Omer Awass is currently associate professor of Arabic and Islamic Studies at the American Islamic College in Chicago, IL. He completed his PhD in Religious Studies from Temple University. His dissertation entitled The Evolution of Fatwa and Its Influence on Muslim Society looks at the role of fatwa in the shaping of the Islamic legal discourse and society. He is currently working on a manuscript for a book on fatwa and carrying out ethnographic research on contemporary fatwas in the Muslim world. He has spent more than twelve years of his life living, studying, researching, and teaching in various Muslims countries or countries that have significant Muslim populations such as Malaysia, Indonesia, Syria, Egypt, Turkey, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Kenya, and Tanzania.