"American Muslim Negotiations of Authority in the Time of Coronavirus"

with Marcia Hermansen (Loyola University Chicago)

Wednesday, October 7, 2020 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM EDT
Zoom Virtual Event

Historians of religion have observed that the impact of plagues on religious communities in terms of both external and internal challenges leave in their wake long lasting or even permanent impacts on theologies and institutions. This presentation will present examples of attempts to assert or establish authority in the face of evolving social and existential uncertainty while offering preliminary observations on the challenges faced by American Muslims as a religious minority in this time of precarity.

Dr. Marcia Hermansen is Director of the Islamic World Studies program and Professor in the Theology Department at Loyola University Chicago where she teaches courses in Islamic Studies and the academic study of religion.
She received her Ph.D. in Arabic and Islamic Studies from the University of Chicago and her numerous authored and co-edited books include Varieties of American Sufism (2020), Islam, Religions, and Pluralism in Europe (2016), Muslima Theology: The Voices of Muslim Women Theologians (2013), Shah Wali Allah’s Treatises on Islamic Law (2011) and The Conclusive Argument from God (Shah Wali Allah’s Hujjat Allah al-Baligha). Professor Hermansen writes on Islamic thought, Sufism, Islam and Muslims in South Asia, Muslims in America, and Women and Gender in Islam.