The political community of Islam grew out of the religious community. This book, first published in 1927, is the key work in understanding the early development of Islam and the history of the Arab peoples.

J. Wellhausen

1. Introduction 2. Ali and the First Civil War 3. The Sufyanids and the Second Civil War 4. The First Marwanids 5. Umar II and the Mawali 6. The Later Marwanids 7. Marwan and the Third Civil War 8. The Arab Tribes in Khurasan 9. The Fall of the Arab Kingdom