Omid Safi will discuss and sign copies of his new book, Memories of Muhammad: Why the Prophet Matters.  Presenting Muhammad as the lens through which to view both the genesis of Islam and the grand sweep of Islamic history, Safi helps us better understand many hot-button topics facing Muslims today—the purveyance of Holy Wars, the role of women, and the long-running tension with Jews, Buddhists and Christians alike.  Safi is an associate professor of Islamic studies at UNC-CH and the author of The Politics of Knowledge in Premodern Islam and the editor of Progressive Muslims.