renaissance or Reformation a past event or a future possibility? Silverstein poses this interesting question at the end of his study. Reform is not an alien concept in Islam or the classical Islamic tradition. Indeed, a famous hadith states, “Truly, Allah shall send for this [Muslim] community, at the onset of every hundred years, someone who will renew their religion for them.” Islam possesses the necessary tools for ongoing renewal, purification and criticism. However, as Tariq Ramadan, the noted Muslim theologian, points out, Islamic renewal “does not, of course, entail a change in the sources, principles, and fundamentals of Islam, but only in the way the religion is understood, implemented, and lived in different times or places.” Adam J. Silverstein deserves praise for his successful effort in offering a readable and concise Islamic history. It will be instructive to curious students of any faith. His book is a credit to the outstanding Oxford series of “Very Short Introductions.” – SG Joseph Richard Preville is an American writer living in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. __
