ABSTRACT
Local conditions, modern issues, and the Islamic continuity provide the three dimensions of the history of the Muslim world in the eighteenth century. Within this framework, it is possible to identify the general themes of the Islamic experience. The sixteenth-century florescence produced the great sultanate empires, which had a relatively high degree of political centralization. One general theme of eighteenth-century Islamic history was a reorientation of at least some elements of the Sufi tradition. Groupings of soldiers, artisans, and others were integrated into the broader Islamic community through tariqah-style affiliations. The Islam of the community and the Islam of the state overlapped in some areas and competed in others, forming complementary parts of the picture of Ottoman Islamic life. The history of Islam in Egypt during the eighteenth century presents a picture that diverges somewhat from the main lines of the Ottoman experience centered in Istanbul.
