American History is not about Americans

Chris says read Giles Kepel’s new book, Beyond Terrorism and Martyrdom. I took his advice and am now using it in a course. While his review is not as useful as I would hope, I like Chris’ analysis and I really like Kepel’s thinking. If you have not, you should also read his book on Jihad. Chris also talks about The 99, a new comic book series about Muslims – Martijn has more. I have blogged about Muslims and comics before.and thinki it’s a great art form for Muslims to express themselves. Again it’s interesting that such an American medium…

Malise Ruthven reviews a few books, mostly by Tariq Ramadan, and new one on the origins of the Sunni-Shi’ah divide. Technorati Tags: Shi’ism

The Qur'an and Mysticism: A Review of Craig Thompson's "Habibi". It is this esoteric use of language to reveal hidden truths that has captured Craig Thompson's imagination in his long-awaited graphic novel, Habibi. An ambitious, surreal tale of the love between a young Arab girl sold into marriage and the orphan boy she adopts, Habibi spans multiple eras of conflict and change, stretching the lifetimes of its two protagonists over many centuries. The Qur'an is central to Thompson's narrative, though oddly enough the religion of Islam is not.  Instead of retreading the usual unpleasant arguments over Islamic law, Thompson ventures…