Charles Lindholm 
The Islamic Middle East [PDF ebook] 
Tradition and Change

List of Illustrations.
Preface.
Acknowledgements.
Glossary.
Part I: Introduction:.
1. The Middle East: Assumptions and Problems.
Part II: Preconditions for Egalitarian
Individualism:.
2. Ways of Living.
3. Traditions of Authority and Freedom.
4. The Social Construction of Egalitarianism.
Part III: State and Society: Prophets, Caliphs, Sultans and
Tyrants:.
5. The Prophetic Age.
6. Early Struggles for Authority.
7. Sacred and Secular Rulers.
8. Novelties and Continuities.
Part IV: Sacred Power: Reciters, Lawyers, Incarnations and
Saints:.
9. The Essentials of Islam.
10. Recapturing the Sacred Past: The Power of Knowledge.
11. The Partisans of Ali.
12. Sufism in Practice.
13. The Contradictions of Saintly Authority.
Part V: Dilemmas of Subordination:.
14. Slaves, Eunuchs and Blacks.
15. The Ambiguities of Women.
16. Escapes from Distinction: Love and Friendship.
Part VI: Conclusion:.
17. Problems and Possibilities.
Chronology of Events.
Notes.
References.
Index.

Charles Lindholm is a University Professor at Boston University, before which he taught anthropology at Barnard College and at Columbia and Harvard Universities. His previous books include Generosity and Jealousy (1982), Culture and Identity: The History, Theory, and Practice of Psychological Anthropology (2000) and Is America Breaking Apart? (reprint edition 2001).