Chase F. Robinson. ‘Abd al-Malik. Oneworld Publications: Oxford, 2005, 140 pp., appr. 45 €.

Makers of the Muslim World is a major new collection to be published between May 2005 and May 2009 featuring over 50 volumes. Each volume will consider the life, work and legacy of a man or woman who has shaped the course of Muslim history by his or her contribution to the political, social, cultural, religious or intellectual Muslim landscape. Series editor Patricia Crone is Mellon Professor of Islamic History at the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton. She is one of the leading authorities on Islamic history and has previously held positions at the universities of Oxford and Cambridge.

The first nine titles were published in May 2005 (UK) and June 2005 (USA); the next wave of five titles was published in February 2006. The senior scholars who are contributing to the series have accessibility as their primary goal. Patricia Crone insisted that the books feature clear and jargon-free language while academic rigour and thoroughness of treatment have been scrupulously maintained. The books offer scholarly introductions to the work of Islam’s greatest minds.

Chase F. Robinson’s ‘Abd al-Malik is one of these great volumes. All that Patricia Crone promised comes true in this book. It makes fascinating reading. It is difficult to put it down. If the lack of typing errors and mistakes is an indication for thoroughness this book scores high – I did not find any. The depth of treatment of the subject is such that it will satisfy Islamicists, academics in non-Islamic fields such as history, politics or religion, and also people of Muslim and/or Middle Eastern origin living in the west who wish to learn more of their heritage.

A good introduction defines the starting point and sets the scene for the impressive achieve-ments of ‘Abd al-Malik (d. 705) and the Marwanids (684-750 in Damascus and the Umayyad rulers of Spain). ‘Abd al-Malik was acclaimed caliph by some Syrians in 685, but this was in the midst of a civil war that had been sparked in large part by the failure of the Umayyad dynasty to produce a worthy heir to Mu’awiya, who had reigned from 661 to 680. In early 683 the Umayyads’ hold on the Hijaz was tenuous, and in 685 it was difficult for them to assert any real control even within Syria. Many Muslims had abandoned the Umayyads and had settled upon a caliph named Ibn al-Zubayr, who ruled from Arabia.

‘Abd al-Malik succeeded in ending the civil war in seven years of battles. He strengthened his rule from Damascus by building the octagonal Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem in 692. By the time of his death in 705, the caliphate had been changed almost beyond recognition. Arabic, long the language of uneducated, nomadic Bedouins and only recently revealed as the lan-guage of the Qur’an, was becoming the language of the Muslim empire; and Islam, born in Arabia only two generations earlier, had become the religion of the empire, which, though based in Syria, was expanding further east and west – entering Spain six years after the death of ‘Abd al-Malik. ‘Abd al-Malik, once rebel, then restorer of Umayyad power and father of four caliphs to follow, had ruled at the centre of his empire as architect of the first Islamic state. ‘Abd al-Malik was succeeded by no fewer than four sons, three grandsons and two nephews. The succession suggests how deeply respected the father’s will was, since his will trumped the wishes of each successive caliph, who naturally wished to be succeeded by his own son. Such was still the case almost 20 years after his death when the fourth son, Hisham, became caliph. No other caliph would exert that kind of authority from the grave.

The reading of this well-written book is aided by a glossary of names, a chronology, conclu-sions about ‘Abd alMalik’s legacy, a list for further reading, a 3-page bibliography and a helpful index. The one problem of this hard-cover bookis theprice – £30 or US $ 40 is a lot of money for a 140-page book.