Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – A genetic history study of Spain by Gonzalo Oteo-Garcia et al. in Genome Biology eloquently confirms the story of the great seventeenth-century ethnic cleansing of the remaining crypto-Muslims of Spain. As Mar Jonsson writes in his 2007 “The expulsion of the Moriscos from Spain in 1609–1614: the destruction of an […]
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Islamic History
Islam: A New History
A Review of Islam: A New History, from Muhammad to the Present (Princeton University Press, 2025) by John Tolan Detroit (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – Islam has had a major influence on the world as a religion, a culture and a civilization. As a religion, Islam is based on two main sources: the Quran […]
The Islamic Peace Studies Initiative
Pacifism in Islam – University of Manchester. Juan Cole’s remarks at their conference. The Islamic Peace Studies Initiative Juan Cole and Samer Ali have directed the Islamic Peace Studies Initiative at the Center for Middle Eastern and North African Studies in the International Institute of the University of Michigan from 2016. The initiative sought to […]
A Great Muslim Scholar of Jewish Heritage Passes: Abdallah Schleifer (1935 – 2025)
Middlebury, Vt. (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – Abdullah Schleifer, prominent Arab journalist and Professor Emeritus at the American University in Cairo, died last week at the age of ninety. The grandchild of European Jews who fled Europe and immigrated to the U.S. in the last quarter of the nineteenth century, Schleifer converted to Islam […]
Why are Algorithms called Algorithms? A brief History of the Persian Polymath you’ve likely never Heard of
By Debbie Passey, The University of Melbourne | – (The Conversation) – Algorithms have become integral to our lives. From social media apps to Netflix, algorithms learn your preferences and prioritise the content you are shown. Google Maps and artificial intelligence are nothing without algorithms. So, we’ve all heard of them, but where does the […]
Europe’s Jewish Scholars of Islam
Middlebury, Vt. (Special to Informed Comment) – At the end of the nineteenth century, the Turkish government asked its Minister of Education to prepare a report on European universities and the possibility of introducing Western style higher education to the Ottoman realm. The Minister travelled to the great European educational institutions and submitted his report […]
Dune Part Two: The Islamic Dimension
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Journalist and science fiction writer Frank Herbert’s Dune epic has many themes. One is, clearly, environmentalism and the need for humans to adapt to their environment. Another is the struggle between regimented bureaucratic civilization and individualism. Yet another is the temptation to use religion for liberatory purposes. The Denis Villeneuve […]
A Merry Muslim Christmas from India’s Hyderabad, c. 1630: Jesus, the Dutch, and Diamonds
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The nativity of the Christ child is not solely an occasion of Christian spirituality, but has been celebrated through the ages by Muslim writers and painters, as well. As I have pointed out, the story of the Annunciation and the birth of Jesus is told in the Qur’an: Verses 19:17-35: […]
Juan Cole: Infidel or Pagan? Understanding Kufr (كفر) in the Qur’an | Muhammad the Prophet of Peace
Gabriel Said Reynolds of Notre Dame writes: “In this video I interview Professor Juan Cole, the Richard P. Mitchell Collegiate Professor of History at the University of Michigan. We discuss the historicity of Muhammad’s raids as well as the picture of the messenger that is obtained when one focuses on the Qur’an alone. The bulk […]
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