Thomas K. Gugler graduated in South Asian studies, religious studies, and psychology from LMU University Munich and received his Ph.D. (with distinction) from Erfurt University. He served as a research fellow at the Leibniz-Zentrum Moderner Orient Berlin, and a postdoctoral research fellow at the Department for Near Eastern Studies, University of Vienna. He is a member of the Cluster of Excellence “Religion & Politics” at the University of Münster.