Najam Haider

Najam Haider, an  Associate Professor in the Department of Religion, completed his PhD at Princeton University (2007), M.Phil. at Oxford University (2000), and BA at Dartmouth College (1997).  His courses bridge the gap between the classical and modern Muslim worlds with a particular emphasis on the impact of colonization on Islamic political and religious discourse.  Prof. Haider’s research interests include early Islamic history, the methodology and development of Islamic law, and Shi‘ism.  His first book entitled The Origins of the Shi‘a was published by Cambridge University Press in 2011 and focused on the role of ritual and sacred space in the formation of Shī‘ī identity.  His second book (Shī‘ī Islam – Cambridge 2014) offered a comprehensive overview of three branches of Shī‘ī Islam – Zaydī, Twelver, and Ismā‘īlī – through a framework of theology and memory.  His current project focuses on the link between early Islamic historical writing and Late Antique and Classical Rhetoric.

Select Publications:

Shī‘ī Islam: An Introduction (Cambridge 2014)

Law and Religion in Classical Islamic Thought, eds. Michael Cook, Najam Haider, Intisar Rabb, Asma Sayeed (Palgrave: 2013).

“The Geography of the Isnād: Possibilities for the Reconstruction of Local Ritual Practice in the 2nd/8th Century,” Der Islam 90 (2013):306-346.

 “A Kufan Jurist in Yemen: Contextualizing Muhammad b. Sulayman al-Kufī's Kitāb al-Mutakhab,” Arabica 59 (2012): 200-17

The Origins of the Shi‘a: Identity, Ritual, and Sacred Space in 8th century Kufa(Cambridge 2011)

“The Wasiyya of Abu Hashim: A Case Study in the Transition from Polemic to Consensus History” in Studies in Islamic Culture and History, ed. Asad Ahmed, Michael Bonner and Behnam Sadeghi (Brill 2011).

“Prayer, Mosque, and Pilgrimage: The Emergence of Sectarian Identity in 2nd/8th century Kufa,” Islamic Law and Society, 16 (2009): 151-74.

“A Community Divided: An Examination of the Murder of Idris b. ‘Abd Allah (d. 175/791),” Journal of the American Oriental Society, 128 (2008): 459-76.

“On Lunatics and Loving Sons: A Textual Study of the Mamluk Historical Treatment of al-Hakim,” Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, 18 (2008): 109-39.

Select Courses:
Islam in the Post-Colonial World (REL 3311)

The Qur’an in Comparative Perspective (REL 3314)

Revival and Revolution in the Muslim World (REL 4313)

Exploring the Sharia: Topics in Islamic Law (REL 4322)

Shi'ism (REL 4335)