Encyclopedia of Islam

Encyclopedia of  Islam

Protecting the Environment and Natural Resource 

in Islamic Law (published in Arabic, 2004). He 

has presented numerous scholarly papers on 

topics such as Islamic law and the modern state: 

conflict or coexistence? and a critical study of 

the translations of Hadith terminology.

Jessica Andruss earned an M.A. in religious stud-

ies at the University of California, Santa Bar-

bara, and is now a Ph.D. candidate at the 

University of Chicago’s Divinity School. Her 

area of specialization is in medieval Jewish and 

Muslim scriptural exegesis.

Jon Armajani earned a Ph.D. in religious studies 

with a focus in Islamic studies and Near East-

ern studies from the University of California, 

Santa Barbara. His areas of expertise include 

modern Islam and Muslim-Christian relations. 

He is the author of Dynamic Islam: Liberal 

Muslim Perspectives in a Transnational Age and 

assistant professor in the Department of The-

ology at the College of St. Benedict/St. John’s 

University in Minnesota.

Reza Aslan is assistant professor at the University 

of California, Riverside and author of No god, 

but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of 

Islam. He is also a research associate at the 

University of Southern California’s Center on 

Public Diplomacy. His commentaries on Islam 

and the Middle East have appeared in the Los 

Angeles Times, the New York Times, the Wash-

ington Post, and the Boston Globe. He has also 

appeared on a number of major network and 

cable news programs.

A. Nazir Atassi is assistant professor of history 

at Louisiana Tech University. He received a 

Ph.D. from the University of California, Santa 

Barbara. He specializes in Islamic and Middle 

Eastern history, with a focus on early Islamic 

society.

Anna Bigelow is assistant professor of religious 

studies at North Carolina State University. She 

received a Ph.D. from the University of Califor-

nia, Santa Barbara, in 2004. Her research focuses 

on South Asian Islam, especially interreligious 

relations and shared religious spaces. Her cur-

rent book project is called Sharing the Sacred: 

Devotion and Pluralism in Muslim North India.

Vincent F. Biondo III is assistant professor of reli-

gious studies at California State University in 

Fresno. He received a Ph.D. from the University 

of California, Santa Barbara. His specialization 

is the religious traditions of the West, with a 

focus on Islam in America and Great Britain. He 

is author of several articles and coeditor of Reli-

gion in the Practice of Daily Life (forthcoming).

Stephen Cory received a Ph.D. in Islamic history 

from the University of California, Santa Bar-

bara. His specialty is the history of North Africa 

and Islamic Spain during the late medieval and 

early modern periods. He is currently an assis-

tant professor in history and religious studies 

at Cleveland State University.

David L. Crawford is assistant professor of sociol-

ogy and anthropology at Fairfield University. He 

received a Ph.D. from the University of Califor-

nia, Santa Barbara. He specializes in the study of 

the societies of North Africa with a focus on the 

Amazigh people of Morocco. He is the author 

of  Amazigh Households in the World Economy: 

Labor and Inequality in a Moroccan Village and a 

number of articles and chapters on contempo-

rary Moroccan society and politics.

Maria del Mar Logrono-Narbona received a Ph.D. 

in history, with a focus on modern Middle 

Eastern history, from the University of Cali-

fornia, Santa Barbara. She specializes in the 

transnational connections between Syrian and 

Lebanese diasporas in Latin America during 

the first half of the 20th century. She is cur-

rently visiting professor at Appalachian State 

University, North Carolina.

Caleb Elfenbein is a Ph.D. candidate in religious 

studies at the University of California, Santa 

Barbara. He specializes in Islamic studies, with 

a focus on Islam in colonial and postcolonial 

societies.

Kenneth S. Habib is an assistant professor in the 

music department of the California Polytechnic 

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