Deals with the history of ideas and politics in the Middle East in the 19th and 20th centuries from a comparative perspective, especially in relation to Western and Jewish thought, and with an emphasis on Islamic politics, an increasingly relevant field of scholarship today. His published work has dealt with topics such as ‘ulama, Sufism, fatwas, martyrdom, Islamic protest movements, liberal discourse, modern Egypt, and Palestinian politics.

Among his publications: Islam and Salvation in Palestine: The Islamic Jihad Movement (2001); Identity Politics in the Middle East: Liberal Thought and Islamic Challenge in Egypt (2007); Ulama, Politics and the Public Sphere (2010); Martyrdom in Modern Islam: Piety, Power and Politics (2014); Arab Liberal Thought in the Modern Age (2020)

Landau Mifal Hapais Prise for the Art and Sciences in the field of Comparative Religion, 2023

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