Islamic Studies

Description

Islamic Studies engages students in the study of the religious institutions, texts and devotional life of Muslim societies. It encourages the study of Islam within a framework emphasizing the dynamic interaction between a global religious tradition and its multiple contexts (political, social, historical, literary, etc). Comparative work is welcome, as is the study of Islam in regional and transnational contexts. Study in this field usually requires some competence in Arabic and/or another language relevant to the student's specific Islamic research interests.


Recent Dissertations
  • Restricting the Public: France, the Veil and Religious Freedom
  • The Evolution of Religious Nationalism in Pakistan: Islamic Identity, Ideology and State Power
  • Forging New identities: Genealogy, Ethnicity, and the Pre-Islamic Prophets in Medieval Islam
  • Executing Justice in Islam: Historical, Poetical, Eschatological and Legal Dimensions of Punishment under the Saljuqs (1055-1194 CE)
  • Innovation of Deviation?: Exploring the Boundaries of Islamic Devotional Law
  • Reviving Religion: The Qadiri Sufi Order, Popular Devotion to Sufi Saint Muhyiuddin ‘Abdul Qadir al-Gilani and Process of “Islamization” in Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka
  • Three Conceptions of Justice in Early Islam: Toward Understanding the Role of Religion in the History of Muslim Societies
  • Naguib Mahfouz’s ‘Socialistic Sufism’
  • Marriage, Divorce, and Child Custody as Experienced by American Muslims: Religious, Social, and Legal Considerations
  • The Poetics of Iblis: Qur’anic Narrative as Theology
  • Stoning in the Islamic Tradition: The Case of Northern Nigeria

Affiliated Faculty

Leila Ahmed

Leila Ahmed

Victor S. Thomas Research Professor in Divinity (HDS)
Emeritus
Ali S. Asani

Ali S. Asani

Murray A. Albertson Professor of Middle Eastern Studies and Professor of Indo-Muslim and Islamic Religion and Cultures
ON LEAVE Fall 2023
William A. Graham

William A. Graham

Harvard University Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus
Murray A. Albertson Professor of Middle Eastern Studies
Baber Johansen

Baber Johansen

Research Professor of Islamic Religious Studies
Emeritus
Ousmane Oumar Kane

Ousmane Oumar Kane

Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Professor of Contemporary Islamic Religion and Society (HDS)
Professor of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations (FAS)
Teren Sevea

Teren Sevea

Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Assistant Professor of Islamic Studies (HDS)
Malika Zeghal

Malika Zeghal

Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Professor in Contemporary Islamic Thought and Life