It was a combination of several factors. Besides a pure curiosity about a phenomenon difficult to grasp from the outside, as it were, I have an interest in the evolution and broader impact of Salafi Islam.
Ondrej Beranek and Pavel Tupek
Ondrej Beranek is the Director of the Oriental Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences. He received both his MA and Ph.D. degrees in Arabic and Islamic studies from Charles University in Prague, the Czech Republic. As part of his education, he studied Arabic in Tunisia and Arabic and Islamic Culture at the King Saud University in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. He has also held academic fellowships at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies, Harvard University, and the Crown Center for Middle East Studies, Brandeis University.
Pavel Tupek is Assistant Professor in the Department of Near Eastern Studies, Charles University, Prague, lecturing in classical and modern Islam. He was awarded his MA and Ph.D. degrees in Arabic and Islamic Studies from Charles University in Prague, the Czech Republic. He also studied Arabic in Tunisia and Arabic and Islamic Culture at the King Saud University in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. His main research interest focuses on the teachings of the medieval Muslim scholar Ibn Taymiyya and his influence on later Salafi thought. Another concern pertains to the religious and social history of Saudi Arabia.