The publication of this book honours Professor Carole Hillenbrand's outstanding achievements in and service to Islamic and Middle Eastern Scholarship. The first non-Muslim scholar to be awarded the prestigious King Faisal International Prize for Islamic Studies (2005), Professor Hillenbrand was awarded an OBE in 2009 for services to Higher Education. It gathers original research from a range of leading international scholars from the UK, Europe and the USA whose chapters throw new light on a set of topics in medieval Islamic history, Islamic doctrine and practice, and the interaction between Islam and the modern world. Seeking to present fresh evidence and engaging ways of looking at old and new material, the authors contribute to a richer understanding of the interaction between historical events, social trends, religious practices and lived experiences in medieval Turkey and Central Asia, Iran and the Arabic-speaking lands. The book also discusses how some of the most abiding themes in the Arab-Islamic tradition continue to resonate in the modern world.