The Jews of Medieval Islam: Community, Society and Identity. Proceedings of an International Conference held by the Institute of Jewish Studies, University College London 1992

This volume contains 15 articles on the communal, social and intellectual life of medieval Jewry in Islamic countries. Part One, Communities and Their Leaders , is devoted to the old Babylonian centre in the East and the Andalusian community in the West. The second part, Self-Perceptions and Attitudes Towards Others investigates the ways in which medieval Jews living under Islam viewed their gentile neighbours and expressed their own identity. Part Three, Religious Philosophy, Mysticism and Spirituality in Islam and Judaism explores the impact of Islamic thought on the Jewish intellectual tradition. The collection depicts a civilization at once unified and diverse, revealing both consistent patterns of leadership and scholarship as well as distinctively local identities and collective memories.