The world of Islam: faith, people, culture (review)

Short notices 179 way of asides, indicate then antipathy towards Niel's views. Careful sociological and physical examination confirms the normal function of a fort, but one at the centre of the clandestine resistance of the Cathars in the last days of the persecution (see esp. pp. 345, 352, 359, 382, 423). The detailed picture presented in this volume of the activity associated with the citadel of Montsfigur in its last agonies is a valuable and intriguingly concrete addition to the source materials avaUable to those interested in the saga of Catbarism in medieval Europe. The collection as a whole should appealto.thegrowing number of scholars interested in sources for medieval social conditions that go beyond the written word. John O. Ward Department of History Sydney University Lewis, Bernard, ed., 77je- world of Islam: faith, people, culture, London, Thames and Hudson, 1992; rev. ed.; paper; pp. 360; 490 illustrations; R.R.P. AUS$49.95. This is a reissue of the 1976 edition. Most of the contributors are first-rate scholars and well-known experts in thenfieldsand their treatments have, on the whole, stood the test of time. It is, however, unfortunate, that more extensive additions and/or revisions have not been made for the 1992 edition in view of the many new developments in Islamic studies symbolized by the new Encyclopaedia of Islam. Thus Roger M . Savory's contribution on Iran entided 'Land of the lion and the sun: the flowering of Iranian civilization', which relies on the unifying concept of the monarchy as one of the distinguishing features of the Iranian tradition within Islam, has been 'updated' awkwardly by adding a paragraph on the Shah's deposition and death in exile, and mentioning the establishment of the Islamic republic of Iran, but leaving out any discussion of the profound changes of the 1980s. This is clearly inadequate. H e concludes that: 'one of the most striking features of the Khumayni (sic) regime has been its policy of attempting to destroy the distinctive Iranian culture described in this chapter and to replace its symbols by Islamic ones. The monarchy has been replaced by the mosque as the cultural symbol of Iran'. This m a y be essentially accurate, but does not account for the reasons for the change. This is a small but telling example of how many entries, though extremely informative and 180 Short notices well-written, could have benefitted by more extensive updating than a mere addition of a final paragraph here and there. Having criticized a decision to reprint the 1976 edition virtually unchanged, one should add that all the contributions are indeed masterful summaries of the state of Islamic studies in the mid 70s. Most are precise, concise, always informative, seldom discursive. A few are real gems of polished, elegant, witty, and well-illustrated examples. Lewis's own contribution ("The faith and the faithful: the lands and peoples of Islam') is a model introduction to the realm of Islam. Oleg Grabar's 'Citizens and citizens: growth and culture of urban Islam' is a masterful summary of much research not available to a non-Arabist, though he insists on using the term 'bourgeoisie' to define its urban elites. Fritz Meier's 'The mystic path: the Sufi tradition' is an extremely simplified approach to a very complex subject. Charles Pellat's 'Jewellers with words: the heritage of Islamic literature' is a veryfineoverview of afieldwhich had no unifying concept of 'literature' until recent times when adab or edebiyat in Turkish was applied to it. Emilio Garcia G6mez's 'Moorish Spain: the golden age of Cordoba and Granada' is extremely illuminating on the poetic innovation of the muwashshah type, though his view of Islam in the Iberian Peninsula as 'doomed' from the very beginning is distinctly old-fashioned. Norman Itzkowitz's 'The Ottoman emphe: theriseand fall of Turkish domination' is a very competent summary, especially of Turkish contributions to Ottoman studies, though it omits Balkan contributions to the field. S. A. A. Rizvi's 'Muslim India: from the coming of Islam to independence' is a rather impressionistic, though often very revealing, compression of an impossibly rich topic. Space precludes comment on all the specific issues raised, but one important...