Do we really know what the Koran says? Most Muslims, especially Arabic-speaking ones, would probably say that they do. Religious leaders, the imams and muftis, as well as memorizers of…
Islam
The Vanishing Christians of Islam
Recently, Tawadros II, the Coptic pope of Egypt, said that “even during the darkest ages” of its history, his church was never subjected to the violence it is now suffering at…
Our Idol Abraham
The prophet Abraham plays a huge role in Islam, but his story also suggests that Islam borrowed heavily from the Jewish tradition, that Islam (as suggested in my latest articles)…
Islam: The Arab Religion
A few months ago, I immersed myself in a kind of reading that I wish was available to me and my teachers when I was in high school in Tangier…
Islam, Arabs and the Hijra
The traditional account of Muhammad’s life tells us that in June of 622, upon getting wind of an assassination plot against him at Mecca, he escaped with some of his…
The Language of the Koran
When we look at Late Antique Syro-Palestine and Arabia in the early seventh century, the time when Islam is said to have become a religion, an interesting yet complex mosaic…
Jerusalem and the Emergence of Islam
If there is any place in the world right now that sits at the heart of the clash of religions, it surely must be Jerusalem, known in Arabic as al-Quds….
Islam: The Chinese Connection
After reading Jonathan Bloom’s splendid book Paper Before Print: The History and Impact of Paper in the Islamic World, published more than a decade ago, I now think that there…
Arab Constitutions and American Freedoms
The deeply contentious referendum on Egypt’s new constitution last December 2012 gave me some hope that not all is lost to Arabs and Muslims in the aftermath of the revolutions…
The Tyranny of Religious Scholars
As any observer will have noticed, the debates that are consuming many Arabs right now have to do with the place of religion in their societies. Most Muslims want freedom…