This book, by the late Indian historian and intellectual, Shaykh Abu l-Hasan Ali Nadwi, is a story of the ebbs and flows of this Umma; the challenges, the setbacks, and most importantly, the successes. It is a poignant story of the accomplishments, attainments, and triumphs that propelled the Umma forward. It is a story told through extraordinary figures: the revivers, men of courage, vigor, and zeal, an elect group who were graced with divine determination to safeguard the spirit of God s religion on earth. In other words, they were the saviours of the Islamic spirit. Drawing on the lives of ten of the most influential personalities of the first seven centuries of Islam, from Hasan al-Basri, Umar ibn Abd al- Aziz, Ahmad ibn Hanbal, and Ghazali to Ibn al-Jawzi and Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi, this work offers comfort and much-needed perspective, given the current situation of Muslims around the world. It aims to inspire Muslim youth and others to virtue and love for All?h, and to provide role models of intellectual and spiritual excellence, at a time when people are looking for motivation from other sources. This history reminds us that we are not in the direst of situations. Few have not felt their spirits lifted by reading this book. One of the most widely-read Islamic classics of recent times. Shaykh Abdal Hakim Murad, Cambridge Muslim College Personalities covered Hasan al-Basri Ahmad ibn Hanbal Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani Umar ibn Abd al- Aziz Abu l-Hasan al-Ash ari Izz al-Din ibn Abd al-Salam Abu l-Faraj Ibn al-Jawzi Abu Hamid al-Ghazali Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi Nur al-Din Zangi The Tartars