Abbasi Program in Islamic Studies

Tijani Sufism is one of the most popular and prominent religious/intellectual traditions on the continent. In this talk, I will examine how this tradition answers the questions: "What is knowledge?," "How is it acquired?," and "How is it verified?". Based on these answers, I will compare and contrast Tijani epistemology to certain Western theories of epistemology, both ancient and modern.

How do Muslim-Americans form beliefs about the treatment they expect to receive from US law enforcement? The results of an original, nationally-representative survey of Muslim- Americans suggest three key findings. First, Muslims' awareness of group-based injustices increases across successive generations, with the most negative attitudes towards law enforcement held by U.S.-born Arabs and Blacks. The data also provides an empirical account of the effects of sending-country institutions on immigrants' attitudes and experiences in their new host countries. Newer immigrants from countries with corrupt institutions bring with them to the United States more negative expectations of government than those who came from non-corrupt countries. By the time immigrants have naturalized, however, their attitudes no longer reflect the institutions of their sending-country. Immigrants who have gone through the naturalization process become more cynical, regardless of their country of origin. The findings reveal that while beliefs about government institutions are sticky, they are updated overtime with new experiences. http://web.stanford.edu/dept/islamic_studies/cgi-bin/web/?p=7579

Sherman Jackson is King Faisal Chair of Islamic Thought and Culture, Director, Center for Islamic Thought, Culture and Practice and Professor of Religion and of American Studies and Ethnicity. http://web.stanford.edu/dept/islamic_studies/cgi-bin/web/?p=7589

Amina Wadud reflects on the gender dynamics of jihad in Islam. http://islamicstudies.stanford.edu

A lecture and book signing with award-winning novelist Mohsin Hamid, author of Moth Smoke, The Reluctant Fundamentalist, and How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia.

Asif Ali Khan is Pakistan's reigning prince of Qawwali music. His distinctive style of this form of Sufi devotional music, dating back 700 years, is characterized by full-throated vocals and energetic rhythms.

This event was a panel discussion including Amr Adly, Ayça Alemdaroglu, Alexander Key, and Kabir Tambar on the popular protests and recent political developments in Egypt and Turkey.

This talk will explore the Tahrir and Gezi Park protests in light of some recent thinking about crowds and social movements.

In this session of the workshop series, "Literary Cultures of Muslim South Asia", Audrey Truschke discusses Abu al-Fazl's Persian account of Indian learning

In this session of the workshop series, "Literary Cultures of Muslim South Asia", Kevin Schwartz discusses Tazkira writing on the periphery of the 19th century Persiauate world.

The talk explores women's empowerment among Chinese Muslims (Hui) living in Xian, China. The speaker evaluates structural, agentive and affective dimensions of women's empowerment based on nearly two decades of research in Xian. (5/23/13)

Johan Elverskog gives a talk to problematize the preconceived image that Islam is bad and violent, while Buddhism is good and peaceful. (April 26, 2012)

The panel focuses on the historical, philosophical, and theological links between democracy, Islam, Christianity, Judaism, and Buddhism. (April 12, 2012)

Ioannis Grigoriadis presents an overview of Greek-Turkish rapprochement since December 1999. He discusses many of the intricacies surrounding Greece's relationship with the country of Turkey. (April 9, 2012)

Resat Kasaba identifies different types of migration in the Ottoman Empire, explains the forces that brought the shifts, and describes how these developments affected the status of the Greek population of Anaolia in the early 20th century. (February 15, 2012)

David Laitin investigates why Muslim assimilation into French cultural norms is incomplete and provides experimental/survey evidence that reveals the low expected payoffs that Muslim immigrants in France receive for full assimilation. (March 1, 2012)

Hillel Cohen leads a roundtable discussion about minority groups in the Middle East. He looks at how they affect the current political, religious, and social graph of the tumultuous area. (January 31, 2012)

Seth Kimmel speaks on the transformation of scholarly disciplines in early-modern Iberia. Kimmel explores how the conversion of Iberian Muslims to Christianity in the early 16th century produced a new radically literal approach. (December 8, 2011)

Charles Hirschkind gives an overview of his research of contemporary Granadan musicians who perform medieval music, and people residing in and around, and passing through granada. (November 17, 2011)

Thanos Veramis gives a comparative analysis of the emergence of Turkish and Greek nationalisms that were both influenced by the French post-1870 prototype, yet differ significantly in their foundations. (October 26, 2011)

The career of Muhammad Shïbānî Khān offers a remarkable example of a ruler intent on a seamless combination of Islamic 'reform' and Chinggisid restoration as the foundation of a new political order. (October 27, 2011)

Gilbert Achcar examines social-economic and political dynamics of the 2011 Arab Spring and evaluates regional prospects for the ongoing revolutionary processes in the Middle East and Northern Africa. (October 19, 2011)

David Wacks discusses the issues of ethnic identity and linguistic preferences of Arab, non-Arab, and Jewish communities in the context of medieval Span, Al-Andalus. (October 20, 2011)

Abdullah Akyuz and Soli Ozel discuss on the social, political and economic changes in Turkey, and its implications for the U.S.-Turkey relations. (February 17, 2011)

Tariq Ramadan discusses different religious values, the similarities he sees within these values, and how he thinks they can coexist in the new and developing world. (April 12, 2011)

Joel Beinin and Lisa Blaydes discuss the current political situation in Egypt and what they think the future holds for this country as well as the rest of the middle east. (February 7, 2011)

Joel Beinin and Steven Zipperstein participate in a discussion led by Debra Satz regarding how to approach the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and predictions about the future of the conflict. (June 2, 2010)

Beshara Doumani discusses the Palestinian history and how it has contributed the the current status of the nation. He also talks in depth about the Israel-Palestine conflict and the possibilities for a solution. (September 29, 2010)

Priya Jaikumar, Aishwary Kumar, and Saba Mahmood discuss the worldwide success of the film "My Name is Khan" to ask questions about the relationship between cinematic cultures and religious actions and identity. (May 5, 2010)

Professor John Esposito from Georgetown University and Michael Wolfe, President of UPF, discuss a documentary "Inside Islam" by Gallup World Poll. (May 13, 2009)

Baroness Kishwer Falkner of the House of Lords, Great Britain and Dr. Shahida Jaffrey from Pakistan address the contemporary challenges and issues faced by Muslim women in the fields of politics, higher education and human rights. (May 7, 2009)

Journalist and author Ahmed Rashid addresses the challenges that the Obama administration faces and the choices that must be made to save Afghanistan and Pakistan from engulfing the United States and Europe in another long-term conflict. (March 9, 2009)

Vali Nasr speaks on the Shia revival and politics of change in the Middle East. (February 1, 2007)

Olivier Roy addresses the revival of Islam, or "re-Islamization", among Muslim populations in today's Europe, often wrongly perceived as a backlash against westernization rather than as one of its consequences. (January 23, 2007)

Iranian-American scholar Reza Aslan, expert on Islam and author of the best seller "No god but God, the origins, evolution and future of Islam" gives a lecture on Islam entitled, "Welcome to the Islamic Reformation!"