The public sphere in Muslim societies The mihna (inquisition) and the public sphere Nimrod Hurvitz Religious leadership and associations in the public sphere of Seljuk Baghdad Daphna Ephrat Religion in the public sphere: rulers scholars and commoners in Syria under Zangid and Ayyubid rule (1150 1260) Daniella Talmon Heller The public sphere and civil society in the Ottoman Empire Haim Gerber The Qāḍīs Role in the Islamization of sedentary trial society Aharon Layish The dynamics of Sufi brotherhoods Mehemia Levtzion The WAQF and the public sphere Miriam Hoexter Concluding remarks: public sphere civil society and political dynamics in Islamic societies Shmuel N. Eisenstadt