M. Manazir Ahsan received his PhD in Middle Eastern History from the University of London in 1972. In 1973, Dr Ahsan joined the Islamic Foundation. In 1980 he founded the Muslim World Book Review, of which he is still Editor. He was Director-General of the Islamic Foundation from 1985 to 2010. In 2000, he was awarded an M.B.E.

in recognition of his interfaith, charitable, and educational work. In 2010, he assumed the role of Rector of the Markfield Institute of Higher Education, and he continues to serve on the board of numerous charities. Julia Bray is Laudian Professor of Arabic at the University of Oxford and Professorial Fellow at St John's College. She studied Arabic and Persian at Oxford, was an archivist at the India Office Library & Records, and has taught modern Arabic, medieval Arabic literature and Islamic history at the universities of Manchester, Edinburgh, St. Andrews, and Paris 8-Saint Denis.