This is the editor’s introduction to Volume 3 of Mizan: Journal for the Study of Muslim Societies and Civilizations, “New Perspectives on Late Antique Iran and Iraq.”

In this paper, we draw attention to the ways in which theology operates within, and indeed proceeds from, generative social contexts. Beyond a concern for correct interpretation of scripture, categories of religious permissibility and impermissibility are socially constituted—they define boundaries of inclusion or exclusion that establish s…[Read more]

This is a response to Thomas Barfield, “The Islamic State as an Empire of Nostalgia.”

Primary empires were the product of internal development and self-sustaining through the exploitation of their own resources, but there were also historically a large number of “shadow empires.” These were imperial polities that were the products of secondary empire formation, which came into existence as a response to the formation of primary emp…[Read more]

This paper is an attempt to analyze one facet of ISIS’ discourse in order to understand why the movement chooses the arguments it does and how it uses them to achieve particular goals. One of the most commonly occurring tropes in ISIS propaganda is its critique of its opponents as “Murji’ites.” The Murji’ites were a school of Islamic thought t…[Read more]

This is a response to Michael Pregill, “ISIS, Eschatology, and Exegesis: The Propaganda of Dabiq and the Sectarian Rhetoric of Militant Shi’ism.”

The rise and successes of ISIS may at first glance appear unprecedented, and its extreme ideology as an aberrant distortion of traditional Islam. However, I will argue that some aspects of the ISIS phenomenon actually appear familiar when we consider them in deeper historical perspective, especially in the context of the kinds of arguments and…[Read more]

This is a response to Kecia Ali, “Redeeming Slavery: The ‘Islamic State’ and the Quest for Islamic Morality”

Engaging texts produced by the so-called Islamic State and some of its Muslim opponents, particularly as they treat the enslavement and sexual use/abuse of female captives, this essay argues for a nuanced account of how actors invoke and claim tradition. The Islamic State’s capture, sale, and rape of Yazidi women and girls have garnered media a…[Read more]

This is the editor’s introduction to Volume 1 of Mizan: Journal for the Study of Muslim Societies and Civilizations, “The Islamic State in Historical and Comparative Perspective.”