Timur Kuran is professor of economics and political science and Gorter Family Professor of Islamic Studies at Duke University in Durham, N.C. He has researched economic issues involving Islam, and his books include Islam and Mammon: The Economic Predicaments of Islamism (Princeton University Press, 2004).

Mahmoud El-Gamal is a professor of economics and statistics at Rice University in Houston and holds the endowed chair in Islamic economics, finance and management. He has published about Islamic transaction law and finance.

Metin Cosgel is professor of economics and department head at the University of Connecticut in Storrs. His research interests include the economic history of the Ottoman Empire and the political economy of religion. He co-wrote the papers “Religious Identity and Consumption” and “Rationality, Integrity, and Religious Behavior.”

A Dec. 6, 2004, BusinessWeek article.

Read a Dec. 31, 2004, Washington Post article about looking for God in disasters. The article explores theological questions raised by the 2004 tsunami in South Asia.

The Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma offered resources and advice for journalists covering the tsunami.

Jonathan Dube of Poynter Online collected a useful list of Web links and resources for covering the 2004 tsunami in South Asia.

The Asian Art Museum of San Francisco is the only museum in the Western Hemisphere with a gallery devoted to Sikh art. Contact the director of public relations.