Tag Archives: Islam

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.

Continue reading

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.

Continue reading

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

By Kyle Orton (@KyleWOrton) on 30 May 2025

Continue reading

The Alawi Massacres in Syria: A Blip or a Rubicon?

By Kyle Orton (@KyleWOrton) on 17 March 2025

Continue reading

Visiting Post-Revolutionary Syria

By Kyle Orton (@KyleWOrton) on 12 March 2025

Continue reading

Rome’s Worst Emperor? Assessing the Sources About Elagabalus

By Kyle Orton (@KyleWOrton) on 7 February 2025

Continue reading

California’s Wildfires and Sudan’s Civil War: Latest Islamic State Editorials

By Kyle Orton (@KyleWOrton) on 27 January 2025

Continue reading

New Orleans and the Islamic State’s Policy on Lone-Actor Terrorism

By Kyle Orton (@KyleWOrton) on 12 January 2025

Continue reading

Islamic State Profiles its “Hidden Figures”

By Kyle Orton (@KyleWOrton) on 11 January 2025

Continue reading

Assessing the Early-Codification Theory of the Qur’an

By Kyle Orton (@KyleWOrton) on 19 November 2024

Continue reading