A History of Islamic Societies

Two principal forms of state and society stemmed from the Prophet Muhammad. One was the caliphate, his successors who were deemed competent to give both political and religious leadership. The other was a community (umma), a religious body headed by those learned in law and theology who provided schools and courts, teachers and judges. Whereas the caliphate sponsored a version of Islam as a culture of imperial power and courtly accomplishments, in the oases of Arabia and garrison cities of the Middle East, the learned and the holy men cultivated Islam as a religion of law and piety, theology and devotion.

The formal teaching of Islam as a religion embedded in a community began with the Prophet. Later hadith reported that the Prophet used to sit in the mosque surrounded by students, whom he instructed in passages of the Quran. Other hadith recount how he sent teachers of the Quran (qurraʾ) to the Arabian tribes.