My interests lie in the history of Muslim-Christian relations, and in particular in Muslim perceptions of Christianity and the Bible. This history sheds great light on current dialogue and interactions, as well as being fascinating in its own right. I am very interested in the interpretation of texts, a connecting thread running through my studies in English literature, and Christian and Muslim theology. My current book project aims to tell the story of Muslim engagement with the Bible from the rise of Islam until now. I am also Director of the Centre for Muslim-Christian Studies, Oxford.
I hold degrees in English from Queen’s College, Cambridge (BA, 1987), Theology from London Bible College/CNAA (BA, 1992), Biblical Interpretation from London Bible College/Brunel University (MA, 1993), and Islamic Studies from Edinburgh University (PhD, 2002). Outside of work, I love spending time with my family, walking in the country, watching sport and meeting people.
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Selected Publications
Books
- A History of Muslim Views of the Bible: the First Four Centuries (Berlin: De Gruyter, November 2020)
- Al-Ghazālī and the Qur’ān: One Book, Many Meanings (London: Routledge, 2007)
Articles and Research Papers
- 'Muslims and the Bible’, in The Routledge Handbook of Christian-Muslim Relations (Abingdon and New York: Routledge, 2017), pp. 269-78
- ‘Al-Ghazali on Syllogistic Logic as a Source of Certainty About the Qur’an’, in 900 Jahre al-Ġazali im Spiegel der islamischen Wissenschaften (Osnabrück: V&R Academic, 2015) pp. 127-38
- ‘Ibn Khaldūn’, in D. Thomas and A. Mallett, eds, Christian-Muslim Relations: a Bibliographical History, 5 (1350-1500) (Leiden: Brill, 2013), pp. 300-8
- ‘Ezra as the Corrupter of the Torah? Re-assessing Ibn Ḥazm’s role in the long history of an idea’, Intellectual History of the Islamicate World 1 (2013), pp. 253-71
- ‘Christian-Muslim Relations in Britain in Historical Context’, in S. Bell and C. Chapman, eds, Between Naivety and Hostility: Uncovering the Best Christian Responses to Islam in Britain (Milton Keynes: Authentic, 2011), pp. 64-77
- ‘The Value of Taḥrīf Ma‘nawī (Corrupt Interpretation) as a Category for Analysing Muslim Views of the Bible: Evidence from al-Radd al-jamīl and Ibn Khaldūn’, Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations 22.2 (2011), pp. 209-22
- ‘How Could So Many Christians be Wrong? The Role of Tawātur (Recurrent Transmission of Reports) in Understanding Muslim Views of the Crucifixion’, Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations 19.2 (2008), pp. 167-78
- ‘Al-Ghazālī on Jews and Christians’, in B. Roggema, M. Poorthuis and P. Valkenberg, eds, The Three Rings: Textual studies in the Historical Trialogue of Judaism, Christianity and Islam (Leuven: Peeters, 2005), pp. 203-16