Not long after I reviewed Reza Aslan’s work on Jesus, I came across Geza Vermes’s excellent study, Christian Beginnings: From Nazareth to Nicaea (2013), that shows how Jesus’ iconoclastic but…
Islam
Sultanic Democracy
The 4th of July is the only holiday that means something to me, not only because I am an American citizen, but also because I live in the modern world,…
Islam and the Enlightenment
As Iraq, Syria and other parts of the Arab and Muslim world are engulfed in flames, sectarian strife, social turmoil, and just plain misery, I keep wondering if these warring…
The Impossible Dreams of a Moroccan Prince
A few years ago, I wrote a review/commentary on The Road from Morocco, a thrilling account by Wafa Faith Hallam, a young, modern Moroccan woman who leads a truly quixotic…
The New Fitna
According to official Muslim history, when the Prophet Mohammed died in 632, his followers quickly split into two main camps—those who wanted Ali, the Prophet’s cousin, the first boy to…
Koran Redux (2)
In “Koran Redux (1),” I noted how the work of John Wansborough made it clear that the Koran doesn’t make sense without the exegetical literature (Tafsir and Hadith) that developed…
Koran Redux (1)
It is clear now that the outburst of the Arab Spring was a mere mirage in a sky full of expectation of change in the Arab world. Nothing has changed,…
Islam Without Hadith?
I finally got to reading Turkish journalist Mustafa Akyol’s book, Islam Without Extremes: A Muslim Case for Liberty (2011). It is a well-researched book, very smart, and daring in a…
Mecca and the Koran
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…
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…