I thank Juan Cole and all of the commentators for helping to expand my still embryonic understanding of Islam. (I just finished reading Reza Aslan's "No god but God", which is the only treatment of Islam I've read outside of Wikipedia {grin}, so I'm obviously still a beginner.) Most specifically, the people and politics described on this page (by Mr. Cole and others) all started to fall into place, helping to solidify my now not quite so shaky framework. Thanks to all.
I thank Juan Cole and all of the commentators for helping to expand my still embryonic understanding of Islam. (I just finished reading Reza Aslan's "No god but God", which is the only treatment of Islam I've read outside of Wikipedia {grin}, so I'm obviously still a beginner.) Most specifically, the people and politics described on this page (by Mr. Cole and others) all started to fall into place, helping to solidify my now not quite so shaky framework. Thanks to all.