Mustafa Shah studied for his BA in Arabic with Linguistics at SOAS. He later completed his PhD in Islamic Studies with a thesis entitled Religious Orthodoxy and the Development of Arabic Linguistic Thought in 1997. He was appointed a lecturer in Islamic Studies at SOAS in 2002, having previously taught in the Department of Religions and the Near and Middle East Department. He is the editor of Tafs=ir: Interpreting the Qur'an (Routledge, 2012) and The Haḍ=ith: Articulating the Beliefs and Constructs of Classical Islam (Routledge, 2009). Muhammad Abdel Haleem was born in Egypt, and learned the Qur'an by heart from childhood. Educated at al-Azhar, Cairo, and Cambridge Universities, he has taught Arabic and Islamic Studies at Cambridge and London Universities since 1966, including courses in advanced translation and the Qur'an. He is now Professor of Islamic Studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. His publications include Understanding the Qur'an: Themes and Style (I. B. Tauris, 2010) and Sharīʿa and the Concept of Benefit: The Use and Function of Maṣlaḥa in Islamic Jurisprudence (I. B. Tauris, 2015).
Review from previous edition This Oxford Handbook is a much more evenhanded production. Most topics and points of view get a hearing ... More generous than the Itqān, the Handbook makes space for Sufis, Ibadis, philosophers, and various Shi'i groups. * Bruce Fudge, Journal of the American Oriental Society * rich and ambitious * Paul Bishop, Religion * ... this book is a must in all mission agencies that work in the Muslim world as well as in all Christian colleges and other agencies that have a heart for Muslims. * Dr. David Cashin, Evangelical Missions Quarterly *