Islam & Muslims: A Guide to Diverse Experience in a Modern World

Appreciate a rich and diverse culture. Understand real people in their everyday lives.

The need to understand Islam and Muslims has never been greater, both because of conflicts that dominate the news and because of the increasing presence of Muslims in Western societies. There are hundreds of books that introduce the Western reader to Islam, and dozens of books that explore various Muslim societies (usually Arab ones).

Islam & Muslims is the first to bring together both, explaining Islam in theory and in practice across the diverse Muslim world. Readers learn not just what Islam says about everything from the nature of God to marriage to prayer to politics, but also how individual Muslims (traditional or modern, devout or barely observant) apply teachings in everyday life.

Mark Sedgwick was born in London, and grew up in England, Spain, and France. His interest in history and the world beyond the West was first awakened by his grandfather, who celebrated his 21st birthday in Egypt during the 1919 Revolution, saw some of the Turkish War of Independence, and then moved on to Imperial India. Mark studied history at Oxford University, did a PhD on Sufism at the University of Bergen in Norway, and taught for 20 years at the American University in Cairo. He now teaches at Aarhus University in Denmark, where he is Coordinator of the Arab and Islamic Studies Unit.