Tag Archives: Islam

Islamic State Sets its Sights on Libya as a Launchpad for Terrorism Against Europe

By Kyle Orton (@KyleWOrton) on 25 October 2025

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Islamic State Wants to Extend its War Against Christians in Africa to Europe

By Kyle Orton (@KyleWOrton) on 12 August 2025

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Roman Eastern Foederati and Arab Monotheism Before Islam

By Kyle Orton (@KyleWOrton) on 5 July 2025

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Assessing the Historicity of Abu Bakr, Islam’s First Caliph

By Kyle Orton (@KyleWOrton) on 1 July 2025

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Review: “The Sacred City” (2016)

By Kyle Orton (@KyleWOrton) on 26 June 2025

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Islamic State Has Alternative Suggestions for the Ten Days of Dhul Hijjah. It’s Jihad.

By Kyle Orton (@KyleWOrton) on 16 June 2025

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Was Islam’s Ka’ba Always in Mecca?

By Kyle Orton (@KyleWOrton) on 11 June 2025

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A Note on the Mu’tazilites and the Office of the Caliph

By Kyle Orton (@KyleWOrton) on 4 June 2025

Muslim belief is that the Qur’an is “uncreated” (ghayr makhluq). While the Qur’an was revealed to Muhammad over twenty-three years (610-32 AD), the “speech of God” (kalam Allah) in these revelations had existed co-eternally with God. This was once a point of serious dispute in Islamic theology, and the outcome of that debate was an important waymarker in the development of Islam.

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Gerald Hawting on the Mystery of the Ka’ba

By Kyle Orton (@KyleWOrton) on 1 June 2025

Below is a reproduction of an academic book chapter by G.R. Hawting, “The Origins of the Sanctuary at Mecca”, in G.H.A. Juynboll [ed.] (1982), Studies on the First Century of Islamic Society, pp. 23-47.

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Ahmad al-Shara Met Donald Trump, and the Islamic State is Not Pleased

By Kyle Orton (@KyleWOrton) on 30 May 2025

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