Contents -- Acknowledgments -- A Note on the Transliteration -- Introduction (Meir Hatina) -- PART ONE THE "HEIRS OF THE PROPHETS" IN ISLAMIC HISTORY -- Chapter One 'Ulama' between the State and the Society in Pre-modern Sunni Islam (Michael Winter) -- Chapter Two Al-Jabarti's Attitude towards the 'Ulama' of His Time (Shmuel Moreh) -- PART TWO CONFRONTING A CHANGING WORLD: MODERNIZATION, REFORM AND NATIONAL DISCOURSE -- Chapter Three 'Ulama' and Political Activism in the Late Ottoman Empire: The Political Career of Seyhülislâm Mustafa Sabri Efendi (1869-1954) (Amit Bein) -- Chapter Four Italian Colonial Rule and the 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 'Abduhs: Debate over Reform among Shi'ite and Sunni 'Ulama' in Interwar Iraq (Orit Bashkin) -- Chapter Seven Western Scholars on the Role of the 'Ulama' in Adapting the Shari'a to Modernity: A Critical Review (Ron Shaham) -- PART THREE GUARDIANS OF THE FAITH IN SEMI-TRIBAL SOCIETIES -- Chapter Eight 'Ulama', Tribalism and the National Struggle in Morocco, 1944-1956 (Daniel Zisenwine) -- Chapter Nine Reconciling Tribalism and Islam in the Writings of Contemporary 'Ulama' in Saudi Arabia (Muhammad al-Atawneh) -- PART FOUR IDEOLOGICAL RIVALS -- Chapter Ten Wahhabis, Sufis and Salafis in Early Twentieth Century Damascus (David Commins) -- Chapter Eleven The Clerics' Betrayal? Islamists, 'Ulama' and the Polity (Meir Hatina) -- Chapter Twelve Liberal Critics, 'Ulama' and the Debate on Islam in the Contemporary Arab World (Muhammad Abu Samra) -- Chapter Thirteen In Defense of Muhammad: 'Ulama', Da'iya and the New Islamic Internationalism (Jakob Skovgaard-Petersen) -- List of Contributors.

Bibliography -- Index.