Dr Shadaab Rahemtulla

Lecturer in Islamic Studies

  • School of Divinity

Contact details

Address

Street

School of Divinity, University of Edinburgh
New College, Mound Place

City
Edinburgh
Post code
EH1 2LX

Biography

Background

Trained in contemporary Islamic thought at the University of Oxford, Dr Shadaab Rahemtulla is Lecturer in Islamic Studies at the School of Divinity, University of Edinburgh. He is also the Programme Director of the newly launched Masters in Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations.

Shadaab's primary interest lies in the relationship between religion, power, and resistance, exploring how religious texts can be (re)interpreted to challenge structures of social domination, including poverty, patriarchy, racism, and empire. His first book, "Qur'an of the Oppressed: Liberation Theology and Gender Justice in Islam" (Oxford University Press, 2018), is a global, comparative analysis of how contemporary Muslim theologians have expounded the Qur'an as a liberating scripture, speaking to their own lived realities of marginalization. His second book project - tentatively entitled "Islam and Native American Suffering: Indigenising Islamic Liberation Theology" (under contract with OUP) - seeks to reread the Qur'an in the light of Native American rights and indigenous struggles against settler colonialism. Alongside liberation theology, Shadaab has written on Islamo-Christian relations, religious pluralism, and the Muslim Friday Prayer. Before joining the University of Edinburgh, he was an Assistant Professor at the University of Jordan's School of International Studies in Amman, where he taught for six years.

Watch Dr Rahemtulla's introductory video (September 2019)

CV

PDF icon 102902.pdf

Qualifications

BA (Hons), MA (Simon Fraser), MA (Toronto), PhD (Oxford)

 

Undergraduate teaching

  • "God of the Oppressed: Liberation Theologies in Christianity and Islam" (Autumn 2020)
  • "Pioneers of Political Islam" (Spring 2021)

Postgraduate teaching

  • "The Study of Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations" (Autumn 2020; co-taught with Dr Joshua Ralston)
  • "Political Islam: Key Thinkers and their Contexts" (Spring 2021)

Open to PhD supervision enquiries?

Yes

Areas of interest for supervision

Shadaab would be happy to supervise dissertations within the fields of contemporary Islamic studies and / or Christian-Muslim relations. He would also welcome students interested in liberation theologies, including Black, Latin American, feminist, and decolonial theologies.

Research summary

Shadaab's research interests revolve around the following themes:

  • Modern Islamic thought
  • Interfaith engagement
  • Liberation theologies in Christianity and Islam
  • Religion, politics, and social movements
  • Hermeneutics (that is, the methodology of scriptural interpretation)

View all 7 publications on Research Explorer

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