MUSTAFA AKYOL is a senior fellow on Islam and modernity at the Cato Institute, and a senior lecturer at Boston College. For eight years, he was a contributing opinion writer for The New York Times, covering Islam and contemporary affairs. His earlier books, Reopening Muslim Minds (2021), The Islamic Jesus (2017), and Islam without Extremes (2011) have been reviewed and praised by The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, and the Economist. Islam without Extremes was long-listed for the 2012 Lionel Gelber Prize literary prize, while being banned in Malaysia for challenging the "religion police."