ABSTRACT
Although some of the fear and hostility that followed the events of September 11, 2001 has subsided, there continues to be a great deal of public interest in the religion of Islam and the activities of Muslim communities. Universities throughout the West have taken advantage of this interest to establish institutes and programs in the study of Islam. But there has been surprisingly little reflection on the appropriate shape of such programs and the assumptions that ought to underlie such study. This book responds to this lack by reflecting on the current state of this discipline and the aims and methods that should lie beneath and shape any study of Islam in a university. The book therefore has a very particular focus: the teaching of Islam in Western universities for students of Islamic and non-Islamic backgrounds.
