Patricia Crone

Patricia Crone was professor of Islamic history at the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton until her death in July 2015

No pressure, then: religious freedom in Islam

The Quranic statement: “There is no compulsion in religion” – erupted into controversy again in 2006 when the Pope selected the most illiberal view of the text available. But when the thirty-eight Muslim scholars responded that he was wrong, they were necessarily misrepresenting history. To unders

By Patricia Crone

/ 7 Nov 2009

What do we actually know about Mohammed?

It is notoriously difficult to know anything for sure about the founder of a world religion. Just as one shrine after the other obliterates the contours of the localities in

By Patricia Crone

/ 10 Jun 2008

'Jihad': idea and history

* What is jihad? * Was Islam spread by force? ****** What is jihad? Jihad is a subject that non-Muslims find difficult to understand. In fact, there is nothing particularly outlandish about it.

By Patricia Crone

/ 30 Apr 2007