A Syrian Islamist Reads Arabic Literature for the First Time

A Syrian Islamist Reads Arabic Literature for the First Time

by | Nov 15, 2020

By Sam Sweeney On January 31, 2020 the French government arrested a Syrian known as Islam Alloush, real name Majdi Nema, which caused a bit of a stir among those who had paid close attention to Syria over the last decade. Alloush was previously the spokesman for Jaysh...
For Faith, not Power

For Faith, not Power

by | Jun 28, 2020

Making the Arab World: Nasser, Qutb, and the Clash that Shaped the Middle East by Fawaz A. Gerges. Princeton University Press, 2019. Paperback, 528 pages, $19.95 Reviewed by Fitzroy Morrissey One would be hard pressed to find two more iconic figures in the history of...
From Caliphate to Nation States

From Caliphate to Nation States

by | Jun 7, 2020

Sunnis and Shi’a: A Political History by Laurence Louër. Princeton University Press, 2020. Hardcover, 240 pages, $29.95. Reviewed by Garrett Robinson With the death of Hussein ibn Ali, grandson of Muhammad and the third imam, at the Battle of Karbala in 680, the unity...
Saint Louis and the Convert Immigrants

Saint Louis and the Convert Immigrants

by | Dec 22, 2019

The Apple of His Eye: Converts from Islam in the Reign of Louis IX by William Chester Jordan. Princeton University Press, 2019. Hardcover, 200 pages, $35. Reviewed by James Baresel My suspicions are that barely a minority of well-read conservatives with an avid but...
Sufism as Civil Religion?

Sufism as Civil Religion?

by | Mar 31, 2019

Caliphate Redefined: The Mystical Turn in Ottoman Political Thought by Hüseyin Yilmaz. Princeton University Press, 2018. Hardcover, 384 pages, $40. Reviewed by Fitzroy Morrissey In his very useful pocket-guide The Caliphate: A Pelican Introduction (2016), the...