Covid-19 and Muslim Religiosity: an AVACGIS Webinar Series

Covid-19 and Muslim Religiosity: an AVACGIS Webinar Series Image

In 2020, The Ali Vural Ak Center for Global Islamic Studies (AVACGIS) at George Mason University organized a webinar series that explored the impact of Covid-19 on various dimensions of Muslim religious life in global perspective. Each webinar featured a leading scholar whose work explored the intersection of Islam and the global pandemic with a view to exploring Covid-19’s impact on Muslim thought, theology, law, observance, and religious authority. 

Topics the series examined:

  1. Theological and legal discussions about e.g. communal prayers and modes of worship; 
  2. Conversations about inequalities and how structural problems affect Muslim community experiences of the pandemic;
  3. Explorations of the challenges faced by global religious networks—such as traveling da’wa movements and transnational tariqahs—and their responses to the health crisis;
  4. The increased prevalence of online and virtual environments and their implications for religious life and religious observance;
  5. Emerging politics and tensions between the state and religious actors in the context of Covid-19 plus the pandemic’s impact on sectarian dynamics 

Each 1-hour session featured a live presentation plus Q&A/discussion on Zoom. Video and audio recordings of each speaker’s remarks are provided in each of the links below.

In addition, the entire series can be easily viewed on the Center's Vimeo Showcase Page.

Speakers