From 1884-1885, Christiaan Snouck Hurgronje stayed in Mecca. He became intimately acquainted with the daily life of the Meccans and the thousands of pilgrims from all over the world.

Ignaz Goldziher wrote his book 'Die Zahiriten' in 1883. The English translation of this standard work on Islamic jurisprudence appeared in 1971. The book has been in print ever since. This new edition in the Brill Classics in Islam series shows that The Ẓāhirīs has not lost any of its actuality. The individual that adheres to the principles of madhhab al-Ẓāhir, the Islamic legal school, is called Ẓāhirī. Goldziher gives an extensive presentation of the Ẓāhirīte school, its doctrine and the position of its representatives within...

In Knowledge Triumphant, Franz Rosenthal observes that the Islamic civilization is one that is essentially characterized by knowledge ('ilm), for 'ilm is one of those concepts that have dominated Islam and given Muslim civilization its distinctive shape and complexion.' There is no branch of Muslim intellectual and daily life that remained untouched by the all-pervasive attitude towards 'knowledge' as something of supreme value for Muslim being. With a new foreword by Dimitri Gutas.

In a series of essays devoted to key terms and ideas in Islam, Bravmann argues on the basis of pre-Islamic and early Islamic texts for an Arabian background to the rise of the religion. In pursuing a through philological examination of the evidence, Bravmann finds core values and ideas of Islam deeply embedded in ancient Arab linguistic expression. His work continues to provide a critical element in the debates about the emergence of Islam and cannot be ignored by anyone trying to assess the complex historiographical problems that surround the issue.

Goitein's selection of studies dealing with Islamic history, religion, and institutions offers a wide-ranging, sensitive, and highly original introduction to a civilization by one who lived all his life studying and observing Islam. Eschewing simplistic notions, Goitein poses fundamental questions vis-a-vis Muslim religious thought and practice, the evolution of the Islamic state in the early Middle Ages, the characteristic facets of the civilization, and the periodization of its history. Although all but one of the essays deal with the first seven centuries of Islamic history, Goitein...

Humor in Early Islam, first published in 1956, is a pioneering study by the versatile and prolific scholar Franz Rosenthal (1914-2003), who (having published an article on mediaeval Arabic blurbs), should have written this text himself. It contains an annotated translation of an Arabic text on a figure who became the subject of many jokes and anecdotes, the greedy and obtuse Ashab, a singer who lived in the eighth century but whose literary and fictional life long survived him. The translation is preceded by chapters on the textual sources and on the historical and legendary personalities of...

I.Y. Kratchkovsky (Ignatii Iul'ianovich Krachkovskii) was an iconic scholar, and Among Arabic Manuscripts, Memories of Libraries and Men gives us a good indication of what made him so outstanding. Hugely influential in its time, especially in Eastern Europe, it inspired several now-noted Arabists to start their studies in this field. It is beautifully written and, with the rising relevance of Arab-Russian relations has new historical importance. A memoir of a life in Orientalism, this autobiographic text is the result of strong will and endurance, and of total dedication to Arabic...