JAMES A. BECKFORD is Fellow of the British Academy and former Vice-President of the International Sociological Association, UK. He has written six books and has edited a further five volumes. His research has focused on religious minorities, 'cult' controversies, religion in prison and social theories relating to religion.

DANIÈLE JOLY is Professor and Director of the Centre for Research on Ethnic Relations, Warwick University, UK. She obtained a Licence ès Lettres, University of Nanterre, France, a Master's Degree in Industrial Relations, University of La Sorbonne, France, and a PhD from the University of Aston, UK. She has published on Muslim populations in Britain, ethnic relations and refugees in Europe.

FARHAD KHOSROKHAVAR is Professor in the Centre d'Analyse et d'Intervention Sociologiques at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Science Sociales, Paris, France. He teaches on Muslims in Europe and postrevolutionary Iranian society. His latest books are Suicide Bombers: The New Martyrs of Allah; L'Instance Du Sacré, and L'Islam Des Jeunes.