Hailed by critics as an essential book, God's Crucible is a bold, new interpretation of Islamic Spain and the birth of Europe from one of our greatest historians. David Levering Lewis's narrative, filled with accounts of some of the greatest battles in world history, reveals how cosmopolitan, Muslim al-Andalus flourished—a beacon of cooperation and tolerance—while proto-Europe floundered in opposition.

At the beginning of the eighth century, the Arabs brought a momentous revolution in power, religion, and culture to Dark Ages Europe. David Levering Lewis's masterful history begins with the fall of the Persian and Roman empires, followed by the rise of the Prophet Muhammad (s) and the creation of Muslim Spain. Five centuries of engagement between the Muslim emporium and an emerging Europe followed, from the Muslim conquest of Visigoth Hispania in 711 to Latin Christendom's declaration of unconditional warfare on the Caliphate in 1215. Lewis's narrative, filled with accounts of some of the greatest battles in world history, reveals how cosmopolitan, Muslim al-Andalus flourished—a beacon of cooperation and tolerance between Islam, Judaism, and Christianity—while proto-Europe, defining itself in opposition to Islam, made virtues out of hereditary aristocracy, religious intolerance, perpetual war, and slavery. A cautionary tale, God's Crucible provides a new interpretation of world-altering events whose influence remains as current as today's headlines.

In this book Mawdudi (1903-1979) attempts to bring out the vital relationship between the concept of civilization and Islam's underlying worldview and vision of life.

Mawdudi argues that the true understanding of Islamic cilization is possible only by having access to the soul of that civilization and its underlying fundamental principles - belief in God, the angels, the Prophets, the Revealed Books and the Last Day - rather than to its manifestations in knwoledge, literature, fine arts or rhetoric, its social life, its notions of refined living or its system of governance.

With a foreword by Zafar Ishaq Ansari, this is an authoritative first complete English translation by Syed Akif, of Islami Tahdhib awr uskey Usul-o-Mabadi written n the 1930s at a time when the momentum for independence was growing in British India.

Over the fourteen centuries of its existence, Islamic scholarship has produced numerous individuals who have distinguished themselves by acquiring broad knowledge and deep insight.

• However, true distinction is only achieved through a lasting influence, particularly when the area of scholarship is a religion that presents itself as being suited to all communities at all times.
• The selection has to start with the founders of the eight schools of jurisprudence who have had a continuous following over the centuries up to the present day.
• This book introduces nine scholars from these schools and adds two more from a much later era whose influence extended far beyond the area of pure scholarship.
• In simple language, this book gives a clear picture of how the Islamic schools of jurisprudence differ in their methodologies, showing at the same time how much interaction they project.
• It serves as a primary source for those who wish to follow a course in Islamic studies; this book is indispensable for others who wish to have a fair but concise idea about the most important personalities who have shaped Islamic scholarship for centuries.

In an era when the relationship between Islam and the West seems mainly defined by mistrust and misunderstanding, it is important to remember that for centuries Muslim civilization was the envy of the world. Lost History fills a significant void and is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand the major the early Muslims played in influencing modern society.
Michael Hamilton Morgan reveals how early Muslim advancements in science and culture laid the cornerstones of the European Renaissance, the Enlightenment, and modern Western society.

As he chronicles the Golden Ages of Islam, beginning in A.D. 570 with the birth of Muhammad, he introduces scholars like Ibn Al-Haytham, Ibn Sina, Al-Tusi, Al-Khwarizmi, and Omar Khayyam, towering figures who revolutionized the mathematics, astronomy, and medicine of their time and paved the way for Newton, Copernicus, and many others.

And he reminds us that inspired leaders from Muhammad to Suleiman the Magnificent and beyond championed religious tolerance, encouraged intellectual inquiry, and sponsored artistic, architectural, and literary works that still dazzle us with their brilliance.

About the Author
Michael Hamilton Morgan is the author of The Twilight War, and co-author with undersea explorer Robert Ballard of Collision with History: The Search for John F. Kennedy's PT-109, and Graveyards of the Pacific.

A former diplomat, he created and now heads New Foundations for Peace, which promotes cross-cultural understanding and leadership among youth.
He has appeared on ABC and CBS and covered foreign policy issues as a Washington journalist. From 1990 to 2000 he directed and advised the International Pegasus Prize for Literature.