The Life of the Prophet  Ira M. Lapidus Ira M. Lapidus Ira M. Lapidus is Professor Emeritus of History, University of California at Berkeley. He was formerly Professor of History and Chairman of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies. He has travelled extensively across the Muslim world and written many articles and books on Islam and related subjects. His publications include Islam, Politics and Social Movements (edited with Edmund Burke, 1988) and Contemporary Islamic Movements in Historical Perspective (1984). The first edition of A History of Islamic Societies was published in 1988.