Scholars of Islam have largely overlooked those discourses within the larger field of Religious Studies that do not take the category religionA" as a given but contend that its study ought to occur within larger social, cultural and ideological structures. Instead, the academic study of Islam has migrated toward the more regnant ecumenical and phenomenological discourses that still largely define the field of Religious Studies, a field that is still interested in adjudicating truth, authenticity, experience and meaning. The result is that the academic study of Islam has become more, not less, insular and apologetic. It is within this context that scholars of Islam have presented themselves to their colleagues, to the media and to the public as the de facto interpreters of Islam. They have largely invoked their authority to elevate their particular and idiosyncratic interpretation of Islam (e.g., liberal and egalitarian) over others and, in the process, deemed their version as somehow more authentic and normative. On one level, given the anger and hostility directed toward Islam and Muslims post-9/11 this is certainly understandable. In this respect, many Islamicists have tried to correct the blatant and often hostile misrepresentations that frequently circulate in the media and public opinion. However, on another level, problems inevitably arise when, to correct such misrepresentations, the only Islam that is presented as normative is the one that they have largely constructed in their own image. This volume seeks to redress such oversights and apologetics. It examines how scholars of Islam working in departments of Religious Studies manufacture such a normative Islam, the rhetorical moves they make, and the often hidden ideological assumptions behind such moves. Yet, rather than just point these shortcomings out, another important feature of these essays is that they are constructive, providing new approaches to the material in question. The end result is a controversial volume that functions as a catalyst for the theoretical and methodological repositioning of the academic study of Islam carried out in departments of Religious Studies.

Dr Michael H Silber attended medical school at the University of Cape Town. He trained in Internal Medicine and Neurology at Groote Schuur Hospital, Cape Town and complete a fellowship in Neurology at the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA. He is a Fellow of the College of Physicians af South Africa, and is board certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, the American Board of Sleep Medicine and the american Board of Electrodiagnostic Medicine.

He is currently Associate Professor of Neurology at Mayo Medical school and Co-Director of the Mayo Sleep Disorders Center in Rochester, USA. He is an elected Member of the American Neurologic Association and is a Fellow of the American Academy of Neurology and of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. He is past President of the American Board of Sleep Medicine and is a member of the Boards of directors of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, the American Sleep Medicine Foundation and the Associated Professional Sleep Societies. His research interests include REM sleep behavior disorder and other parasomnias, narcolepsy and restless legs syndrome.

Dr Lois Krahn graduated from Mayo Medical School in Rochester, MN, USA. She completed her psychiatry residency and fellowship at Georgetown University School of Medicine and the Mayo Clinic. She is board certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology and the American Board of Sleep Medicine.

She is currently Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Mayo Medical School and Chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Psychology at Mayo Clinic Arizona. She is an elected member of the American College of Psychiatry, a fellow of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and a member of the American Psychiatric Association. Her research interests are the relationship of sleep issues with psychiatric disorders, narcolepsy and psychosomatic psychiatry.

Dr Timothy I Morgenthaler is a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Dartmouth Medical School. He completed a sugical internship at Naval Hospital San Diego and served in the United States Navy as an Undersea Medical Officer beofre training in Internal, Pulmonary, and Critical Care Medicine, andthe American Board of Sleep Medicine.

Currently he is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Mayo Medical School and a Consultant in the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at the Mayo Clinic. He is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians, the American College of Chest Physicians, and the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. His research interests include sleep disorders in acutely ill and hospitalized patients, and clinical practice analysis.