Introduction

 

Dr. Aurangzeb Haneef is an Assistant Professor in the Study of Religion. He is primarily a scholar of Islamic Intellectual History with a focus on the Formative and early Classical periods; namely, the first four centuries of Islam. On a macro level, his research includes themes such as the transmission of knowledge, oral and written text, and scriptural interpretation, among others. On a micro level, to a significant degree, his focus has been on the Qurʾān and its commentary tradition (Tafsīr). He is also interested in the intersection of scriptural interpretation and the themes of violence, peacebuilding, and ecology in the modern period within the framework of Liberation Theology.

 

Selected Qualifications

 

Ph.D. Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies, University of Edinburgh, 2022

Thesis: “The Tafsīr of Sufyān al-Thawrī (d. 161/778): A study of its provenance, sources, methods, and topics”

Principal supervisor: Dr. Andreas Görke, University of Edinburgh

 

Master of Theological Studies, Divinity School, Harvard University, 2009

Focus: Islamic Studies 

 

International Master of Arts in Peace, Conflict, and Development Studies, Universitat Jaume I (Spain) and University of Innsbruck (Austria), 2007

Thesis: “Religion and Peacebuilding: Paradigms of peace, nonviolence, and the use of force in Islam”

 

Research Interests

  1. Transmission of knowledge in early Muslim societies 

  2. The oral and the written in early Islam

  3. Text and interpretation

  4. Qurʾānic studies

  5. Qurʾānic exegesis (Tafsīr)

  6. Religion, ethics, and justice

  7. Religion, violence, and peacebuilding

  8. Religion and ecology

  9. Sufism

 

Undergraduate courses

 

Current courses

  1. SS-101: Islamic Studies

  2. REL-235: Religion, Conflict, and Peacebuilding

  3. REL-362/HIST-337: Qurʾān and its Interpreters: Between Text and Context

  4. REL-363: Jihād: Religion and Warfare in the Islamicate Context

 

Future courses

  1. REL-2XX: The Sacred Nature: Religion and Ecology

  2. REL-3XX: The Prophetic Word: The Origins, Development, and Function of Hadith

  3. REL-3XX: Qurʾān in the Modern: Interpreting an Ancient Text

 

Past courses

  1. HIST 235: Jihād: A Social, Political, and Theological History

  2. HIST 236: Classical Sufism

 

Academic and other links

 

Orcid: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7038-1257

Academia.edu: https://edinburgh.academia.edu/AurangzebHaneef

Academic blog: https://totbatot.wordpress.com/

Photography: @AurangzebH

X: @AurangzebHaneef