Georgetown scholar John L. Esposito, who built U.S. Islamic studies, dies at 86

John L. Esposito, a Georgetown University professor who founded the Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding in 1993 and authored over 50 books on Islam, died on July 15, 2026, at age 86. A practicing Catholic trained under Isma'il Raji al-Faruqi, he was mourned by Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim as "a true friend of the Islamic world."