Who is an Arab ?

The earliest accounts

Language

The oral tradition

From sea to desert

Nomads, oases and towns

Social organisation and values

Mecca

The regional context

Muhammad, the man and the prophet

Childhood and youth
Khadija, the prophet's first wife
Revelation and doubt
Preaching and persecution
The Hejira
Muhammad as military leader
Muhammad as legislator
The conquest of Mecca

The message of the Koran

The word of God
Allah, Islam and the Umma

The five pillars of Islam

The profession of faith (shahada)
Prayer (salât)
Alms (zakât)
Fasting (sawm)
The pilgrimage (hajj)

The succession question

The Medina califate
The Umayyads

Shiites and Sunnis

The four schools of Islamic law

The great dynasties

The Greek legacy

Arabisation and Islamisation

Do you speak Arabic without realising it ?
(or: Variety is the spice of life)

From Baghdad to Cordova :

The Baghdad califate
The Cordova califate

Literature and poetry

Fine arts :

Caligraphy and illumination
Arabesque
Geometrical ornamentation

Mathematics and astronomy

Medicine

Physics and chemistry

Philosophy

Arab reform movements

Islamic reformism and Islamic fundamentalism

The nationalist movements

Pan-Arabism and Arab socialism