“As a student at American Islamic College who has recently completed the requirements for the Bachelor of Arts Degree in Islamic Studies, I can attest to the high quality of learning that is offered at this new and growing institution… The education I received here has enriched my overall understanding of Islam.

I believe AIC is unique in that it integrates the classical Islamic tradition with relevant liberal arts education. This approach provides a broader perspective of Islam as it is applied to contemporary issues facing Muslims. Here at AIC we engage Islam in a context that responds effectively to the new political as well as scientific developments. An example of relevant Islamic studies is evident in the need to address modern day Islamic finance products. The study of Islamic Legal Reasoning, fiqh, provides a Shariah compliant model for adapting conventional finance instruments to Islamic law.

Islamic Studies at AIC prepares students for a productive life today and in the future. Education affords students the opportunity to realize the universality of Islamic teachings and orientates Muslims to identify and make major contributions to new social as well as scientific needs. Socio-political issues are researched and rigorously debated. AIC’s professors insist that students apply the Quranic command to think rationally and constructively.

AIC’s unique educational approach is one that both Muslim and non-Muslim students can appreciate. The school’s current student body has a diverse make-up which enriches the shared learning experience and provides a more appreciative perception of the contemporary Muslim community. We here at AIC have been fortunate to have students from Africa, Middle East, Eastern Europe, America, including a Native American Muslimah. These are all factors that have enhanced my experience here at AIC. It has afforded me the opportunity to deepen my personal understanding of the religion of Al-Islam while contributing to my development as an Arabic teacher at my mosque.”

“The Nationalists have claimed Malcolm. The Socialists have claimed Malcolm. Now, it’s time for you Muslims to claim Malcolm . . . because he was a believer.” Betty Shabazz, the widow of El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz, Malcolm X describes how her husband’s legacy had been taken up and interpreted in ways that reduced the significance of his Islamic beliefs and practices. In recent years Muslims in the United States, from all ethnic and racial backgrounds have returned to Malcolm X as an American Muslim figure. This presentation discussed how particular Muslims in the United States articulate a Muslim legacy of Malcolm X, El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz, fifty years after his assassination and considers how invocations of Malcolm enjoin Muslims in the United States to take on the difficult task of reactivating the full force and implications of his words.

Maryam Kashani is an Assistant Professor in Gender and Women’s Studies and Asian American Studies at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. A filmmaker and anthropologist, her research is concerned with the lived experience of Muslims in the United States through the lenses of epistemology, gender, race, visual culture, and political economy. Her book project is based on ethnographic research and filmmaking conducted amongst Muslim communities in the greater San Francisco Bay Area and at a Muslim liberal arts college in Berkeley, California. The related film works, Our Look Was As If Two Lovers Or Deadly Enemiesand Signs of Remarkable History premiered at the Sharjah Biennial in the United Arab Emirates in March 2015. Her films and videos have been shown at film festivals, universities, and museums internationally.

Date: Wednesday, November 7, 2018
Time: 6:00pm Light Refreshments; 6:15pm Talk
Where: Conference Hall, Main Bldg, American Islamic College

Maryam Kashani is an Assistant Professor of Gender and Women’s Studies and Asian American Studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Trained as an anthropologist and filmmaker, she is currently working on a book manuscript drawn from her ethnographic fieldwork and filmmaking at Zaytuna College and with Muslim communities of the San Francisco Bay Area. Medina by the Bay will examine Muslim knowledge practices and institution-building in relation to issues of gender, race, visuality, and displacement, telling an interrelated story of American Muslim subject-making and dueling discourses of wealth and poverty, dissent and assimilation. Her films and video installations have been exhibited at festivals, universities, and museums internationally. Visit http://www.maryamkashani.com/ for details on her projects.

Location: American Islamic College, Auditorium

Parking: Free, located in the rear of the main building at 613 W. Bittersweet Pl.

This event is free & open to the public, but registration is required.

DOCUMENTARY FILM FROM DIRECTOR ERIKA COHN

When she was a young lawyer, Kholoud Al-Faqih walked into the office of Palestine’s Chief Justice and announced she wanted to join the bench. He laughed at her. But just a few years later, Kholoud became the first woman judge to be appointed to the Middle East’s Shari’a (Islamic law) courts. THE JUDGE offers a unique portrait of Judge Kholoud—her brave journey as a lawyer, her tireless fight for justice for women, and her drop-in visits with clients, friends, and family. With unparalleled access to the courts, THE JUDGE presents an unfolding vérité legal drama, with rare insight into both Islamic law and gendered justice. In the process, the film illuminates some of the universal conflicts in the domestic life of Palestine—custody of children, divorce, abuse—while offering an unvarnished look at life for women and Shari’a.

Speaker Biography:

More information about the movie: https://www.thejudgefilm.com/

Contact programs@aicusa.edu for questions.

Register Here

Dr. James T. Robinson gave an insightful talk entitled, “How Much Islam is in Jewish Medieval Thought?” on Tuesday, the 9th of October at the American Islamic College Academic Lecture Forum. Dr. Robinson presented three examples in which Jewish writings have been influenced by Islamic texts. The three examples he pulled from include, 1) The Qur’an, 2) Post Qur’anic tradition, and 3) Ibn Tufayel. Dr. Robinson’s research focuses on medieval Jewish intellectual history, philosophy, and biblical exegesis in the Islamic world and Christian Europe.

Date: Tuesday, October 9, 2018
Time: 6:00pm Light Refreshments; 6:15pm Talk
Where: Conference Hall, Main Bldg, American Islamic College

Dr. James T. Robinson, Caroline E. Haskell Professor of the History of Judaism, Islamic Studies, and the History of Religions; also in the Program on Medieval Studies, Religious Studies, Fundamentals: Texts and Issues, and the Joyce Z. and Jacob Greenberg Center for Jewish Studies; Associate Faculty in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations

MPhil (Oxford University)
MA, PhD (Harvard University)

James Robinson’s research focuses on medieval Jewish intellectual history, philosophy, and biblical exegesis in the Islamic world and Christian Europe. His main interests lie in the literary and social dimensions of philosophy, and the relation between philosophy and religion. Specific areas of expertise include ethics, political philosophy, and psychology; the history of philosophical-allegorical exegesis; Karaites and Rabbanites; the translation and reception of Greek and Arabic philosophy and science; Jewish Sufism and Neoplatonism; Maimonides, Maimonideanism, and the Maimonidean controversies; religious polemic; sermons and homiletical literature; and the interactions between the Jewish, Islamic, and Christian intellectual traditions.

Prof. Robinson has published three books and one edited volume: Samuel Ibn Tibbon’s Commentary on Ecclesiastes, The Book of the Soul of Man (Texts and Studies in Medieval and Early Modern Judaism 20. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2007); The Cultures of Maimonideanism: New Approaches to the History of Jewish Thought (Leiden and Boston: E.J. Brill, 2009); Asceticism, Eschatology, Opposition to Philosophy: The Arabic Translation and Commentary of Salmon b. Yeroham on Qohelet (Ecclesiastes), a critical edition of the Judaeo-Arabic text with annotated English translation and introduction (Leiden and Boston: E.J. Brill, Karaite Texts and Studies, 2012); and The Arabic Translation and Commentary of Yefet b. ‘Eli the Karaite on the Book of Joshua (Leiden and Boston: E.J. Brill, Karaite Texts and Studies, 2014).

WBEZ’s Curious City and American Islamic College hosted an interactive workshop on building interracial relationships within the Chicago-area Muslim community.
WBEZ Curious City Editor Alexandra Salomon moderated the panel discussion. Founder of Side Entrance, Hind Makki, coordinated the facilitation of small group conversations that addressed issues of race, power, and representation in masjids, community organizations, educational institutions, and the media. Participants had the opportunity to develop specific recommendations for how to create more inclusive Muslim institutions.
Featured panelists included AIC’s Associate Professor of Anthropology & Islamic Studies, Dr. Shabana Mir, AIC Board Member, Gregory Abdullah-Mitchell, Exec. Dir. of CIOGC, Tahera Ahmad, Assoc. Chaplain at NU, Tariq El-Amin, Imam at Masjid Al-Taqwa & Radio host at Radio Islam.

In addition to the panelists, Bashirah Mack of Sapelo Squared, Eman H. Aly, Founder of Collaborist, and AIC’s undergraduate students: Ahmet Sahin, and Linda Maryam Millan served as facilitators of the group discussions.

At the end of the collaboration, participants shared their commitments to solutions-based outcomes that build equity and trust for their fellow Muslims in the larger Chicago community.

This workshop was inspired by a Curious City feature about whether Chicago’s Arab and African-American Muslims share the same mosques.

Dr. Kaveh Ehsani is assistant professor of International Studies at DePaul University in Chicago.

His current research is about the historical and contemporary impact of oil on society and politics; the historical sociology of warfare; the politics of property relations; the urban process and spatial change in Middle East cities; and on the political economy and geopolitics of post-revolution Iran. He is preparing the manuscript of a book, titled The Urban Life of Oil: Abadan and the Making of Modernity in Iran.

His recent publications include, Working for Oil: Comparative Social Histories of Labor in the Global Oil Industry”, co-edited with T. Atabaki and E. Bini (Palgrave, 2018); “The moral economy of Iranian protests,” (with Arang Keshavarzian) Jacobin (2018); “Pipeline politics in Iran”, South Atlantic Quarterly (2017); “War and resentment: Critical reflections on the legacies of the Iran-Iraq War” Middle East Critique (2017); “Oil, state, and society in Iran in the aftermath of WWI”, in The First World War and its Aftermath: The Shaping of the Middle East”, ed. T. Fraser, (Haus, 2015); “The cultural politics of public space in Tehran’s Bookfair”, in H. Chehabi, et.al. eds. Iran in the Middle East: Transnational Encounters and Social History (I.B.Tauris, 2015); “Oil and beyond: Expanding British imperial aspirations, emerging oil capitalism, and the challenge of social questions in the First World War”, in The World During the First World War, eds. H. Bley & A. Kremers (Klarte Verlag, 2014), 261-290, co-authored with Touraj Atabaki; “Radical democracy and public space”, International Journal of Middle East Studies 46:1 (2014); “Politics of Property in the Islamic Republic of Iran”, in S. Amir-Arjomand & Nathan Brown, eds. The Rule of Law, Islam, and Constitutional Politics in Egypt and Iran (SUNY, 2013).

He has been a longstanding member of the editorial boards of the journals Goftogu (Dialogue) in Tehran, Middle East Report (Merip), and Iranian Studies. He is a regular media commentator about domestic and international Iranian politics.

Date: Wednesday, April 4, 2018
Time: 6:00 pm Light Refreshments; 6:15 pm Talk followed by Q&A
Where: Conference Hall, Main Bldg, American Islamic College

On Friday, August 31st, AIC welcomed graduate students from The Lutheran School of Theology (LSTC) for a dialogue luncheon.

The students were welcomed by AIC President, Daoud S. Casewit and Dr. Feryal Salem, AIC’s Director of the Master of Divinity in Islamic Studies and Muslim Chaplaincy program. The students toured the campus and learned more about AIC’s fascinating history, as well as, its current role as an Islamic-oriented institution of higher learning.

During their visit, the students had the opportunity to observe Jumah prayer, which is the Muslim congregational prayer service held on Fridays, at the AIC Masjid on campus. The dialogue that followed was centered around Muslim and Christian prayer, as well as, chaplaincy and spiritual care.

This was organized by Sara Trumm, Interim Director of the School’s Center for Christian-Muslim Engagement for Peace & Justice (CCME) as part of their new student orientation. Those that participated are training to be pastors through LSTC’s Master of Divinity degree program. AIC Participants included: AIC President, Daoud Casewit, Dr. Feryal Salem, Director of the Master of Divinity Program, and Romana Manzoor, Interfaith Coordinator.

Dr. Imtiyaz Yusuf is Assistant Professor, Lecturer and Director of the Center for Buddhist-Muslim Understanding in the College of Religious Studies at Mahidol University in Thailand and Senior Fellow at the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, (ACMCU) Georgetown University, Washington D.C., USA.

He specializes in Religion with a focus on Islam in Thailand and Southeast Asia and also Muslim-Buddhist dialogue. In 2009-2010, he was visiting Associate Professor and Malaysia Chair of Islam in Southeast Asia at ACMCU, Georgetown University, Washington DC, USA.

Dr. Yusuf has contributed to the Oxford Encyclopedia of Islamic World (2009); Oxford Dictionary of Islam (2003); Encyclopedia of Qur’an (2002); and Oxford Encyclopedia of Modern Islamic World (1995). He was also the special Editor, The Muslim World – A Special Issue on Islam and Buddhism Vol. 100, Nos 2-3 April/July 2010.

American Islamic College is delighted to announce the appointment of Dr. Feryal Salem as Associate Professor of Arabic and Islamic Studies and Director of the Master of Divinity in Islamic Studies and Muslim Chaplaincy Program. Holding a doctoral degree in Islamic Studies from the University of Chicago, Dr. Salem has also undergone traditional Islamic training in the Arab World in fields such as Qur’anic recitation, hadith studies, Islamic legal methodology, theology and logic, Fiqh and Prophetic biography.

She comes to AIC from Hartford Seminary where she previously taught Islamic Studies and ran the nationally-acclaimed Islamic Chaplaincy Program. Dr. Salem was recently recognized by CNN as one of twenty-five influential Muslim Americans for the work she has done training Muslim chaplains. AIC’s programs in Islamic Studies and our up and coming Muslim Chaplaincy Program will certainly be enriched by the academic expertise, and professional connections that Dr. Salem will bring to our institution.

Dr. Salem said, “I am excited to be able to build upon the work I have done over the years in teaching, scholarship, and directing an Islamic chaplaincy program. With around half a million Muslims centered in and around the Chicagoland area, I believe American Islamic College is strategically placed with access to important resources that would truly enable a Muslim chaplaincy program there to thrive. I also look forward to being a part of the vibrant cosmopolitan and intellectual environment that the city of Chicago offers in terms of scholarly engagement and community involvement.”

In the words of AIC President Daoud Casewit: “Dr. Salem is a welcome new presence at American Islamic College as she has many local and international connections which will facilitate in enhancing AIC’s role on both of these fronts. Among her responsibilities will be to help lay the institutional foundation of a relevant and rigorous training in Islamic Divinity/Chaplaincy. Dr. Salem will also work with the AIC administration to support the College in solidifying its goals in terms of outreach and the expansion of its student base.”

Dr. Talaat Pasha has been appointed as the Coordinator of American Islamic College’s newly launched Arabic Language Institute. American Islamic College is a Chicago-based institution of higher education that has the authority to confer the B.A. and M.A. in Islamic Studies and the Master of Islamic Divinity in Islamic Studies/Muslim Chaplaincy degrees from the Illinois Board of Higher Education (IBHE).

Talaat Pasha holds a Ph.D. in Arabic and Linguistics from the University of Utah, a Masters in Linguistics from the University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign), a BA in English and another BA in Islamic Studies from the renowned Al-Azhar University. He has taught Arabic and linguistics courses at several Egyptian Universities, the University of Illinois, Utah Iqra Academy, the University of Utah, Middlebury College, Henry Ford College, the University of Bahrain, and the University of Michigan Ann-Arbor. He is a sought-after trainer and coach in Personality Types and Success. He is an active community member, a public and motivational speaker, and an Educational Professional Development Consultant. His book, Islamism in the Headlines: A critical Discourse Analysis is being published by I.B. Tauris.

American Islamic College’s – Arabic Language Institute will be an integral component of AIC, designed to serve both our degree-seeking students, and non-degree external students. The institute is scheduled to begin this summer with intensive course offerings.

Pasha brings to AIC extensive experience in the study and teaching of the Arabic language, a deep grounding in traditional Islamic Studies including the recitation of the Qur’an (tajwid), and a profound grasp of Muslim cultures.

He shares our aspirations for American Islamic College to be an intellectual center for the study of Islam in America, a bridge between the United States and Muslim societies, and a resource for interfaith and intercultural understanding.

The mission of American Islamic College (AIC) is to provide students of all backgrounds with a solid liberal arts and sciences education that will include a rigorous academic formation in Islamic Studies, thereby conveying a broad understanding of the historical and global forces that have shaped intellectual debates and interpretations as well as the political and social structures of diverse contemporary Muslim societies.

Please help us in welcoming Dr. Talaat Pasha and celebrate with us as we officially launch AIC’s Arabic Language Institute.