The emancipation of europe's muslims

The Emancipation of Europe's Muslims traces how governments across Western Europe have responded to the growing presence of Muslim immigrants in their countries over the past fifty years. Drawing on hundreds of in-depth interviews with government officials and religious leaders in France, Germany...

The emperor and the elephant

A new history of Christian-Muslim relations in the Carolingian period that provides a fresh account of events by drawing on Arabic as well as western sourcesIn the year 802, an elephant arrived at the court of the Emperor Charlemagne in Aachen, sent as a gift by the ʿAbbasid Caliph, Harun al-Rash...

The imam of the christians

How Christian leaders adapted the governmental practices and political thought of their Muslim rulers in the Abbasid caliphateThe Imam of the Christians examines how Christian leaders adopted and adapted the political practices and ideas of their Muslim rulers between 750 and 850 in the Abbasid c...

The kindness of enemies

“An absorbing novel . . . reminds us of the complexity of the web woven by those threads of faith, nationality, politics and history.”—New York Times Book Review“Aboulela has written a book for grown-ups... that speaks more forcefully than a thousand opinion pieces...she has done more than breat...

The making of the medieval middle east

A bold new religious history of the late antique and medieval Middle East that places ordinary Christians at the center of the storyIn the second half of the first millennium CE, the Christian Middle East fractured irreparably into competing churches and Arabs conquered the region, setting in mot...

The making of the modern muslim state

An innovative analysis that traces the continuity of the state’s custodianship of Islam as the preferred religion in the Middle East and North Africa In The Making of the Modern Muslim State, Malika Zeghal reframes the role of Islam in modern Middle East governance. Challenging other accounts tha...

The middle east and islamic world reader

The muslim brotherhood

How the Muslim Brotherhood rose to power in Egypt, and what it means for the Islamic worldFollowing the Arab Spring, the Muslim Brotherhood achieved a level of influence previously unimaginable. Yet the implications of the Brotherhood's rise and dramatic fall for the future of democratic governan...

The paradox of islamic finance

How the booming Islamic finance industry became an ultramodern hybrid of religion and marketsIn just fifty years, Islamic finance has grown from a tiny experiment operated from a Volkswagen van to a thriving global industry worth more than the entire financial sector of India, South America, or E...

The qur'an

The qur'ân's self-image

Islam is frequently characterized as a "religion of the book," and yet Muslims take an almost entirely oral approach to their scripture. Qur'ân means "recitation" and refers to the actual words Muslims believe were revealed to Muhammad by God. Many recite the entire sacred text from memory, and i...

The qur’an, surahs 1–2

A detailed commentary with a new translation that integrates intertextual, theological, literary, and historical perspectivesThis historical and literary commentary on the Qur’an’s first two surahs provides a structural analysis of the two texts, advances a novel theory of Surah 2’s intricate red...

The robe and the sword

When the robe becomes a weapon, who can stop the violence? We think of Buddhism as a faith of peace—rooted in compassion, patience, and nonviolence. But across South and Southeast Asia today, the robe is being turned into a weapon as radical monks and nationalist movements unleash hatred and war...

The translator

What is islam?

A bold new conceptualization of Islam that reflects its contradictions and rich diversityWhat is Islam? How do we grasp a human and historical phenomenon characterized by such variety and contradiction? What is "Islamic" about Islamic philosophy or Islamic art? Should we speak of Islam or of isla...