Observing the Observer: The State of Islamic Studies in American Universities By Mumtaz Ahmad, Zahid Bukhari, and Sulayman Nyang, eds.(Herndon, VA: IIIT, 2012. 258 pages.)

This excellent study brings together a number of widely regarded Western scholars of Islam as contributors on the nature and history of Islamic studies in the American academy. This compilation is part of “The State of Islamic Studies in American Universities,” a research project undertaken by the International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT) and the Center for Islam and Public Policy(CIPP) between 2004 and 2007. Its findings were first made available in draft form on IIIT’s website in 2009 (http://iiit.org/iiitftp/ PDF%27s/Islamic-Stud-ies.pdf), where it remains as of writing this review. That draft appears to have been substantially complete, and one wonders why it took three years to remove a chapter and then add a more refined introduction, a short conclusion, and a bibliography. Still, its earlier online availability (free of charge) means that one cannot be too critical of its delayed publication.