Introduction / Youseff M. Choueiri -- The formative period of Islam -- The rise of Islam / Gerald R. Hawting -- The Islamic conquests / Fred M. Donner -- The caliphate / Hugh Kennedy -- Cultural traditions and social structure -- The ʻulama:̉ function and status / Zouhair Ghazzal -- Shīʻism / Robert Gleave -- Historiography of Sufi studies in the West / Alexander Knysh -- Imperial structures and dynastic rule -- Military patronage states and the political economy of the frontier, 1000-1250 / Michael Chamberlain -- The Mamluk institution / P.M. Holt -- State and society in North Africa / Michael Brett -- A new Middle Eastern system -- Ottomans and Safavids: states, statecraft, and societies, 1500-1800 / Metin Kunt -- Urban life and Middle Eastern cities: the traditional Arab city / André Raymond (translated James McDougall) -- The Middle East and the new world order -- A diffe