Hayrettin Yücesoy offers a groundbreaking new account of political discourse in Islamic history by examining Abbasid imperial practice, illuminating the emergence and influence of a vibrant secular tradition.

Preface
Acknowledgments
List of Early, Umayyad, and Abbasid Caliphs, 632-861
Introduction: Critical Reflections on "Islamic Political Thought"
1. Caliphal Practice
2. The Language of Imamate
3. Political Prose Revolution
4. The Disruptive Language of Siyasa
5. Deconfessionalizing the Caliph
6. A Theory of Imperial Law
7. Territorial Consciousness
8. Reimagining the People of the Empire
Conclusion: Releasing Siyasa from the Imamate
Conventions and Spelling
Notes
Bibliography
Index