Whether we like it or not, Islam has become an indelible part of the culture and consciousness of 9/11. Ironically, the questions I regularly encounter have not actually changed much over the last ten years: Who was Muhammad, was he violent? What is Jihad? Why the scarves?
Abbas Barzegar
Abbas Barzegar is a fellow at the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding. He is also an Assistant Professor of Islam at Georgia State University. His scholarly research concerns the history of the Sunni-Shi’a conflict. With Richard Martin he is co-editor of the volume, Islamism: Contested Perspective of Political Islam (Stanford Univ. Press, 2009). His views have been distributed through Common Ground News and the Guardian’s Comment is Free. He received his Ph.D. in religious studies from Emory University.
