Islam, its Emergence and Development in a Judaic and Christian Context

The Interfaith Council of Westport and Weston continues its series of contemporary issues programs with a presentation by Westport resident and New York University professor of Islamic Studies, Sarah Tunney entitled: Islam, its Emergence and Development in a Judaic and Christian Context. 

Following the program we will gather for conversation and refreshments.   

This lecture considers the historical emergence of Islam, from the 7th century deserts of Arabia populated by Christians, Jews and pagans, and the prophet who led it, to its rapid expansion across the Middle East, North Africa and southern Europe in the following centuries.

Questions that the lecture poses include: What did this new religion have in common with the Jewish, Christian and pagan traditions of the time?  What of those traditions did it alter or eliminate? What were the immediate political implications of the beginnings of this new religion?

Sarah Tunney, PhD (ABD) earned her Bachelor of Arts in Arabic and Islamic Studies from Yale University, graduating cum laude in 1998. She continued on as a doctoral candidate at New York University, where her primary fields of study were Islamic law and theology, Arabic philosophy and science, as well as social history. She has traveled extensively in the Middle East and gained proficiency in eight languages, building the foundation of her expertise and knowledge from primary medieval Arabic sources.  

Interfaith Council programs are designed to promote a climate of understanding and respect for the many religious traditions in our world today.