Islam at the Birth of America Denise A. Spellberg's latest book says Islam had large impact on religious freedoms in America Denise A. Spellberg, author of Thomas Jefferson’s Qur’an: Islam and the Founders. (Asharq Al-Awsat) Washington, Asharq Al-Awsat —Denise A. Spellberg is an American scholar of Islamic history. She is an associate professor of history and Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Texas and holds a PhD from Columbia University. She is also the author of Politics, Gender, and the Islamic Past , which looks at the portrayal of Aisha in Islamic tradition. Spellberg is perhaps best known in the media for the controversy that surrounded the Sherry Jones novel, The Jewel of Medina . Spellberg sharply criticized the novel from a historical perspective, informing publisher Random House that the book might result in violence by radical Muslims. In her latest book, she looks at the impact that Islam, in particular a copy of the Qur’an owned by ...