The broad generalizations that people comfortably make about the Islamic Middle Ages due to the rise in modern Salafism irked me, but I personally did not know enough on the topic to accurately respond. So for this interview assignment, I chose to interview Professor Adam Talib, assistant professor in the Department of Arab and Islamic Civilizations here at AUC, who tweeted satirist Karl Sharro refuting a snarky comment about 7th century Arabia. With his extensive background and knowledge of classical Arab civilizations, and because he too felt compelled to say something, I concluded he would be the best person to ask. The interview aimed to explore why he thinks people feel comfortable making such baseless claims and to draw a more realistic picture of the Islamic Middle Ages.
Interview transcript is scrollable below and available via Google Docs here. It is also available for download via Dropbox here. Image of Professor Talib for Soundcloud player courtesy of AUC Faculty Bulletin. No copyright infringement intended.