KENNETH L. HONERKAMP
Updated: December 31,
2010
University
of Georgia Home
Department
of Religion 120
Sharon Circle
Peabody
Hall 1625 Athens
GA 30606
Athens,
GA 30602 Phone:
706-543-9529
E-mail:
hnrkmp@uga.edu
Web-site:
http.//hnrkmp.myweb.uga.edu
EDUCATION
Ph.D., University of
Aix-en-Provence – Marseille I, France, Mondes
Africain, Arabe et Asiatique, 2000.
Awarded with highest distinction.
MA,
University of Georgia, Athens, Islamic Studies, minor in Judaism, 1995.
BA,
University Al-Qarawiyine, Faculty of Arabic Letters, 1981, Marrakech Morocco,
Arabic Literature,. (see note
one at the end of this vitae)
OTHER STUDY
- Morocco: 1979-1995, Studies with traditionally trained
teachers of traditional Islamic sciences, and research in various manuscript
libraries in Marrakech, Rabat, and Fes. (see
note two)
- Pakistan: 1968-1979 Islamic Studies in Pakistan in the madrasas of the North West Frontier
Province. (see note three)
-
Course work in Philosophy, California State College, (USC at Northridge), 1967.
ACADEMIC
POSITIONS HELD
Fes, Morocco, The
Arabic Language Institute of Fes (ALIF), Sept. 1995 to Nov. 1999, Arabic
Language Program Coordinator.
University of
Georgia, 1993 to 1995, graduate assistant instructor of Arabic
University
Al-Qarawiyine, Marrakech, faculty position, 1986 to1993.
American
Language Center Rabat, Morocco, instructor of Arabic/English 1982 – 1986.
- Outstanding
Teaching Award, recognized by UGA President, April 12, 2008.
- Outstanding
Freshman Seminar Award, Franklin College, April 21, 2008.
- Teaching Award
from the Student Government Association of the University of Georgia, for an
educator who has changed his student’s lives. Feb. 2003.
- Teaching Assistant Award from UGA
Athens, spring 1995
BOOKS
Publication
activities 2010
1) Rasā’il Sufiyya l-Abī
‘Abd al-Rahmān al-Sulamī (Four Unedited Epistles by al-Sulami;
412/1021). Accepted and submitted
for publication to the Moroccan Ministry of Pious Endowments and Islamic
Affairs, Rabat, forecast for publication in 2011.
2) Manāqib Imām al-Shādhilī by ‘Abd al-Nūr al-Amrānī, (Biogragphy of Hassan Al-Shādhili dating
from the 14th Century).
Accepted and submitted for publication by the Moroccan Ministry of Pious
Endowments and Islamic Affairs, Rabat, forecast for publication in 2011.
3) Spiritual Alchemy: Master and Disciple - The
Letters of Ibn Abbad of Ronda (1332- 1390) (Rasâ’il al-Kubrâ) on going (St. Louis: Fons
Vitae Publishers, forthcoming).
Published
before 2010
1) Three Early Sufi Texts Updated and Revised
Editon (introduction, annotated translation of two texts by Abū ‘Abd
al-Rahmân al-Sulamī). The third
text, by Hakīm al-Tirmidhī, is introduced and translated by Nicholas
Heer.) (St. Louis, Fons Vitae Publishers, 2009).
2) Ibn ‘Abbâd de Ronda (792 / 1390) Lettres de
Direction Spirituelle: Collection Majeure (Ar-Rasâ’il al-Kurbâ) (Beirut: Dar al-Machreq Publishers, Recherches
series: Langue Arabe et Pensée Islamique, 2005).
Reviewed:
- Al-Machriq, Revue
semestrelle, LXXXIeme Année, No. 2 Julliet-Decembre, 2007, 512-513, by Ahyif Sannu.
- Studia Islamic,
Paris 2006 No. 102-104, by Eric Geoffroy, 230-232.
3) Three Early Sufi Texts (introduction,
annotated translation of two texts by Abû ‘Abd al-Rahmân al-Sulamî). The third text is introduced and translated
by Nicholas Heer.) (St. Louis, Fons
Vitae Publishers, 2003).
ARTICLES AND
BOOK CHAPTERS
Publication
activities 2010
1) “The Quranic Roots and Ethical Foundations of Sulūk in Islamic Pedagogical Methodology and its Relevance Today,” paper presented at the International Institute of Islamic Studies Summer Institute July 26-August 6, 2010. Accepted for publication by IIIT, Washington, DC, early 2011.
2) “The Mystical-Ethical foundations of the Master/Disciple Relationship in Formative Sufism,” in Actes de Colloque International sur: Maîtres et disciples dans le soufisme des 3eme et 4eme siècles de l’Héjire (9eme – 10eme siècles) Accepted for publication by Institute Francais de Proche Orient (IFPO), Paris, early 2011.
3) Kitāb mas’alat al-firāsa (Treatise on Spiritual Insight) by
Abū ‘Abd ar-Rahmān as-Sulamī, analysis and critical edition; in Collected Works on Early Sufism Vol. 1V,
compiled and edited by Nasrollah Pourjavady & Mohammed Soori. (Iranian Institute of Philosophy &
Institute of Islamic Studies, Free University of Berlin, 2011), 1-33.
4) Kitāb dhamm takabbur al-ulamā’ (Treatise Criticizing the Arrogance of the Scholars of the Religious Sciences) by Abū ‘Abd ar-Rahmān as-Sulamī, analysis and critical edition; in Collected Works on Early Sufism Vol. 1V, 34-60.
5)
Hadith:
al-sawm li wa ana ajazi bihi (Commentary
on hadith: The Fast of Ramadan is mine and I provide the recompense for it)
by Abū ‘Abd ar-Rahmān as-Sulamī, critical edition; in Collected Works on Early Sufism Vol. 1V,
61-72.
6)
Hadith:
Abī Bakr wa Omar (Commentary
on hadith: Abu Bakr and Umar are the Preeminent of the Elders of Paradise) by
Abū ‘Abd ar-Rahmān as-Sulamī, critical edition; in Collected Works on Early Sufism Vol. 1V,
73-80.
7( “The Quranic Roots of Islam’s Ethical Foundations in the works of Ibn ‘Abbād of Ronda (1332-1390),” In Arabic. Accepted and submitted for publication Morocco, in Da’wat al-Haqq, The Official Journal of the Ministry of Religious Affairs, 2011.
ARTICLES
AND BOOK CHAPTERS PUBLISHED BEFORE 2010
1) “Tamīmī’s Eyewitness Account of Abu
Ya’za Yallanur (d. 572/1177),” based on a study and translation of Al-Mustafaad,
by Abu Abd Allah b. Qasim at-Tamimial-Fasi (d. ca. 603/1207). Book chapter in Tales of God’s Friends: Islamic Hagiography in Tranlation, ed.
John Renard (Univ. of California Press: 2009) 30-46.
2) “Al-Hasan ibn Mas‘ūd al-YŪSĪ,”
in Essays in Arabic Literary Biography II: 1350-1850. Ed. Joseph D. Lowry and Devin J. Stewart. (Wiesbaden,
Germany: Mizan, 2009) 410-419.
3) “Ibn ‘Abbād on Ronda (1332-1390): His Influence in Andalusia and
Al-Maghrib,” in Historia del Sufismo en Al Andalus, Ed. Aminá Gonzáles
Costa and Gracia López Anguita (Madrid: Al-Muzara, 2009), 143-163.
4) Kitāb bayān tadhallul
al-fuqarā’ (Treatise on the Humble Submission of Those Aspiring), by
Abū ‘Abd ar-Rahmān as-Sulamī, critical edition; in Collected Works on Early Sufism Vol. III,
compiled and Edited by Nasrollah Pourjavady & Mohammed Soori. (Iranian Institute of Philosophy &
Institute of Islamic Studies, Free University of Berlin, 2009) 33-61.
5) Kitāb mas’alat darajāt al-sādiqīn
fī at-tasawwuf
(Treatise
on the Stations of the Righteous), by
Abū ‘Abd ar-Rahmān as-Sulamī, critical edition in Collected Works on Early Sufism Vol. III,
2009, 65-88.
6) Kitāb adab mujālast
al-mashā’ikh wa hifz hurumātihim
(Treatise
on the Requisite Comportment of
Association with the Mentors of the Sufi Path, and the Respect Due Them), Abū ‘Abd ar-Rahmān
as-Sulamī, critical edition in Collected
Works on Early Sufism VOL III, 2009, 91-120.
7) Kitāb mahāsin
at-tasawwuf (Treatise on
the Beauties of Sufism), critical
edition by Abū ‘Abd
ar-Rahmān as-Sulamī, in Collected Works on Early Sufism Vol. III, 2009, 123-146.
8) Hikim muntakhabah min aqwāl al-‘ulamā’ (Selected
Aphorisms of the Scholarly Elite), in Collected Works on Early Sufism Vol.
III, 2009, 149-166.
9) Kitāb fusūl fī at-tasawwuf
(Chapters on Sufism), critical
edition by Abū ‘Abd
ar-Rahmān as-Sulamī, in in Collected Works on Early Sufism Vol.
III, 2009, 169-221.
10) “The Invocation on the Most Beautiful Names
of God by Ibn Abbad of Ronda,” in
Seasons: Semiannual Journal of Zaytuna Institute (Hayward: Zaytuna Press,
2008).
11) “Ibn ‘Abbâd,
modèle de la Shâdhiliyya,” in La
Shâdhiliyya – Une Voie Soufie dans le Monde, ed. E. Geoffroy (Paris:
Maisonneuve & Larose, 2004).
12)
“A Biography of Abu al-Hasan al-Shâdhilî Dating from the fourteenth Century” in La Shâdhiliyya – Une Voie Soufie dans le
Monde, ed. E. Geoffroy, (Paris: Maisonneuve & Larose, 2004).
13) “Kitâb Adab majâlisat al-mashâyikh wa hifz huramâtihim, Abû ‘Abd al-Rahmân
al-Sulamî,” Ma’âref, vol. 20, number 2 (Murdad-Aban 1382),
series number 59, Tehran University,
Tehran, Iran [appeared May, 2004].
14)
“Abû ‘Abd al-Rahmân al-Sulamî (d. 412/1201) on Samâ‘, Ecstasy and Dance,” Journal of the History of Sufism, 4
(2004)
15)
“A Sufi Itinerary of Tenth Century Nishapur,” The Journal of Islamic Studies, Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies,
Volume 16, Number 2, May 2005.
16)
“Sufi Foundations of the Ethics of Social Life in Islam,” in Voices of Islam: Volume Three, Voices of
Life: Family, Home, and Society, ed. Vincent Cornell and Virginia Gray
Henry (Westport:-Praeger, 2007).
17) “Al-Rasâ’il al-kubrâ: A little Studied
Collection of Letters of Spiritual Direction Dating from the Fourteenth
Century,” in Seasons: Semiannual Journal of Zaytuna Institute (Hayward: Zaytuna
Press, 2007).
REVIEWS
AND OTHER PUBLISHED WRITINGS 2010
1) Review article for Pure Gold from the Words of Sayyidī
‘Abd al-‘Azīz al-Dabbāgh (Al-Dhahab
al-Ibrīz min Kalām Sayyidī ‘Abd al-‘Azīz al-Dabbāgh),
translation and notes by John O’Kane and Bernd Radtke, Brill Press 2007; in The Oxford Journal of Islamic Studies,
accepted and submitted for publication in 2011. (15 pages)
2) Article Report Invitation
by the Journal of Islamic Studies, Oxford. “Finding the Ethical Through the Writings of
Ibn Al-Arabi.” Oct. 05, 2010.
3) Article Report Invitation
by Journal of Islamic Philosophy, Carleton. “Ibn ‘Ata’ Allah and Ibn Taymiyya – Two
Ontologies of tawhid,” Nov. 10, 2010.
REVIEWS
AND PUBLISHED WRITINGS BEORE 2010
1)
Forward for The Immense Ocean (Al-Bahr al-Madīd) A Thirteen Century
Quranic Commentary on the Chapters of The All-Merciful, The Event, and Iron, by Ahmad ibn ‘Ajība; translated by Mohamed Fouad Aresmouk
and M. Fitzgerald. (Fons Vitae, St.
Louis, 2009).
2)
Introduction for A Portrait of the Prophet
As seen by his Contemporaries: Ash-Shamā’il al-Muhammadiyya; trans.
Muhtar Holland. (Fons Vitae, St. Louis, 2009).
3) Review article of Sufism: The Formative Period, by Ahmet T. Karamustafa, in Journal of Islamic Studies, vol. 20,
num. 3; September 2009, 413-418. (Oxford University Press).
4) Preface to Turning Towards the Heart, Awakening to the Sufi Way (St. Louis:
Fons Vitae Press, 2002).
5)
Review of Radical Islamic Fundamentalism,
by Ahmad S. Moussali, in International Journal of Comparative Religion
and Philosophy, 1997
6)
Review of Crescents on the Cross: Islamic
Visions of Christianity, by Lloyd V. J. Ridgeon (Oxford University Press,
2001). in Journal of the American Academy
of Religion, Spring 2004 (72/1).
7)
Review of From Arab Poet to Muslim Saint: Ibn al-Farid, His Verse, and His Shrine,
Th. Emil Homerin, (Cairo: The American University in Cairo Press, 2001), in Journal of Islamic Studies at Oxford,
vol. 16 no. 2, May 2005.
1) Invited lecture for the Anthropology
Society, “The Social Context of Islam/Sufism,” Jan. 20, 2010.
2) AAR Lecture, “The Quranic Roots and
Ethical Foundations of Sulūk in Islamic Methodology and its Relevance
Today,” paper presented before the Islamic Mysticism and Quran Group of the
National Meeting of the AAR, Sunday, Oct. 30, 2010.
3) Summer Institute of the International
Institute of Islamic Studies, presented a paper, “The Quranic Roots and Ethical
Foundations of Sulūk in Islamic Methodology and its Relevance Today,” I
also served as a discussant and panel head for multiple panels, July 26 to
August 10, 2010.
4) Radio interview, WGAU, Athens, during
the Manhattan Mosque controversy.
5) Hosted Honors Reading Group
(15students) at my home, we read A Spirit of Tolerance: The Inspiring Life
of Tierno Bokar by Amadou Hampate Ba. Sept. 23, 2010.
6) Costal College of Georgia, Brunswick, Georgia – International Education Week, I presented two lectures; “Morocco: Kingdom of the West” and “The Quran: Sacred Text of Islam.” Nov. 15 & 16, 2010.
1) “Arabic and the Traditional Oraisons of the
Sufi Orders,” invited lecture at the Zaytuna Summer Institute of intensive
Arabic, Berkley, Calif. July 25, 2009.
2)
“Sufism in today’s intra-Muslim dialog,” invited lecture at the Ta’lif
Foundation, Haywood, Calif., July 26, 2009.
3)
“Al-Rasâ’il
al-kubrâ: A little Studied Collection of Letters of Spiritual Direction
Dating from the Fourteenth Century.”
Paper presented at the American Academy of Religion’s national
conference held in San Diego, Nov. 15-29, 2007.
4)
“Islamic Spirituality and the Process of Transformation,” sponsored by the
University of Washington, St. Louis, Department of Middle Eastern Studies. Nov. 17 and 18, 1999
5) “Ibn Abbad and the Birthday of the
Prophet,” Third Annual Islamic Studies and Research Association conference, USC
campus, Columbia, SC. June 24 –25, 2000
6)
“The Principles of the Malamatiyya: Study, Critical Edition, and Translation of
Two texts by Abu Abd al-Rahmân
al-Sulam.” Annual meeting of the AAR in Nashville, Tennessee,
Nov. 18, 2000.
7) “A Sufi Itinerary of Tenth Century
Nishapur,” Fourth Annual Islamic Studies and Research Association conference,
USC campus, Columbia, SC. December, 21, 2001.
8) “Madrasas, Fertile Ground for
Fundamentalism?” Panel Discussion: Rival
Islams/Rival Islam: The Roots, Context and Aftermath of September 11. SECOR.
Atlanta, March 8th 2003.
9) “Sacred
Space: Where Form and Substance meet, Tomb Complexes in the Islamic World.”
SECSOR, March 2003.
10) Multiple Lectures and participation in
panel discussions in the aftermath of the September 11th tragedy, on
campus and in collaboration with the University Outreach Program.
INTERNATIONAL
ACTIVITIES 2010 (selected)
1) Co-Director
with Dr. Alan Godlas of the University of Georgia Maymester in Morocco
Program. May 10 to June 7, 2010.
2) Invited
lecture: “The Foundations of Islamic
Ethical Thought According to the Works of Ibn Abbad ” before His Majesty
the King of Morocco, Muhammad VI, hosted by the Moroccan Ministry of Islamic
Affairs at the yearly al-Durūs al-Hassaniyya, August 21 to
September 08, 2009.
3) Invited lecture in The
Ihsan Mosque, Rabat, Morocco, Aug. 28, 2010, “Some Sufi Interpretations of the
Meaning of the Fast of Ramadan.”
4) Invited lecture in The Turki Mosque,
Marrakech, Morocco, Sept. 4, 2010, “Islam in the United States and Ramadan.”
5) Invited to the 4eme Rencontre Mondiale du Soufisme: Soufisme et Société: réalité et perspectives, sponsored by Tariqa Boutchichia, Berkane, Morocco, Zawiya de Madagh, Feb. 25, 26,27, 2010/ 1431 Rabi al-Awwal 10, 11, and 12; paper title: “Sufism and Al-Akhlaq in Society from the Works of Ibn Abbad of Ronda (d. 1390)”.
6) Invitation to International Conference
on Sufism in Singapore, Dec. 4-9, 2010. I was not able to attend due to
instructional obligations at UGA.
INTERNATIONAL
ACTIVITIES BEFORE 2010 (selected)
1) Co-Director
with Dr. Alan Godlas of the University of Georgia Maymester in Morocco
Program. May 10 to June 7, 2001 to 2009.
2)
Invited to participate in “The Second Sidi Shakir World Encounters” in
Marrakesh, Morocco, July. 9-12,
2009. Sponsored by Ministry of
Wawqaf and Islamic Affairs, Kingdom of Morocco under the auspices of His
Majesty, Muhammad VI. An international
conference dedicated to an active dialog between Sufi orders involved in the
fields of spiritual and moral education.
Participated as a speaker.
3) Invitation
to present a lecture on “The Foundations
of Islamic Ethical Thought” before His Majesty Muhammad VI, hosted by the
Moroccan Ministry of Islamic Affairs at the yearly al-Durūs
al-Hassaniyya, August 21 to September 08, 2009.
4) Invitation
to present a lecture on “Islamic Studies
in the United States at the University Level,” by The World Association For
al-Azhar Graduates, Conference: Al-Azhar and the West … Bridges of Dialogue,
under the auspices of the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar University, Cairo January 3 to
5, 2009.
5) Speaker of
Honor at the request of the U.S. State Department, to speak at the American
Embassy of Rabat Ramadan Iftar, topic: Dialog today: Muslims with the world,
Muslims among themselves and the role of the Sufi tradition, September 7, 2009.
1)
Invited as guest lecturer for the Rihlah Program of Traditional Islamic
Education in Mecca, Madina, and Taif, Sponsored by Saudi Arabian Ministry of
Religious Endowments. Lectured during
the month of August on the Prophet Mohammed, his character and comportment
according to the Shamā’il of al-Tirmidhī. August 2008.
2) U. S. Speaker
and Specialist Grant: Citizen Dialogue Diplomats, awarded by the U.S. State
Department, to undertake a program in Liberia and Mali on the subject of
Islamic Studies in the USA, September. 28 to October 10, 2008.
3) Consultant
and outside evaluator for the US Department of State’s Bureau of Educational
and Cultural Affairs, Legacy International Arabic Language Institute in Morocco
from July 14 to July 31, 2007.
4) Invitation
from the Moroccan Ministry of Islamic Affairs to attend the Ramadan Lectures
hosted by His Majesty Muhammad VI, September
18 to 25, 2007.
5) Invited as a participant: International Conference:
Muslim World in Transition: Contributions of the Gülen Movement, London, England, sponsored by House of Lords,
SOAS, and LSE, October 25-27, 2007.
6) Invited
lecture: “The Mystical-Ethical basis of Islamic Discourse in Uzbekistan and its
influence on Islamic Civilization,” Conference sponsored by the Uzbekistan
Ministry of Culture and History, Tashkent, August 10-15. (paper was accepted and translated into
Russian and placed on web-site. Due to a
broken arm I was unable to attend in person).
7) Invited
lecture: “The Foundations of Traditional Ethical Discourse in Uzbekistan,” UGA
Academic Visit to Tashkent, Uzbekistan, July 23-28, 2006. Sponsored by the UGA Center for International
Trade and Security.
8) Invited
lecture: “The Mystical-Ethical foundations of the Master/Disciple Relationship
in Formative Sufism,” International Conference: Maîtres et disciples dans le
soufisme des 3eme et 4eme siècles de l’Héfire (9eme – 10eme siècles). Sponsored by the CRITIC de l-Université Jean
Moulin, Lyon, France, Sept. 14 to 16, 2006.
9) Invited
lecture: Two papers, “Ibn Abbâd of Ronda (d. 1390) an Early Shadhilî: His
Influence in Andalus and Morocco” and “Al-Rasâil al-kubrâ of Ibn Abbâd of
Ronda.” International Conference: Une herencia espiritual común: al-Andalus y
el Magreb, sponsored by the Facultad de Filología, Universidad de Sevilla,
Espana, Oct. 26 and 27, 2006.
10) Invited
lecture: “La pédagogie soufie d’Ibn ‘Abbâd (1332-1390) dans son Rasâ’il
al-Kubrâ,” International Conference: Soufisme, Culture, and Music, sponsored by
the Centre National de Recherches Préhistoriques Anthropologiques et
Historiques, in Bedjaia, Algeria, Dec. 9 – 13, 2006.
11)
Invited lecture: Indonesian and U.S. Perspectives on Faith, Democracy and
Education, State Department Program with Legacy International and 40 students
from various Islamic schools from Indonesian, at Randolph Macon Women’s College
of Lynchburg, VA, July 10th, 2004.
12)
Invited to participate in “The Sidi Shakir World Encounters” in Marrakesh,
Morocco, Sept. 9-12, 2004. Sponsored by
Ministry of Waqfs and Islamic Affairs, Kingdom of Morocco under the auspices of
His Majesty, Muhammad VI. An
international conference dedicated to an active dialog between Sufi orders
involved in the fields of spiritual and moral education.
13) Invited
to give two lectures at an international conference in Alexandria, Egypt. The Sufi Path of the Shadhiliyya: A Spiritual
School of the Islamic World sponsored by Centre d’Etudes Alexandrines and
UNESCO. Conference date: Apr. 19-24,
2003.
14) Invited
as a panelist in International Symposium 2003 at UGA: Globalization and Change
in Central Asia.
15) I am
participating in the restoration of the tomb complex of Ibn Abbad in Fes,
Morocco with a group of Moroccan scholars and the Moroccan government.
16)
Conference hosted by the journal al-Murid
in Rabat, Morocco, on Intuitive Spiritual Knowledge in the Islamic Heritage and
Comparative Thought; lecture presented entitled: The Malamatiyya
and The Path of Intuitive Knowledge; November 24-25, 1995.
17) Conference
hosted by Widadiyat al-Jazouli in
Marrakesh, Morocco on The Intellectual and Spiritual Heritage of Ibn Arabi,
lecture presented entitled, Ibn Arabi and The Malamatiyya; May 6 -11, 1997.
18) Round
table discussion (in Arabic) hosted by USIS, Islamic Studies in the USA, Rabat and Casablanca, Morocco; March 22
& 23, 1998.
19) Invited
lecture to the University of Aix-en-Provence, France, June, 2000 “Moroccan
Sufism in the 14th. & 15th. Centuries.”
20)
Rihlah Program of Traditional Education in Fes, Sponsored by Moroccan Ministry
of Religious Endowments, lecture presented entitled, The Essential Elements of
Islamic Education; August 28,1998.
- Director of Morocco Maymester Study
Abroad (UGA)
-
Co-director of Arabic studies in Dept. of Religion
-
Academic Honesty Committee (UGA)
-
Speakers Committee (department)
-
Graduate Student Advisory Board (department)
-
Senator of the Franklin College for Dept. of Religion
-
Member of University Council
-
University Honors Mentor
-
Wilson Center Subvention Committee member
-
Search Committee for Traditional African Religion position
- U. S. Speaker and Honored Guest at the request of the U.S.
State Department, to speak at the US Embassy on Rabat, Morocco on American
Moroccan Relations, September 7, 2009.
- U. S. Speaker and Specialist Grant: Citizen Dialogue
Diplomats, awarded by the U.S. State Department, to undertake a program in
Liberia and Mali on the subject of Islamic Studies in the USA, September. 28 to
October 10, 2008.
- U. S. Speaker and Specialist Grant, awarded by the U.S. State
Department, to undertake a program in Mauritania on the subject of Islamic
Studies in the USA, September 28 to October 7, 2007.
- U. S. Speaker and Specialist Grant,
awarded by the U.S. State Department, to undertake a program in Mauritania on
the subject of: Islam and Islamic Studies in the USA, Dec, 2005.
- U.
S. Speaker and Specialist Grant, awarded by the U.S. State Department, to
undertake a program in Malawi, Senegal and Mauritania: The Freedom of Islam in
America. March, 2004.
- U. S. Speaker and Specialist Grant, awarded by the U.S. State
Department, to undertake a program in Cameroon, Chad and Guinea: Islamic Studies
in the USA, March, 2001.
- Subvention from the University of
Georgia for publication of: Ibn ‘Abbâd de Ronda (792 / 1390) Lettres de
Direction Spirituelle: Collection Majeure (Ar-Rasâ’il al-Kurbâ). Published in 2005.
- U. S. Speaker and Specialist Grant, offered by the U.S. State
Department, to undertake a program in Islam and Democracy in the Philippines,
July, 2004. (Professional considerations
did not allow me to accept)
- U. S. Speaker and Specialist Grant, offered by the U.S. State
Department, to undertake a program in conflict resolution in Northern Chad on
the border with Darfur, Sudan. October,
2004. (Professional
considerations did not allow me to accept)
PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS
- Member of
the UGA Center for Asian Studies (Steering committee)
- Member of
the Linguistics Faculty
- Member of
the Program of African Studies Faculty
- Member of
the Graduate Faculty
- Member of
steering committee of Islamic Research Association (ISRA)
- Member of
the board of Virtual Center for the Interdisciplinary Studies of the Islamic
World VCISIW
- Member of
AAR, MESA and AATA
- Member of
editorial staff of Seasons, the
Journal of the Zaytuna Institute, Haywood, California.
- Member of
editorial staff of Vons Vitae Publishers, St. Louis.
- Member of advisory committee of Sufi
Illuminations: A Journal Dedicated to Islam and Tasawwuf, published by the
Naqshbandi Foundation for Islamic Education.
- Member of
the advisory committed of the Zaytuna Institute, the first accredited
university for Islamic Studies in the USA.
LANGUAGE
PROFICENCY
-
Arabic: Classical/Modern Standard: fluent
-
Moroccan Dialect: fluent
-
Pashtu: fluent.
-
French: fluent.
- Spanish:
reading knowledge.
Note
1. The Faculty of the Arabic Language, Marrakech, is part of the
traditional education system of Morocco - where the traditional Islamic
sciences are taught by the foremost scholars in their respective fields. At the Faculty of the Arabic Language, the
Holy Quran, hadith, fiqh, etc. are taught with an emphasis upon language and
rhetoric. My studies in Pakistan helped
me complete their three-year intensive BA program in Arabic Literature, with
distinction. The course is for native
speakers of Arabic, as Morocco has no system of studies for non-native
speakers, I believe that until today I am the only American to have graduated
from this University. I graduated in
1981 with a diploma in Arabic Literature having written a paper entitled
"Critical Edition of al-Munabbiha"
a treatise by Abu Amar al-Dani on the science of Quranic recitation. I edited the first 200 lines of rhymed verse
from the two known manuscripts in Morocco: the Rabat Manuscript and the
Tamagrout Zawiyah Nasarriyah Manuscript.
During the editing I also found and acquired a copy of an authoritative
Andalusian manuscript from the Library of Alexandria.
Note 2. After graduating from the Al-Quarawiyine, I
began personal research and study in the domains of Islamic studies and Sufism
in North Africa. I visited libraries and
began to accumulate a basic research library on the sources of traditional
Islamic education. I collected and read the essential reference works on early
Sufism by al-Muhasibi, al-Ghazali, Hakim al-Tirmidhi and the treatises of
al-Sulami. During this period I found
several unknown works of al-Sulami that I have subsequently edited. It was during this period that I collected
multiple manuscripts of the Major Collection of the Letters of Ibn Abbad of
Ronda. My interest in Ibn Abbad and the
early mentors of the Shadhili Sufi Order in Morocco led me to eventually edit
these letters and other collections of letters from Shaykh to disciple within
the Shadhliy tradition. In a recent
conference in Alexandria I presented an unedited text entitled: Manaqib Imam Shadhili that I encountered
in the Qarawiyne Library in Fes. This
text has added substantially to our knowledge of the early teachings of the
order before it moved east, to Egypt. I
am also working on the final correction of the Letters of Sidi Mohammed Attar
of Fes (d. 1922).
Note 3. In Pakistan I began Arabic and
Islamic studies in various traditional madrasas
and studied under some of the better known scholars of the Northwest Frontier
Province, including Mulana Mohammed Tahir of Panj Pir, Mulana Shah Zadah Sahib
at Sarkay and Mulana Abdel Haq in Swat state.
During these years I acquired a fluent knowledge of Pashtu both the
spoken and written forms; Pashtu was the vehicle of instruction from the Arabic
texts that we used. I also began to
study Persian with the books of Shaykh Saadi.
Among
my fields of study in Pakistan were:
-
The Holy Quran - from the perfecting of its recitation to its commentary, which
was a regular part of the curriculum at all the madrasas.
-
the elementary works of Arabic grammar form Hidayatu
al-nahwa to Al-Kafiyah of Ibn
Haajib.
-
the elementary works of Arabic conjugation :
Serf-i-mir
in Persian (memorized)
Zanjqni,
Allama Tafta-Zani
- the basic works of logic mantiq
-
the works of jurisprudence of the School of Abu-Hanifah from elementary works from Muniah until Al-Hidayah, on the diverse opinions within the School itself.
-
I have subsequently studied the Maliki School in Morocco as well.
All of the above were usually on a direct
teacher to student relationship, each student either in a different book or at
a different stage in his studies.
Diplomas were not given as a student's grasp of subject matter was
considered to speak for itself.
Note
4. I was On-Site-Coordinator at ALIF, for the
Washington University St. Louis/ALIF Intensive Arabic and Islamic Studies
Program from the inception of the program.
Due to my experience in both western academia and traditional Islamic
studies I was asked to frame the course itself and coordinate the creation of the
course material. This six month program
gave 8 American graduate students an intensive review of Arabic grammar and
syntax as well as an overview of fundamental Islamic precepts viewed from their
Quranic, Hadith and finally Fiqh and Kalam sources. The course also included an ongoing cultural
component in which the participants are exposed to what makes up social and
intellectual life in the modern Arab/Moroccan world. I was also responsible for this aspect of the
program. The US government saw the
program to be important enough to give us funding for a second two-year
period. The American program coordinator
was Dr. Peter Heath of Washington University, St. Louis, and the evaluators
have been Dr. Everett Rowson of Penn State and Dr. Mahmoud al-Batal of Emory
University.