Denis M. MacEoin PhD (b. 1949) is a novelist and a former lecturer in Islamic studies. His academic specializations are Shi‘ism, Shaykhism, Bábism, and the Bahá'í Faith, on all of which he hs written extensively. Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated Ph. ... Islamic Studies is the academic discipline which focuses on Islamic issues. ... Shī‘a Islam, also Shi‘ite Islam, or Shi‘ism (Arabic ) is the second largest denomination of the Islamic faith. ... Shaykhis, religious movement in Iran. ... The room where The Báb declared His mission on May 23, 1844 in His house in Shiraz. ... Seat of the Universal House of Justice in Haifa, Israel, governing body of the Baháís The Baháí Faith is a religion founded by Baháulláh in 19th century Persia. ...

He and his wife live in Newcastle upon Tyne, in the United Kingdom. This article is about a city in the United Kingdom. ...

Background and education

MacEoin was born in Belfast in 1949. He studied English Language and Literature at the University of Dublin (Trinity College), Persian, Arabic and Islamic Studies at the University of Edinburgh, and carried out research for his PhD at King's College, Cambridge. His PhD dissertation dealt with two heterodox movements in 19th-century Iranian Shi‘ism: Shaykhism and Bábism. The University of Dublin, corporately designated the Chancellor, Doctors and Masters of the University of Dublin located in Dublin, Ireland, was founded in 1592 by Queen Elizabeth I, making it Irelands oldest university. ... Trinity College, Dublin, corporately designated as the Provost, Fellows and Scholars of the College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, was founded in 1592 by Queen Elizabeth I, and is the only constituent college of the University of Dublin, Irelands oldest university. ... The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1582,[4] is a renowned centre for teaching and research in Edinburgh, Scotland. ... Full name The King’s College of Our Lady and St Nicholas in Cambridge Motto Veritas Et Utilitas Truth and usefulness Named after Henry VI Previous names - Established 1441 Sister College(s) New College Provost Prof. ... Shaykhis, religious movement in Iran. ... The room where The Báb declared His mission on May 23, 1844 in His house in Shiraz. ...

From 1979-80, he taught English, Islamic Civilization, and Arabic-English translation at Mohammed V University in Fez, Morocco, before taking up a post as lecturer in Arabic and Islamic Studies at Newcastle University. His post at Newcastle was abolished in 1986 by its Saudi sponsors, who disliked the fact that he was teaching subjects such as Sufism and Shi'ism. In 1986, he was made Honorary Fellow in the Centre for Islamic and Middle East Studies at Durham University. Currently, he is the Royal Literary Fund Fellow at Newcastle University. Mohammed V University (Rabat, Morocco) is- with the exception of Al Karaouiyine in Fes, the first modern university in Morocco. ... Newcastle University is a British university located in Newcastle upon Tyne in the north-east of England. ... Sufism is a mystic tradition that found a home in Islam and encompasses a diverse range of beliefs and practices dedicated to Allah, divine love and the cultivation of the heart. ... Affiliations 1994 Group, European University Association, Association of MBAs, EQUIS, Universities UK, N8 Group, Association of Commonwealth Universities Website http://www. ...

He has been married to homoeopath and health writer Beth MacEoin since 1975. Beth is the author of the NMS book, Natural Medicine: A practical guide to family Health, which was published by Bloomsbury at the end of 1999. Homeopathy (also spelled homœopathy or homoeopathy), from the Greek words homoios (similar) and pathos (suffering), is a controversial system of alternative medicine involving the use of remedies without chemically active ingredients. ... Natural Medicines Society is a British charity. ...

An advocate of alternative medicine since the 1960s, he has in more recent years taken a serious interest in the sociology and politics of medicine, and in the relations between CAM and conventional therapy. He regularly lectures to medical students on these topics. For many years, until its demise in 2003, he was chairman, then president of the Natural Medicines Society, a UK charity for the general public. Alternative medicine describes practices used in place of conventional medical treatments. ...

In recent years, he has become active in pro-Israel advocacy (hasbara), chiefly in his capacity as a writer. Hasbara (הסברה) (or hasbarah) is the Hebrew noun for the action of explaining. The word is used to public relations efforts by the jewish comunity to explain itself and its interests to the wider public. ...

Since September 2005, he has served as the Royal Literary Fund Fellow at Newcastle University.

Publications

He has published extensively on Islamic topics, contributing to the Encyclopaedia of Islam, the Oxford Encyclopaedia of Islam in the Modern World, the Encyclopaedia Iranica, the Penguin Handbook of Religions, journals, festschrifts, and books, and has himself written a number of academic books.

He was a member of the Bahá'í Faith from 1965-1980, but left the movement over differences with the administration. For several years he published books and articles critical of Bahá'í practices, and their level of scholarship. Seat of the Universal House of Justice in Haifa, Israel, governing body of the Baháís The Baháí Faith is a religion founded by Baháulláh in 19th century Persia. ...

• Denis MacEoin (1994). Rituals in Babism and Baha'ism. UK: British Academic Press and Centre of Middle Eastern Studies, University of Cambridge. ISBN 1850436541. 

Since 1986 he has pursued his principal career as a novelist, having so far written twenty-three novels, several of them best-sellers. He uses the pen-names Daniel Easterman (international thrillers) and Jonathan Aycliffe (classic ghost stories in the Jamesian tradition). Among the best-known Easterman titles are: The Seventh Sanctuary, The Ninth Buddha, The Judas Testament, Brotherhood of the Tomb, K is for Killing, The Final Judgement, Midnight Comes at Noon, Night of the Seventh Darkness, and Maroc. Some Aycliffe titles include Naomi's Room, Whispers in the Dark, The Matrix, The Lost and A Garden Lost in Time. A collection of his journalism was published under the Easterman name by HarperCollins in 1992 under the title New Jerusalems: Islam, the Rushdie Affair, and Religious Fundamentalism. This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...

Degrees

• 1971 B.A. Honors in English Language and Literature, Trinity College, Dublin
• 1974 M.A. English Language and Literature, Trinity College, Dublin
• 1975 M.A. (1st. Class) in Persian with Arabic and Islamic Studies, Edinburgh
• 1979 Ph.D. in Persian Studies, Cambridge

External links

• Biography
• Biography - From Newcastle University
• British Bias - From the Foundation for Defense of Democracies