Includes bibliographical references (p. [315]-333) and index.

Preliminary Material / Meir Hatina -- Introduction / Meir Hatina -- Chapter One. ʿUlamaʾ between the state and the society in pre-modern Sunni Islam / Michael Winter -- Chapter Two. Al-Jabarti’s attitude towards the ʿUlamaʾ of his time / Shmuel Moreh -- Chapter Three. ʿUlamaʾ and political activism in the late Ottoman Empire: The political career of Şeyhülislâm Mustafa Sabri Efendi (1869-1954) / Amit Bein -- Chapter Four. Italian colonial rule and muslim elites in Libya: A relationship of antagonism and collaboration / Anna Baldinetti -- Chapter Five. Education, politics, and the struggle for intellectual leadership: Al-Azhar between 1927 and 1945 / Rainer Brunner -- Chapter Six. The iraqi afghanis and ʿAbduhs: Debate over reform among ShiʿIte and Sunni ʿUlamaʾ in interwar Iraq / Orit Bashkin -- Chapter Seven. Western scholars on the role of the ʿUlamaʾ in adapting the ShariʿA to modernity: A critical review / Ron Shaham -- Chapter Eight. ʿUlamaʾ, tribalism and the national struggle in Morocco, 1944-1956 / Daniel Zisenwine -- Chapter Nine. Reconciling tribalism and Islam in the writings of contemporary ʿUlamaʾ in saudi Arabia / Meir Hatina -- Chapter Ten. Wahhabis, Sufis and Salafis in early twentieth century Damascus / David Commins -- Chapter Eleven. The clerics’ betrayal? Islamists, ʿUlamaʾ and the polity / Meir Hatina -- Chapter Twelve. Liberal critics, ʿUlamaʾ and the debate on Islam in the contemporary arab world / Muhammad Abu Samra -- Chapter Thirteen. In defense of Muhammad: ʿUlamaʾ, DaʿIya and the new islamic internationalism / Jakob Skovgaard-Petersen -- List of contributors / Meir Hatina -- Bibliography / Meir Hatina -- Index / Meir Hatina.

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This collective volume provides an integrative historical and contemporary discussion of Sunni ʿulamaʾ in the Middle East in both an urban and a semi-tribal context. The various chapters reinforce a renewed interest in the position of the ʿulamaʾ in modern times and offer new insights as to their ideological vitality and contribution to the public discourse on moral and sociopolitical issues.