Is asceticism—and in particular its relation to rationality—the right category around which to frame the history of Hinduism in the…
The skull that begs
Orientalism
Is ISIS Islamic? Why it matters for the study of Islam
Recent months have witnessed considerable angst in the academy over what is and isn’t Islam(ic). Spurred by events from the…
The season of revolution
The online journal Interface: A Forum for and about Social Movements dedicates much of its most recent issue to the "Arab Spring."
Religion-making
Broadly conceived the term religion-making refers to the ways in which religion(s) is conceptualized and institutionalized within the matrix of…
Avitabile’s handwriting
Pietro della Valle. Pietro della Valle was a highly sociable geek with an interest in all things Middle Eastern, c.…
What federal agents are reading about Islam
Spencer Ackerman, at Wired's Danger Room blog, reports on the recommended reading on Islam provided to incoming FBI agents, as…
Race, orthodoxy, and “real” Islam
More than anything, the Good (Orthodox) Muslim-Bad (Black) Muslim paradigm reveals the media’s seemingly willful ignorance of the longstanding diversity…
Withdrawing consent
For the last month, we have been witnessing, in Tunisia and Egypt, the first revolution of the twenty-first century. We…