It may be tempting to skip over fanciful or implausible stories that seem to be ubiquitous in many medieval texts. But this narrative material can often give us unique insight into critical moments in history...

Abu’l-Fazl, the author of the History of Akbar, is known to anyone with an interest in Mughal India. Along with his brother Faizi, Abu’l-Fazl made a lifelong career for himself in imperial Mughal service, while their father Shaykh Mubarak ran a madrasa in Agra. They represented a relatively small but growing number of Indian Muslims who had gained mastery in Persian to prepare them for various posts in this fast-growing empire of early modern India…

In cooperation with Università degli Studi di Napoli L’Orientale and ILEX Foundation, we are proud to present the two-day conference Islamic Stories of the Prophets: Semantics, Discourse, and Genre at Università degli Studi di Napoli L’Orientale October 14 and 15, 2015.