The Islamic community

The communal ideal of an Islamic society is a very important aspect in Islamic history and has determined a series of attitudes. The relation with other religious communities is one of these issues. Religious concepts such as the Abode of Islam or the Abode of War, as well as the more complex one of jihad , have influenced behaviour though changing over time. Sufism, Islamic mysticism, has been another phenomenon of considerable historical significance. In the form of organised brotherhoods, Sufism has forged medieval religious sensibility up to the modern age.