With this concise book, the author offers an introduction to Middle Eastern Islam from an anthropological perspective. Approaching the Islamic tradition through the eyes of Muslims themselves and emphasizing the dynamics of history and the respective social and political context, he deconstructs the cherished stereotypes that many hold regarding Islam and its relations with the West, highlighting the diversity of beliefs and practices that the Islamic discourse encompasses.

From this viewpoint, the Islamic tradition is analyzed both as a unified theological creed of global significance and as a collection of discourses and practices that are constructed within each historical context as experienced at a local level. Utilizing extensive historical material and analyzing numerous ethnographic examples from the Middle East and North Africa, the author explores key concepts of the Islamic tradition, such as the doctrinal foundations of Islam, the role of theologians-law-teachers as well as Muslim saints and mystics, the meaning of practices like prayer, fasting during Ramadan, and pilgrimage to Mecca, as well as the significance of political processes in the context of Islamic modernization and Islamism during a time of increasing crisis.

With this new and revised edition of his study, which includes an initial assessment of the so-called 'Arab Spring', the author essentially introduces politics and current affairs as fundamental elements for understanding contemporary Islamic discourse, in a region of the world that is plagued by internal conflicts and by its entanglement with the broader geopolitical agendas of a neo-colonized world.