Dr Shadaab Rahemtulla
Lecturer in Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations
Address
- Street
-
School of Divinity, University of Edinburgh
New College, Mound Place - City
- Edinburgh
- Post code
- EH1 2LX
Background
Trained in Islamic thought at the University of Oxford, Dr Shadaab Rahemtulla is Lecturer in Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations 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
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)
-
Reclaiming Khadija's and Muhammad's marriage as an Islamic paradigm: Toward a new history of the Muslim present
(20 pages)
In:
Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion, vol. 37, pp. 83-102
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2979/jfemistudreli.37.2.06
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
The Qur’an, the Bible, and the indigenous people of Canaan: An anti-colonial Muslim reading
Research output: › Chapter (peer-reviewed) (Published) -
The politics of paradigms: Liberation and difference in Islam and Christianity
Research output: › Chapter (peer-reviewed) (Published) -
Beyond 'us' and 'them': Islamic liturgy and the challenge of religious pluralism
In:
Studies in Interreligious Dialogue, vol. 28, pp. 49-68
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2143/SID.28.2.3285638
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
Qur’an of the Oppressed: Liberation Theology and Gender Justice in Islam
(308 pages)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198796480.001.0001
Research output: › Book (Published) -
Toward a genuine congregation: The form of the Muslim Friday Prayer, revisited
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137508270_3
Research output: › Chapter (Published)