DAVID J. JONSSON received his undergraduate and graduate degrees in physics. This education launched a career with major corporations in the United States and Japan and with multilateral agencies that brought him to more than fifteen countries with significant or majority populations who are Muslim. Jonsson participated in projects around the world, from the scorching sands of Saudi Arabia to the private homes of Saudi princes and technocrats to the deepest jungles of Nigeria and the mountains of Western China. These exposures provided insight into the basic tenets of Islam as a political, economic, and religious system. He became proficient in Islamic law (Sharia) through contract negotiation and personal encounter. Jonsson, an elder in a Protestant church, offers a Christian perspective to today's events. He has published more than forty papers in technical and legal journals, including the American Bar Journal and the Hastings Law School Journal. He has also served as chairman of international business conferences in Europe and China.