In studying historical events, there’s a tendency to apply a “what if” analysis. This involves pondering “what if” some other influence had intervened and whether it could have resulted in a more favorable outcome.

For example, what if Colonel George Custer had waited for the reinforcements which were already on the way to assist him before charging into the Battle of the Little Big Horn? Or what if the captain of the Titanic had opted to hit the iceberg straight on rather than trying to glance off its side? Or what if a German soldier during World War I named Adolf Hitler had been killed on the battlefield rather than merely wounded?

In this vein, what if two influential people, who lived in separate eras in history, had lived during the same time frame? Would they have influenced each other in some way?

Take, for example, President Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826), born in the Virginia Colony, and English journalist and poet Rudyard Kipling (1865–1936), born in British India. What if both were able to share insights with each other into a topic of mutual interest—Islam?

It is well known that one of the most knowledgeable presidents in U.S. history on Islam was Jefferson. Having a curiosity about the religion, young law student Jefferson purchased a 1734 translation of the Quran in 1765 that today is part of the Library of Congress collection.

While in London in 1786, Jefferson earned a quick education from Tripoli’s Muslim ambassador when he queried him as to why his Barbary Coast pirates were attacking U.S. merchant ships for no reason. The........

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