Coverage includes history, arts, lifestyle and current practices of Muslims, including behavior at the Mosque and on pilgrimage to Mecca.

Includes index.

Chronological table -- Rulers of the Islamic world -- Preface -- Introduction : Western attitudes to Islam -- Part one. Revelation and Muslim history. The first nine centuries from 622 to 1500 ; The empires of the Heartlands in the 16th and 17th centuries ; The further Islamic lands from 1500 to the 18th century ; Decline, reform and revival in the 18th and 19th centuries ; The rise of Europe and the response of Islam until the mid-20th century ; The reassertion of Islam in the later 20th century -- Special features. Belief and practice ; The Safavid world ; The Mughal world ; The Ottoman world ; Javanese culture and Islam ; Madrasas of Central Asia ; Mosques of the further Islamic lands ; Political cartoons ; Modern Arab art ; Islam in the West -- Part two. To be a Muslim. Religious life. The Quran ; At the mosque ; At the shrine ; The stages of life ; The believer's year ; Pilgrimage to Mecca ; Arts of Islam. Calligraphy ; Ceramics ; Carpets ; Society and the modern world. Nomadic life ; The village ; The town ; The house ; The position of women.