Khadija was the first believer, to whom the Prophet Muhammad often turned for advice. At a time when strongmen quickly seized power from any female Muslim ruler, Arwa of Yemen reigned alone for five decades. In nineteenth-century Russia, Mukhlisa Bubi championed the rights of women and girls, and became the first Muslim woman judge in modern history. After the Gestapo took down a Resistance network in Paris, British spy Noor Inayat Khan found herself the only undercover radio operator left in that city. In this unique history, Hossein Kamaly celebrates the lives and achievements of twenty-one extraordinary women in the story of Islam, from the formative days of the religion to the present.

In God and Man in Tehran, Hossein Kamaly explores the historical processes that have made and unmade contending visions of God in Iran's capital throughout the past two hundred years. Kamaly examines how ideas of God have been mobilized, contested, and transformed, emphasizing how notions of the divine have given shape to and in turn have been shaped by divergent conceptualizations of nature, reason, law, morality, and authority. God and Man in Tehran analyzes official government policies, modern textbooks, and university curricula; popular beliefs and ritual practices; and philosophical and juridical attitudes toward theological questions in traditional institutions. Kamaly considers continuity and change in religiosity under the Qajar and Pahlavi dynasties; the significance of outbreaks of messianic expectations; why a modernizing nation took a sudden turn toward state religiosity; and how the Islamic Republic deploys visions of God against foreign enemies and domestic critics. Beyond the majority Shia Muslim population, the book includes minority and suppressed voices, discussing the views of Sunni Muslims, Armenian and Assyrian Christians, Jews, Baha'is, and Zoroastrians and investigating issues of gender and class. With a focus on the diversity of ideas of the divine, God and Man in Tehran offers a novel perspective on the intellectual movements that have shaped Iranian modernity.

Khadija was the first believer, to whom the Prophet Muhammad often turned for advice. At a time when strongmen quickly seized power from any female Muslim ruler, Arwa of Yemen reigned alone for five decades. In nineteenth-century Russia, Mukhlisa Bubi championed the rights of women and girls, and became the first Muslim woman judge in modern history. After the Gestapo took down a Resistance network in Paris, British spy Noor Inayat Khan found herself the only undercover radio operator left in that city. In this unique history, Hossein Kamaly celebrates the lives and achievements of twenty-one extraordinary women in the story of Islam, from the formative days of the religion to the present.

Encounters in West Africa is perhaps unique in its kind, informative, critical and at the same time entertaining. It gives an overview of West African history, the Transatlantic Slave Trade and the Amistad Revolt. It refers to major events since the European colonialism; aspects of cultural heritage and traditional beliefs in sorcery and witchcraft, secret societies, initiation and wedding ceremonies and the status of African women.
The author explains how slavery fueled the engine of western economies through draining African wealth and human resources and addresses the critical question "Why Africa endowed with rich resources remains the world's poorest region in the twenty-first century " In response, while recognizing the internal political conditions and social instability as the major constraints, he blames the West and the United States in particular for ignoring Africa despite giving much attention to some other territories. He then draws attention to the pressing issues facing Africa and the challenging role of the international community and Western media for a change of policy. The author believes that education should be given first priority in any donors' assistance package to Africa which should include health care education and sharing knowledge and technology transfer with effective community involvement.
The author's aim is to enrich the awareness of the reader about the potential resources, rich heritage and traditional values of Africa with the hope to promote international partnership with the continent.
The last parts of the book cover the author's interesting memoirs, some advice to visitors before travelling to the region and references toinstitutions and NGOs affiliated with West Africa.