Professor Sherman Jackson
DOHA: Islamic Thought expert Professor Sherman Jackson will share his expertise at an upcoming public lecture at Georgetown University in Qatar (GU-Q).
Jackson’s talk, titled ‘Probing the Islamic Secular: Preliminary Legal, Political, and Theological Implications’ will be held today at 6pm at GU-Q’s campus in Education City.
Jackson is the King Faisal Chair of Islamic Thought and Culture and professor of religion and American Studies and ethnicity at the University of Southern California. He was named as one of the top ten experts on Islam in America by the Religion Newswriters Foundation’s ReligionLink and among the 500 most influential Muslims in the world by the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Center in Amman, Jordan and the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown University.
“We are both honored and excited to host Dr. Sherman Jackson at Georgetown,” said GU-Q Professor Sohaira Siddiqui. “Dr. Jackson has been a longstanding authority in the field of Islamic law and Islamic theology, and in his new work he seeks to address the modern condition of Muslims living in secular societies.
“The lecture promises to be both stimulating and provocative—opening the door for sustained dialogue and conversation around these important topics and questions.” Jackson’s research interests include classic Islamic studies (law, theology, and intellectual history) and extend to the realities of modern Islam in the West, especially Muslim communities in America.
His talk at Georgetown is related to his forthcoming book, tentatively titled “Beyond Good and Evil: Shari’ah and the Challenge of the Islamic Secular”.
The scholar is the author of several books, including Islam and the Blackamerican: Looking Towards the Third Resurrection (Oxford, 2005), Islam and the Problem of Black Suffering (Oxford, 2009), and Sufism for Non-Sufis? Ibn Ata Allah al-Sakandari’s Taj al-Arus (Oxford, 2012).
