When the University lost Islamic Studies professor Timothy Gianotti to the University of Virginia last year, it lost a highly respected member of its faculty whose contributions to his department included the development of nine new courses and several other multi-year programs in the field of Islam.
Now the Department of Religious Studies is looking for Gianotti’s replacement, beginning last Friday with the first of three presentations by three potential successors for the still-vacant position.
When the University lost Islamic Studies professor Timothy Gianotti to the University of Virginia last year, it lost a highly respected member of its faculty whose contributions to his department included the development of nine new courses and several other multi-year programs in the field of Islam.Now the Department of Religious Studies is looking for Gianotti’s replacement, beginning last Friday with the first of three presentations by three potential successors for the still-vacant.
Najam Haider, the first applicant to be considered by the department, gave his lecture last Friday in the EMU’s Walnut Room.
The presentation, entitled “To Basmalah or Not to Basmalah: The Formation of Sectarian Identity in the 2nd/8th Century Kufa,” focused on the similarities and differences among three different Islamic groups: the Sunnis, the Imamis and the Zaydis.
Though his presentation primarily dealt with the history of Islam, Haider stressed the importance of contemporary Islamic issues and how they affect today’s world.
“It is important to maintain Islam as a living thing, rather than something from the second or eighth century,” he said. Haider also added that that there are a lot more connections between Islamic and American culture than people are aware of.
Haider is currently a doctoral student at Princeton University. He completed his undergraduate work at Dartmouth and received his master’s at Oxford. He was also a middle school teacher in New York.
Among the reasons Haider decided to apply for the position was the freedom professors have in deciding their curriculum and the helpfulness of the rest of the faculty.
Haider started his presentation by briefly outlining the history of each Islamic group, thought to have all been defined in the eighth century in Kufa, a city in southern Iraq.
His research aims to clarify the ambiguous connections among the three factions. He consulted numerous texts from all three sources and found a distinct correlation between the Sunni and Zaydi traditions until the eighth century, which suggests the two groups originated from the same background until they separated in 740 after Zayd b. Ali’s revolt, Haider said.
The Imami tradition, by contrast, was found to have little overlap with the other two groups.
A reception followed the lecture, during which guests met with Haider.
Haider also said he wanted to “develop some type of Islam curriculum” at the University, and that he would work to try to change the current perception of Muslims in America.
Judith Baskin, the head of the Department of Religious Studies, was also present at the lecture. She said she was unable to comment extensively on Haider’s impression on the department because the department still has two more candidates to hear and evaluate, but she did say that “he gave a wonderful talk.”
The next candidate will give a similar presentation this Friday at 3 p.m. in the Walnut Room. A third will present on Jan. 27 at 3 p.m., at a site to be determined. Both lectures will be free and open to the public.