New Books Network
Islamic Studies
African Studies September 22, 2021

Pentecostal Republic

Religion and the Struggle for State Power in Nigeria

Ebenezer Obadare

Hosted by Sara Katz
Throughout its history, Nigeria has been plagued by religious divisions. Tensions have only intensified since the restoration of democracy in 1999, with the divide between Christian south and Muslim north …

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Politics & Polemics September 22, 2021

Western Jihadism

A Thirty Year History

Jytte Klausen

Hosted by Kirk Meighoo
Western Jihadism: A Thirty Year History (Oxford University Press, 2021) tells the story of how Al Qaeda grew in the West.In forensic and compelling detail, Jytte Klausen traces how Islamist revolutionaries …
Nordic Asia Podcast September 17, 2021

Salafism and the State

Islamic Activism and National Identity in Contemporary Indonesia

Chris Chaplin

Hosted by Petra Desatova
How important is Islam to Indonesia’s identity? How different is Salafism from a more mainstream Sunni Islam? Why is it popular with mostly young Indonesian Muslims? And what effect does …
Islamic Studies September 17, 2021

Muslims in the Movies

A Global Anthology

Kristian Petersen

Hosted by Shobhana Xavier
Kristian Petersen’s new edited volume Muslims in the Movies: A Global Anthology (Ilex Foundation and Harvard University Press, 2021), introduces the subject of Muslims and film. The volume contains nineteen …
Islamic Studies September 10, 2021

The Christian Encounter with Muhammad

How Theologians Have Interpreted the Prophet

Charles Tieszen

Hosted by Kristian Petersen
Muhammad has not only been at the center of Muslims discussions of prophethood but he has also been the focus for many Christians as well. In The Christian Encounter with …
Ideas Roadshow Podcast August 31, 2021

Religious Entrepreneurs?

Nile Green

Hosted by Howard Burton
Religious Entrepreneurs? is based on an in-depth filmed conversation between Howard Burton and Nile Green who holds the Ibn Khaldn Endowed Chair in World History at UCLA. Nile Green is …
National Security August 27, 2021

Your Sons Are at Your Service

Tunisia's Missionaries of Jihad

Aaron Y. Zelin

Hosted by Beth Windisch
Tunisia became one of the largest sources of foreign fighters for the Islamic State—even though the country stands out as a democratic bright spot of the Arab uprisings and despite …
Islamic Studies August 20, 2021

Women as Imams

Classical Islamic Sources and Modern Debates on Leading Prayer

Simonetta Calderini

Hosted by Shehnaz Haqqani
What does Islam say about women’s leadership of prayer? What sources have Muslim scholars used historically to answer this question, and what do those sources say exactly? What are the …
Indian Religions August 16, 2021

Religious Studies Today

A Conversation with Amir Hussain

Amir Hussain

Hosted by Raj Balkaran
Listen in as Raj Balkaran speaks with Amir Hussain (Chair, Theological Studies at Loyola Marymount University) about his scholarship on Muslims in America, his work as the Editor of the …
Islamic Studies August 13, 2021

Imagining Afghanistan

The History and Politics of Imperial Knowledge

Nivi Manchanda

Hosted by Kristian Petersen
Over time and across different genres, Afghanistan has been presented to the world as potential ally, dangerous enemy, gendered space, and mysterious locale. These powerful, if competing, visions seek to …
Middle Eastern Studies August 12, 2021

A Sultan in Autumn

Erdogan Faces Turkey's Uncontainable Forces

Soner Çaǧaptay

Hosted by Luke Frostick
A Sultan in Autumn: Erdogan Faces Turkey's Uncontainable Forces (I. B. Tauris, 2021) is a primer for anybody who wants to understand modern Turkish politics and its central player Recep …
Middle Eastern Studies August 11, 2021

Lebanon

The Rise and Fall of a Secular State under Siege

Mark Farha

Hosted by Christopher Rose
Why has secularism faced such challenges in the Middle East and in Lebanon in particular? In light of dominating headlines about the spread of sectarianism and the so-called death of …
Islamic Studies August 6, 2021

'Uthman ibn 'Affan

Heather N. Keaney

Hosted by Shehnaz Haqqani
Who is ‘Uthman ibn Affan, and why does he matter? Why was his election as the third successor to the Prophet Muhammad so controversial? In fact, why is he a controversial …
Middle Eastern Studies August 4, 2021

Muslim Sources of the Crusader Period

An Anthology

James E. Lindsay and Suleiman Mourad

Hosted by Aaron Hagler
In the West, the study of the phenomenon known as the Crusades has long been dominated by European concerns: European periodization, European selection of important moments and personages, and, most …
Central Asian Studies August 2, 2021

The Vanishing Generation

Revolution, Religion, and Disappearance in Modern Uzbekistan

Bagila Bukharbayeva

Hosted by Nicholas Seay
Weaving together personal story and broad analysis, Bagila Burkhabayeva’s The Vanishing Generation: Revolution, Religion, and Disappearance in Modern Uzbekistan (Indiana UP, 2019) deals with the question of Islam and its …
Southeast Asian Studies August 2, 2021

Uneasy Military Encounters

The Imperial Politics of Counterinsurgency in Southern Thailand

Ruth Streicher

Hosted by Patrick Jory
Since 2004 the Malay-Muslim majority provinces in the border region of southern Thailand have been wracked by a violent insurgency. Over 7000 people have been killed and many thousands more …
Indian Ocean World July 30, 2021

What Is Religious Authority?

Cultivating Islamic Communities in Indonesia

Ismail Fajrie Alatas

Hosted by Kelvin Ng
What Is Religious Authority?: Cultivating Islamic Communities in Indonesia (Princeton UP, 2021) by Ismail Fajrie Alatas draws on groundbreaking anthropological insights to provide a new understanding of Islamic religious authority, showing …
Islamic Studies July 30, 2021

The Emperor Who Never Was

Dara Shukoh in Mughal India

Supriya Gandhi

Hosted by SherAli Tareen
In her magnificent and lyrical new book, The Emperor Who Never Was: Dara Shukoh in Mughal India (Harvard UP, 2020), Supriya Gandhi reorients and adds unprecedented depth to our understanding of …
Australian and New Zealand Studies July 29, 2021

Creating God

The Birth and Growth of Major Religions

Robin Derricourt

Hosted by Bede Haines
What do we really know about how and where religions began, and how they spread?  Robin Derricourt considers the birth and growth of several major religions, using history and archaeology …
Middle Eastern Studies July 28, 2021

Arab Conquests and Early Islamic Historiography

The Futuh Al-Buldan of Al-Baladhuri

Ryan J. Lynch

Hosted by Christopher Rose
Of the available sources for Islamic history published before the 9th century of the Christian Era, few are of greater importance than Kitab Futuh al-Buldan (The Book of the Conquest …