EUME
2008/ 2009

Husain Qutbuddin

The Usage and Application of the Qur’an by Islamic Sects in Modern Times

was educated in India, and then spent 15 years in Cairo, Egypt, fully memorizing the Qur’an, learning professional recitation, and obtaining a B.A. Degree at the American University in Cairo (AUC) in Arabic Language & Literature and Computer Science. For his Ph.D. at the University of Cambridge he has studied Fatimid exegesis of the Qur’an. His focus has been the works of Fatimid Grand Missionaries (da‘i-s), especially those of al-Qadi al-Nu‘man (d. 973), the Chief Justice of the Fatimid dynasty (909–1171), such as The Pillars of Islam and The Chosen One in Jurisprudence. His research interests include the Qur’anic exegesis of Fatimid and post-Fatimid Ismaili communities, pragmatic and semantic analysis of Qur’anic quotations, electronic tafsir databases, and the usage and application of the Qur’an by Islamic sects in modern times. He will pursue this latter interest during his participation in the Europe in the Middle East – the Middle East in Europe program. Qutbuddin has taught Arabic and Introduction to Islam at AUC and University of Cambridge, UK. Papers he has presented at conferences include A Methodology for the Analysis of Qur’anic Quotations in Arabic TextsImplicit Tafsir and the Exoteric Aspect of Ismaili Exegesis, and Applying the Qur’an Today: Perspectives of the Major Islamic Sects. His publications include Al-Husayn b. ‘Ali, in: Biographical Dictionary of Islamic Civilization and Cultures, ed. Mustafa Shah (I. B. Taurus, forthcoming 2009), and a review of The Advent of the Fatimids by Paul Walker and Wilferd Madelung, in: MESA Bulletin 39, no. 2 (2005): 208–09.

The Usage and Application of the Qur’an by Islamic Sects in Modern Times

While in Berlin Qutbuddin will pursue research on the usage and application of the Qur’an by Islamic sects in modern times.