Sunni Revival

The Sunni Revival was a period in Islamic history marked by the revival of the political fortunes of Sunni Islam, a renewed interest in Sunni law and theology and the spread of new styles in art and architecture. Conventionally, the revival lasted from 1055 until 1258.^[1]

Richard Bulliet has proposed that the term "recentering" better describes the period than "revival" or "renaissance".^[2] The period is characterized as much by developments within Sunnism as by Sunni relations with Shia Islam. In particular, it was a period of homogenization of Sunnism as scholars and leaders strove for ijmāʿ (consensus).^[2] Eric Chaney has argued that the Sunni Revival led to the decline of scientific output in the Islamic world.^[3]