Lecture: Spiritual Resilience Amid War and Collapse: Reflections on the Mystics of al-Andalus

Date: Tuesday, January 28, 2025
Time: 6:00 PM Light Reception | 6:30 PM Talk – Central Time (Chicago)
Venue: American Islamic College, Limited parking available (613 W Bittersweet Pl)

Join us for a night of intellectual and spiritual stimulation with Dr. Yousef Casewit and enjoy some delectable Pakistani hors d’oeuvres.

Registration (Required):
Free, in-person & livestream. Please select in-person or livestream during registration.

In this talk, Dr. Yousef Casewit reflects on contemporary lessons drawn from the writings of the Contemplatives (Mu’tabirun), a remarkable school of Islamic mysticism that emerged in 12th-century al-Andalus in a world beset by war, social inequalities, economic instability, and political turmoil. The ethos of spiritual resilience cultivated by the Contemplatives offers a profound resource for Muslims in the US grappling with the emotional toll and moral injuries of witnessing war crimes from afar while striving to effect meaningful change at home. Their integration of scriptural, intellectual, and spiritual traditions forged a holistic response to societal crises, demonstrating how spiritual practices, ethical leadership, engaged scholarship, justice-oriented spirituality, and community solidarity can counter despair and inspire transformative action.

Feature your restaurant at our events! If you are interested in sponsoring one of our events, please contact programs@aicusa.edu

Professor Casewit is a Qur’anic studies scholar. His research interests include intellectual history of North Africa and al-Andalus, Muslim perceptions of the Bible, and medieval commentaries on the ninety nine divine names.

He has several publications, most recently The Mystics of al-Andalus: Ibn Barrajān and Islamic Thought in the Twelfth Century (Cambridge University Press, 2017), a study on Ibn Barrajan’s life and teachings. He is also the author of a critical edition of a Qur’an commentary by Ibn Barrajan (Brill, TSQ Series, 2016).

Prior to joining the Divinity School, Professor Casewit was a Humanities Research Fellow at New York University Abu Dhabi, and an Assistant Professor of Arabic Intellectual Heritage and Culture at the American University of Sharjah. He completed his M.A., M.Phil., and Ph.D. in Islamic Studies at Yale University’s Religious Studies Department.

Current projects include a translation and critical edition of a Sufi-Philosophical commentary on the divine names by the Algerian scholar ‘Afif al-Din al-Tilimsani (d. 1291) for the Library of Arabic Literature, NYU Press.

Born in Egypt and raised in Morocco, he is fluent in Arabic, French and Spanish. Yousef has traveled throughout the Islamic world, and has studied with Muslim scholars in Morocco, Syria, and Mauritania.