Listen Now
Loading audio... Please wait for the audio to load before using controls.
0:0032:19
100%
Chapter Overview
Chapter 1: AudiobookHub Recommendation
Chapter 2: Islam is uniquely focused on building a just society in this life on earth.
Chapter 3: Muhammad’s message offered answers to a widespread spiritual crisis in seventh-century Arabian society.
Chapter 4: Islam met strong resistance from Mecca’s elite as it started to grow rapidly.
Chapter 5: Muhammad founded the first Islamic society in Medina, his base during the war against Mecca.
Chapter 6: After Muhammad’s death, Muslims built a vast empire by raiding non-Muslims beyond Arabia.
Chapter 7: Islamic law, the Shariah, arose in opposition to rulers prioritizing empire over religious faith.
Chapter 8: Islam entered a golden age as its empire grew increasingly decentralized.
Chapter 9: The eighteenth-century rise of the West resulted directly in the widespread colonization of the broader Islamic world.
Chapter 10: Islam’s relationship with modernity has long deeply preoccupied Muslims worldwide.
Chapter 11: Fundamentalism isn’t unique to Islam; it’s part of a global backlash against modern society.
Description
Islam: A Short History (2000) charts the meteoric rise of Islam from its birth as a small sect in seventh-century Arabia to a global religion with just under two billion followers. What makes Islam unique among faiths, Karen Armstrong argues, are its refusal to postpone justice to the next world and quest to create the perfect society in the here and now. She follows this thread in her fascinating tour of 1,500 years of Islamic history.
Who Should Listen
- Believers and non-believers
- History and politics buffs
- Whoever seeks to understand Islam is beyond the headlines