A History of Islamic Societies

For nearly five thousand years Middle Eastern and Islamic societies have been based upon the constellation of lineage, tribal, religious, and political institutions first evident in the ancient cities of Mesopotamia in the third millennium BC. This configuration of institutions was the basis of pre-Islamic Middle Eastern societies and was the template upon which Middle Eastern Islamic societies were constructed. In Mecca 1,400 years ago the Prophet Muhammad received the revelations that would infuse the ancient patterns of society with new meaning. The new religion was institutionalized in Arabian tribal communities. After the Arab conquest of the Middle East, it was embedded in the ruling political institutions such as the caliphates and sultanates, and in Islamic religious communities such as Sunni schools of law, Sufi brotherhoods, and Shiʿi sects. It was also embedded in both literary culture and popular concepts and mores. The institutionalization of Islam gave rise to a new civilization.

The religious basis of this new civilization was faith in Islam as revealed in scripture and law, as understood in theology, and as practiced in mysticism. Islam provided a concept of the universe, ethical rules, legal norms for daily behavior, ritual prescriptions for mediating the relation between human beings and God, mystical methods of self-cultivation, and symbols of self-identity. In fact, Islam embodied not one but several religious ideals. Sunni Sufis cultivated ethical and spiritual living within the world. The Shiʿis looked to the imams for guidance and salvation. By veneration of saints, Muslims sought to win divine blessing through the intercession of holy men. Gnostic philosophers and mystics sought escape from worldly actualities through rational and spiritual concepts of religious salvation.