to Jacob Van Sickle of Saint Louis University for invaluable editorial assistance in the completion of this book, and to Mary Ganser of Saint Louis University for editorial assistance in final proofreading. To David Oughton, I am grateful for generous permission to use several of his photographs, as so acknowledged in the captions. My thanks also to Roger Jänecke, publisher of VIP, for inviting me to do this book, and to Kevin Hile for his superb editorial management of the project. Thanks, also, to indexer Shoshana Hurwitz, Visible Ink Press proofers Larry Baker and Aarti Stephens, typesetter Marco Di Vita, and page and cover designer Mary Claire Krzewinski.
Portions of this work were previously published in 101 Questions and Answers on Islam by John Renard, published by Paulist Press, Mahwah, New Jersey. Copyright © 1998 by John Renard. Used with permission of Paulist Press, Inc. (www.paulistpress.com).
Portions of this work were previously published in In the Footsteps of Muhammad: Understanding the Islamic Experience by John Renard, published by Paulist Press, Mahwah New Jersey. Copyright © 1992 by John Renard. Used with permission of Paulist Press, Inc. (www.paulistpress.com).
AryanSogd: p. 341.
Bal’ami: p. 26.
Atilim Gunes Baydin: p. 47.
James Dale: p. 24.
David Edwards: p. 197.
Ed Ford: p. 103.
Foreign and Commonwealth Office, United Kingdom: p. 254.
James Gordon from Los Angeles, California, USA: p. 283.
Milpitas Graham: p. 83.
Tony Hisgett: p. 91.
Gunawan Kartapranata: p. 129.
John N. D. Kelly: p. 36.
Khalid78: p. 242.
Firdaus Latif: p. 55.
Munsha’at al Akhdar lil Alwan: p. 41.
Nmkuttiady: p. 273.
Pew Research Center: p. 68.
Toni Castillo Quero: p. 57.
John Renard: p. 363.
Sandstein: p. 49.
Seeroos123BigBoy: p. 228.
Selbymay: 94.
David Shankbone from USA: p. 332.
Andrew Shiva: 290.
Shutterstock: pp. 2, 4, 6, 13, 16, 20, 22, 43, 63, 69, 71, 73, 75, 76, 89, 93, 95, 99, 102, 109, 112, 113, 116, 127, 137, 148, 149, 153, 155, 157, 160, 164, 167, 168, 172, 173, 176, 177, 179, 182, 183, 186, 190, 198, 202, 203, 205, 208, 214, 216, 225, 226, 233, 235, 237, 258,
