| I | The Qur’ān: The Word of God | 15 |
| | 1. God Speaks to Man | 16 |
| | 2. He Speaks Through the Prophets | 26 |
| | 3. He Reveals Himself | 39 |
| | 4. He Commands | 43 |
| | 5. He Rewards and Punishes | 51 |
| II | The Ḥadīth: The News of God's Messenger | 57 |
| | 1. Muhammad the Messenger | 59 |
| | 2. The Founding of the Community | 69 |
| | 3. Muhammad as Founder and Legislator | 80 |
| | 4. Muhammad as Model and Guide | 84 |
| | 5. The Preservation of the Prophetic Practice (Sunna) | 88 |
| III | The Law: Fiqh, Sharī‘a | 92 |
| | 1. ‘Ibādāt | 95 |
| | 2. The Regulation of Personal Status | 118 |
| | 3. The Ordinance of the Community | 122 |
| | p. 8 | |
| | 4. The Bidding Unto Good (Al-amr bi al-Ma‘ruf) | 125 |
| | 5. The Rejecting of the Reprehensible (Al-nāhī ‘an al-munkar) | 129 |
| | 6. The Universality of the Law | 132 |
| IV | Ṡūfism: The Interior Religion of the Community | 136 |
| | 1. The Ascetics | 137 |
| | 2. The Ecstatics | 144 |
| | 3. The Antinomians | 149 |
| | 4. The Poets | 155 |
| | 5. The Dervishes | 168 |
| V | Kalām: The Statements of the Theologians | 173 |
| | 1. Abū Ḥanīfa | 174 |
| | 2. Al-Māturīdī | 179 |
| | 3. Al-Ash‘arī | 188 |
| | 4. Al-Juwaynī | 193 |
| | 5. Al-Ghazālī | 196 |
| | 6. Ibn Taymīya | 205 |
| VI | The Dissidents of the Community | 211 |
| | 1. The Khārijīs | 213 |
| | p. 9 | |
| | 2. The Zaydīs | 219 |
| | 3. The Twelvers | 224 |
| | 4. The Seveners | 231 |
| | References and Notes | 243 |
| | Guide to Pronunciation of Terms | 251 |
| | Index | 253 |