Mehdi Berriah is researcher in Islamic Studies and Islamic History at the French Institute in the Near East (Ifpo) since September 2023. Previously, he was Assistant Professor for many years at the Vrije Universiteit of Amsterdam at the Faculty of Religion and Theology. His research and publications focus on military history and furÅ«siyya, the political, social and intellectual history of the medieval Islamic Near East. His work also deals with medieval and contemporary Muslim thought and theology, Ibn Taymiyya, jihÄd ideology and Islamic law of war.