Promoting Academic Exchange

Guest Seminars Oxford

In February 2026, Tareq Baconi spoke on his book Fire in Every Direction, with Discussant Dr Ammar Azzouz (Somerville College). The event was chaired by Professor Raihan Ismail.

In February 2026, Professor Simon Mabon (Lancaster University) spoke on his book Order and Region Making in the Middle East.

In January 2026, Professor James McDougall (Trinity College) joined Oxford colleagues Professors Raihan Ismail, Faisal Devji and Faridah Zaman to explore his book Worlds of Islam, A Global History.

In August 2025, Professor Andrew March (University of Massachusetts Amherst) presented a seminar on Islam and the State, as part of the Islam and Justice seminar series co-convened by Jacob Williams (DPIR).

In June 2025, Tareq Baconi (Al-Shabaka: The Palestinian Policy Network) and Professor Jeroen Gunning (King’s College London) spoke on Hamas unpacked: history and politics of a movement.

In June 2025, Dr Mohammed Allehbi (Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies) presented a seminar on Islamic Law Beyond Fiqh. This seminar is part of the Islam and Justice seminar series co-convened by Jacob Williams (DPIR).

In May 2025, Dr Haroon Bashir (Markfield Institute of Higher Education) presents his book Slavery, Abolition and Islam: Debating Freedom in the Islamic Tradition.

In May 2025, Professor Mohammad Fadel (University of Toronto) presented a seminar on Liberal Commitments, Islamic Commitments and Public Reason, as part of the Islam and Justice seminar series co-convened by Jacob Williams (DPIR).

Contemporary Islamic Studies Oxford (CISO) co-convened a 1-day workshop, Transnational Islamic Movements: Global and Local Realities on 29 November 2024. This was organised in collaboration with Lancaster University, Project SEPAD. Edited recordings of some of the presentations are available through our Contemporary Islamic Studies podcast series; and a selection of photos taken during the workshop with the kind permission of those involved.

In November 2024, Sajad Jiyad, Century International fellow and director of the Shia Politics Working Group was visiting guest speaker, presenting on God’s Man in Iraq: The Life and Leadership of Grand Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani.

In July 2024, Professor Malika Zeghal, Harvard University presented her book The Making of the Modern Muslim State: Islam and Governance in the Middle East and North Africa, an innovative analysis that traces the continuity of the state’s custodianship of Islam.

Guest Seminars Beyond Oxford

In April 2025 Contemporary Islamic Studies Oxford (CISO) co-organised a workshop in partnership with Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Peking University, Fudan University, and the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies. The workshop examined the current state of Islamic Studies and research on the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Participants included a delegation of 10 academics from the University of Oxford.

In October 2024, Professor Raihan Ismail was invited guest speaker to The Markfield Institute, speaking on Rethinking Salafism: Transnational Networks of Salafi ‘Ulama in Egypt, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.

In April 2024, Professor Raihan Ismail spoke with Carolyn Beeler, from The World radio programme on Saudi Arabia’s conservative clerics have a new relationship with the government under Mohammed bin Salman.