Islamic History

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – One of the great tragedies of the early twenty-first century is that the great civilization of Islam, over 1400 years old and with tremendous achievements should have had its escutcheon besmirched with the terrorism of a small fringe of extremists such as Usama Bin Laden and al-Qaeda. It is the […]

astronomy and outer space

Islam’s deep traditions of art and science have had a global influence

The Conversation

By Kalpana Jain | – For people who would like to learn more about Islam, The Conversation is publishing a series of articles, available on our website or as six emails delivered every other day, written by Senior Religion and Ethics Editor Kalpana Jain. Over the past few years she has commissioned dozens of articles […]

Afghanistan

Taliban “Islam” versus the Islam of the Prophet Muhammad and the Qur’an

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – British academic Abdul-Azim Ahmed of Cardiff University, an expert on mosques in the UK, complained on Twitter that he was invited onto television to debate whether the Taliban represent Islam: Just had a call from a journo asking if I could go on live to debate whether the Taliban represent […]

Books

Top 5 Books on Islam – Juan Cole’s list at Shepherd

Juan Cole

The new book website Shepherd asked me for a list of what I thought were the best five books on Islam for a general audience. The best books on Islam By Juan R.I. Cole Who am I? My interest in Islam was kindled when I lived in Eritrea, East Africa as a teenager, and in […]

Islam

Yemen and the Prophet Muhammad: Abdulrahman al-Eryani interviews Juan Cole

Juan Cole

Abdulrahman al-Eryani interviewed me on his InBoundTalk show on YouTube (link below) about my book, Muhammad: Prophet of Peace amid the Clash of Empires Available at Nicola’s Books in Ann Arbor And Hachette And Barnes and Noble And Amazon InboundTalk: Abdulrahman Al-Eryani interviews Juan Cole on his book, Muhammad: Prophet of Peace amid the Clash […]

History

The Qur’an and Black Lives Matter (Podcast)

Juan Cole

My interview is at Renovatio concerning my forthcoming article on equality in the Qur’an, which I wrote in honor of the Black Lives Matter movement. The audio is embedded here: Renovatio’s notes: “God’s creativity is seen as an expression of the divine will and those blessed with insight can perceive it as such, and perhaps […]

Featured

Ta’seel Interview with Juan Cole on Muhammad: Prophet of Peace Amid the Clash of Empires (Video)

Juan Cole

Ta’seel Commons | – A wide-ranging and in-depth discussion with Prof. Juan Cole on his recent book “Muhammad: Prophet of Peace Amid the Clash of Empires”. The discussion begins with remarks about the question of the sources for such a history, it then situates the life of the prophet in the context of late antiquity […]

Islam

Why the Al-Aqsa Mosque has often been a site of conflict

The Conversation

By Ken Chitwood | – The violence that spread from Jerusalem to cities across Israel and the Palestinian territories, leaving at least 60 dead so far, has both historical and contemporary roots. In recent weeks, tension has flared over the eviction of Palestinian families in Sheikh Jarrah, East Jerusalem, Israeli authorities blocking access to the […]

Featured

For 1st time, Ultra High Resolution Photo released of Black Stone in Mecca, sacred relic of Islam

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Saudi commission for the two holy cities of Mecca and Medina revealed in a tweet on Tuesday that it was making new high resolution pictures of the Black Stone of the Kaaba shrine in Mecca available. The stone has for over 1,400 years had an important place in Muslim […]