The history of Islam is not merely the history of its rulers. It is not merely the history of wars, of conquest and defeats. Islamic culture and society down the ages has also been fashioned through invaluable contributions from its lay faithful. Muslim scholars laid the foundation stone for the corpus of the modern world’s knowledge. Muslim scientists made invaluable contributions to science. Muslim astronomers calculated the earth’s dimensions to an astounding degree of accuracy—at a time when the rest of the world thought our planet was flat. And Muslim spiritualists attracted people from across the globe to their religion with their zeal, courage of conviction and clarity of thought.

This book attempts to throw light on these, the lesser known but equally invaluable contributions that have moulded the Islam of today. It chronicles the rise of the people of Islam and recounts their position at the zenith of human civilisation for over eight hundred years.

The author tells the history of Islam through succinct but vivid biographical sketches of innumerable Islamic jurists, astronomers, scientists, litterateurs and men of wisdom down ages from the seventh to the 15th century AD.

Dr Hasanuddin Ahmed was a member of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) and served in various prominent positions with distinction. Dr. Ahmed is also a prolific writer of books such as A New Approach to the Study of the Quran and A Brief History of Islam. Many of his books have been translated in other Indian languages. He lives in Hyderabad, India.