Conversion to Islam in the Medieval Period: An Essay in Quantitative History

by Richard W. Bulliet

This book is about Islamic social history. It flies the colors of an essay because it represents an initial, tentative effort—not at describing Islamic social history, which has certainly been attempted before, but at formulating an integrated conceptual approach to the subject. It attempts to tie together the histories of parts of the medieval Islamic world that are more commonly treated as discrete entities by means of a number of sometimes quite speculative hypotheses based upon and inspired by a close examination of certain quantifiable aspects of medieval Arabic sources. Many of the conclusions reached through these hypotheses, such as the suggestion of a causal relationship between the conversion of a majority of a region's population and the dissolution of central Islamic government in that region or the explanation of endemic factional strife in certain areas as a virtually inevitable conflict between the descendants of early converts and the descendants of later converts, will require further corroboration. Nevertheless, the heart of the essay lies in the overall conceptual approach, and the primary effort has been placed there rather than upon the elaboration of its various ramifications. The approach is predicated upon the notion that there is a direct and fundamental relationship between conversion to Islam and the development of what may be called an Islamic society. When in the second half of the seventh century A.D. the Arabs conquered the Persian empire and half of the Byzantine empire, they did not bring with them the religion that is described in general books on Islam. They brought with them something far more primitive and undeveloped, a mere germ of later developments

Genres: History, Religion, Islam

158 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1979

About the author

Richard W. Bulliet is a professor emeritus of history at Columbia University who specializes in the history of Islamic society and institutions, the history of technology, and the history of the role of animals in human society.

Richard grew up in Illinois. He attended Harvard University, from which he received a BA in 1962 and a PhD in 1967.

Several of his books focus on Iran but deal also with the larger Muslim world, including The Patricians of Nishapur: a Study in Medieval Islamic History (1972), Conversion to Islam in the Medieval Period: An Essay in Quantitative History (1979), and Islam: the View from the Edge (1994). His books on a broader view of Islamic history and society include Under Siege: Islam and Democracy (1994) and The Case for Islamo-Christian Civilization (2004). His book (1975) brings together his interest in the histories of technology, animal domestication, and the Middle East, dealing for example with the significant military advantage early Muslim armies gained from a slight improvement in the design of cloth camel saddles. He would return to the history of animal domestication with his Hunters, Herders, and Hamburgers: The Past and Future of Human-Animal Relationships (2005).

He is the writer and editor of books of more general interest as well, including The Columbia History of the Twentieth Century (editor, 1998), The Encyclopedia of the Modern Middle East (co-editor, 1996), and The Earth and Its Peoples: A Global History (co-author, 1997). He has also written several novels which draw on his knowledge of international politics and the Middle East, and is a promoter of the validity of comics as an art form.

His first fiction book, Kicked to Death by a Camel (1973), was nominated for an Edgar for “Best First Mystery”. His other fiction includes Tomb of the Twelfth Imam (1979), The Gulf Scenario (1984), The Sufi Fiddle (1991), and The One-Donkey Solution (2011).

Bulliet’s commentaries and opinion pieces on the Middle East have appeared in such newspapers The Guardian, New York Times International, and Süddeutsche Zeitung.

Reviews

[Fredrick Danysh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Islam was spreading, usually by force of arms, in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa during the early second millennium A.D. It even conquered most of Spain. This usual intolerance for other religions was was one of the factors leading to the Christian Crusades.