K xiv Encyclopedia of Islam
and gender studies. She is the author of Colo-
nial Encounters among English and Palestinian
Women, 1800–1948.
Jamel Velji is a Ph.D. student in religious studies
at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
He specializes in Islamic studies, with a focus
on Ismaili Shiism and the comparative study of
apocalyptic movements.
Michelle Zimney is a doctoral candidate in the
Department of Religious Studies at the Univer-
sity of California, Santa Barbara. Her research
focuses on the interaction of religion and poli-
tics in the Middle Eastern context, including
Algeria’s civil conflict in the 1990s. Her most
recent research is on the Sayyida Zaynab shrine
in Damascus.
Z. David Zuwiyya is associate professor of Spanish
at Auburn University in Alabama. He received
a Ph.D. in Spanish medieval literature from the
University of California, Santa Barbara. He is
the author of Islamic Legends concerning Alex-
ander the Great.