In al-Ghazālī’s “Wonders of the Heart”—an important part of the famous Muslim thinker’s multi-volume magnum opus, The Resuscitation of the Religious Sciences—we read a litany of metaphorical descriptions of the heart. The heart, for Ghazālī, is a powerful locus of cognition, affect, and control. It is a "king" and its “armies” are the external sense-organs and limbs, as well as internal psychic complexes and appetites. The king-heart has to command these armies in order to make a safe “journey to God.” Why does Ghazālī rely so heavily on metaphor in his description of the heart? What does he make of these illustrative examples, and what do we?

Paper marbling, or ebru in modern Turkish, has been introduced to North America by master artisans and the likes of Martha Stewart, primarily through the “European” traditions of marbling associated with fine bookbinding and other crafts. In contrast, Turkish styles of marbling are little known outside of Turkey, where it has recently become a very popular genre of art...

Sixteen years after the 9/11 attacks, anti-Muslim sentiment in the United States shows no signs of waning. While the Trump administration maintains hardline approaches in dealing with national security issues, Muslims continue to be imagined as a group of medieval fanatics and high-risk individuals. Children, too, are affected by such political discourse; as a 2017 study showed, 42% of American Muslim school children reported being subjected to bullying by their peers, and even by their teachers. It is in this context of insecurity and xenophobia that the Children’s Museum of Manhattan designed its exhibition, “From America to Zanzibar: Muslim Cultures Near and Far”...