Maria Massi Dakake is Associate Professor of Religious Studies at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. She currently serves asdirector of the MA program in Middle East and Islamic Studies and of the undergraduate Islamic Studies program at GMU. She holds an MA and PhD in Near Eastern Studies from Princeton University, and her research has been supported by grants from the National Endowment forthe Humanities and the John Templeton Foundation, among others. Her publications lie in the field of Islamic intellectual history, with a particular interest in Qur’anic studies, Shi‘i and Sufi traditions, and women’s religious experiences.