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The article discusses controversy aroused by Muhammad Sven Kalish, who was hired as the first Islamic theology professor at Munster University in Germany. His own research has lead him to conclude that the prophet Muhammad probably never existed, an assertion not embraced by many Muslims. The university has retained Kalish but told him he cannot teach Islam anymore.

The article discusses how a research project that examines the evolution of the Quran, which is the text Muslims view as the verbatim transcript of God's words, has been relaunched. The article explains that many believed that the research project could not be relaunched because on April 24, 1944, British air force bombers destroyed the Bavarian Academy of Science, which housed a photo archive of ancient manuscripts of the Quran, but the archive has been found and reexamined in 2008.

Presents the second in a series focusing on the social conditions and activities of Muslims living in Europe. History of the Islamic Center of Munich, a mosque built by Muslims, who deserted the Soviet Union's Red Army to fight for the Nazis in World War II; Competition for the Muslim community among Western governments looking for political alliances; Discussion of the Muslim Brotherhood, a social reform movement, which calls for the Muslim religion to dominate all aspects of life; History of miscalculations on the part of Western governments in their relationships with political Islam; How United States' involvement in Afghanistan in the 1980s helped produced Osama bin Laden; Research findings indicating U.S. intelligence agencies attempted to form a working relationship with the Muslim Brotherhood; Comments from Munich, Germany-based historian Stefan Meining regarding the genesis of political Islam in the post-WWII atmosphere; Discussion of the Brotherhood's beliefs with regard to Muslims and Western influences. INSETS: A Piece of History;Birth of an Ideology;Cast of Characters.