Islam and the Idea of America: A Forgotten History

In this episode, we explore how Hayy ibn Yaqzan by the Andalusian philosopher Ibn Tufail traveled across Renaissance Europe, influencing religious reformers, political philosophers, utopian writers, and some of the most important intellectual movements in Western history. Long before writing Utopia, Thomas More encountered the story of Hayy ibn Yaqzan through the writings of Giovanni Pico della Mi...

How did an Arabic novel help shape the Enlightenment—and even influence the Founding Fathers? Discover the hidden journey of Hayy ibn Yaqzan and its impact on Locke, reason, and modern thought. In this episode of The Stories Untold, we uncover the remarkable journey of Ḥayy ibn Yaqẓān, a 12th-century work by Ibn Tufayl that traveled from Islamic Spain into the heart of European intellectual life....

How did European debates about Islam shape the intellectual world that eventually influenced the American Revolution? In this episode of Deep Dive series, historian John Tolan joins us for a deep conversation about his remarkable book, Faces of Muhammad: Western Perceptions of the Prophet of Islam from the Middle Ages to Today. Full playlist of Deep Dive series: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=P...

In this Deep Dive conversation, Dr. Zulfiqar Ali Shah explores how Islamic thought, texts, and intellectual traditions shaped the English Enlightenment—not at the margins, but at its very core. Drawing on his book Islam and the English Enlightenment: The Untold Story, Dr. Shah challenges the idea that the Enlightenment was a purely European or secular achievement. Instead, he reveals a forgotten w...

Isaac Newton was not the deist Enlightenment myth made him out to be. In this episode, we uncover Newton’s secret theology—his fascination with monotheism, ancient wisdom, alchemy, and the hidden networks that shaped modern science. When we think of Isaac Newton, we imagine gravity, motion, and the birth of modern science. But hidden behind his public achievements was a private world of forbidden...

In this Deep Dive conversation, Prof. Humberto Garcia (University of California, Merced) explains how Islam shaped the English Enlightenment—not as a side story, but as a missing link in debates about toleration, republicanism, secular governance, and liberty. We discuss Garcia’s groundbreaking book Islam and the English Enlightenment (2012) and trace the underground world of manuscript culture wh...

Unlock a hidden chapter of history. 👀 This episode uncovers how radical English thinkers — once mocked as “Protestant Mahometans” — drew inspiration from the Ottoman Empire and Islamic ideas of tolerance, justice, and liberty. 👇 Join the conversation Free subscribers to the Islam and the Idea of America community on Substack will receive enriching bonus content, behind-the-scenes insights, and v...

What if the man who helped shape America’s idea of liberty was once condemned as “too dangerous to live”? In this episode, we travel through 17th-century England and colonial America, uncovering how the ideas once mocked as “Mahometan” became the moral backbone of the modern West. To play it with video content, full Youtube playlist of The Stories Untold series: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=P...

Welcome to the launch of Islam and the Idea of America! In this first episode, we explore why this journey matters — why Islam’s intellectual legacy is central, not peripheral, to the story of Western and American ideas. From the Enlightenment to early colonial America, we uncover how Islamic thought helped shape the ideals of liberty, reason, and universal human dignity. Teaching at American Univ...