The concept of classical Islam or a classical period in the

history of Islam The history of Islam is believed, by most historians, to have originated with Muhammad's mission in Mecca and Medina at the start of the 7th century CE, although Muslims regard this time as a return to the original faith passed down by the Abr ...

is largely a construct of non-Islamic scholarship, formed by analogy with the classical period of the

Greco-Roman world The Greco-Roman world , also Greco-Roman civilization, Greco-Roman culture or Greco-Latin culture (spelled Græco-Roman or Graeco-Roman in British English), as understood by modern scholars and writers, includes the geographical regions and co ...

. The term implies a positive judgement defining a "normative period" in Islamic history, but Western scholars generally extend the period much later than Muslim scholars would allow. The Muslim conception of a normative period corresponds mainly to that of the

Companions of the Prophet The Companions of the Prophet () were the Muslim disciples and followers of the Islamic prophet Muhammad who saw or met him during his lifetime. The companions played a major role in Muslim battles, society, hadith narration, and governance ...

and the Rightly Guided Caliphs, roughly the seventh century. There is no consistency in Western usage. The term may be given a primarily religious sense, meaning "the era when the classics of

Islamic law Sharia, Sharī'ah, Shari'a, or Shariah () is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition based on scriptures of Islam, particularly the Qur'an and hadith. In Islamic terminology ''sharīʿah'' refers to immutable, intan ...

and spirituality were written", extending down to about 1400. Or it may take on a political sense, meaning "the major chain of political legitimacy" that came to end with the fall of Baghdad in 1258. Although "reality had failed to conform for rather more than four centuries" to the ideal of the

caliphate A caliphate ( ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with Khalifa, the title of caliph (; , ), a person considered a political–religious successor to the Islamic prophet Muhammad and a leader of ...

, the collapse of 1258 represents a fundamental psychological break in Islamic history. In a more restricted sense, Islamic "classical civilization" corresponds to the "high caliphal" period of the Umayyads and

Abbasids The Abbasid Caliphate or Abbasid Empire (; ) was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib (566–653 CE), from whom the dynasty takes i ...

from about 692 to 945, when " Islamicate society formed a single vast state".

Notes

Bibliography

* * * * {{refend Historiography of Islam Medieval Islamic world