Recent crises in the Middle East have flooded the media with sensationalist and inaccurate portraits of Islam. This revised edition of Gilsenan's classic work shows that Islam covers a multitude of forms and practices which are woven into daily existence in complex and sometimes almost invisible ways. Gilsenan explores a variety of social worlds all claiming Islamic affiliation: the feudal aristocracy of northern Lebanon, the working class Sufi brotherhoods of Egypt, and the new bourgeoisies of Algeria and Morocco.
