Part Four Contextualization 1

Part Four Contextualization 1

Structure of society and politics within medieval Islamic government and law

In chapters eighteen, nineteen, twenty-one and twenty-two Berkey focuses on the structure of society and politics within medieval Islamic governance and law. In chapter eighteen Berkey describes the political fragmentation in the Islamic community after the decline of the ‘Abbasid Caliphate that was later manifested in Turkish-led Sultanates and Amirates as figures of authority. In chapter nineteen Berkey highlights the continuity of Muslim culture that was kept alive by Islamic civilizations that use the Arabic language for scholarship and trade. In chapter twenty-one Berkey discusses the institutions of governance during the time period 1000-1500 that were often rooted in Mamluk military elites while economic life was governed by the iqta’s system. Chapter twenty-two explains how Islamic laws were taught and applied by four Sunni schools as well as the Qadi, and Mazalim courts.

Adrian Fuentes

The Formation of Islam: Religion and Society in the Near East, 600-1800 by Jonathan P. Berkey

Cambridge University

2003

Academic Monograph

English

Contextualization