Sarah Bowen Savant is a historian of religion and an Associate Professor at the Aga Khan University, Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations in London. Her publications include Genealogy and Knowledge in Muslim Societies: Understanding the Past (2013), co-edited with Helena de Felipe, as well as book chapters and journal articles treating early Islamic history and historiography.

'The New Muslims of Post-Conquest Iran will prove fascinating to anyone interested in identity narratives and how authors shape the past in the service of the present. Savant builds a bridge between the history of Persia and the memory of Persia, and atop this bridge we can clearly witness the inherent tension in any identity between the old and the new.' Elizabeth Urban, Marginalia

• 1. Prior connections to Islam; 2. Muhammad's Persian companion, Salman al-Farisi; 3. Finding meaning in the past; 4. Reforming Iranians' memories of pre-Islamic times; 5. The unhappy prophet; 6. Asserting the end of the past.

Sarah Bowen Savant is a historian of religion and an Associate Professor at the Aga Khan University, Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations in London. Her publications include Genealogy and Knowledge in Muslim Societies: Understanding the Past (2013), co-edited with Helena de Felipe, as well as book chapters and journal articles treating early Islamic history and historiography.

'The New Muslims of Post-Conquest Iran will prove fascinating to anyone interested in identity narratives and how authors shape the past in the service of the present. Savant builds a bridge between the history of Persia and the memory of Persia, and atop this bridge we can clearly witness the inherent tension in any identity between the old and the new.' Elizabeth Urban, Marginalia

• 1. Prior connections to Islam; 2. Muhammad's Persian companion, Salman al-Farisi; 3. Finding meaning in the past; 4. Reforming Iranians' memories of pre-Islamic times; 5. The unhappy prophet; 6. Asserting the end of the past.

Sarah Bowen Savant is a historian of religion and an Associate Professor at the Aga Khan University, Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations in London. Her publications include Genealogy and Knowledge in Muslim Societies: Understanding the Past (2013), co-edited with Helena de Felipe, as well as book chapters and journal articles treating early Islamic history and historiography.

'The New Muslims of Post-Conquest Iran will prove fascinating to anyone interested in identity narratives and how authors shape the past in the service of the present. Savant builds a bridge between the history of Persia and the memory of Persia, and atop this bridge we can clearly witness the inherent tension in any identity between the old and the new.' Elizabeth Urban, Marginalia

• 1. Prior connections to Islam; 2. Muhammad's Persian companion, Salman al-Farisi; 3. Finding meaning in the past; 4. Reforming Iranians' memories of pre-Islamic times; 5. The unhappy prophet; 6. Asserting the end of the past.