[3 vol.] The Islamic World: Past and Present. Associate Editors: Abdulaziz Sachedina, Tamara Sonn, John O. Voll.

From the library of Prof. Wolfgang Haase, long-time editor of ANRW and the International Journal of the Classical Tradition (IJCT). - Overall very good and clean. - Preface: Islam and the Islamic world have played and continue to play a major role in world history. In the century following the death of the Prophet Muhammad in 632 c.e., Islam spread widely and Muslim rulers created an empire that extended from North Africa to South Asia. The empire was greater than that of Rome at its zenith. While the West passed through its Dark Ages, Islamic civilization flourished, making major contributions to mathematics (Arabic numerals, algebra, geometry), philosophy, medicine and other sciences, art, and architecture. Today Islam is the second largest of the world�s religions, encompassing one-fifth of the world�s population. The 1.2 billion Muslims live in some 56 Muslim countries, where they make up a majority of the population. Moreover, if Islam and Muslims seemed invisible in Europe and America only a few decades ago, today Islam is the second largest religion in Europe and the third largest in the United States. Awareness of Islam and Muslim politics came suddenly to many in America and other parts of the world with the shock of Iran�s �Islamic revolution� of 1978-1979, which revealed the West�s limited knowledge of Islam and the Islamic world. Ignorance and stereotypes of Islam and Muslims were compounded by the astonishing lack of coverage of Islam in schools and universities, the media, publications, and political analysis. The result over the past two decades has been a flurry of studies, conferences, and media coverage, as well as the introduction of coverage of Islam and the Muslim world in educational curricula. The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, against New York�s World Trade Center and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and the resultant war against terrorism have increased interest, coverage, and the need to know more about the faith, history, politics, and culture of Islam and Muslims. Now, more than ever, it is important to understand the faith of Islam, its enormous contributions to world history and civilizations, the issues that affect the development of Muslim society, and the factors that shape and determine international politics and relations.