Mecca in Morocco: Articulations of Muslim Pilgrimage in Moroccan Everyday Life
Date: Thursday, May 8, 2025
Time: 6:30 PM Light Reception | 7:00 PM Talk
Library, American Islamic College
Moderator: Dr. Omer Awass
Omer Awass is an associate professor of Arabic and Islamic Studies at the American Islamic College in Chicago, IL. His current research interests center on religion, modernity, and globalization. He has been carrying out field research on contemporary fatwas across the Muslim world to assess how they are negotiating their postcolonial realities. His book Fatwa and the Making and Renewal of Islamic Law is published by Cambridge University Press (2023). Read More >
Speaker: Dr. Kholoud Al-Ajarma
Kholoud al-Ajarma is Alwaleed Lecturer in the Globalised Muslim World and Deputy Director of the Alwaleed Centre, University of Edinburgh.
Kholoud holds a Ph.D. in Anthropology and Comparative Study of Religion from the University of Groningen (Netherlands). Her PhD thesis focused on the socio-cultural embeddedness of Muslim pilgrimage (Hajj) in Moroccan everyday life. During her Ph.D. studies, she worked as a lecturer at the University of Groningen and delivered several courses including ‘Anthropology of Muslim Societies’, ‘Islam: History, Sources, and Practices’, and ‘Minorities in Contemporary Europe’. Her current research focuses on water resource management and contemporary environmental concerns in the Muslim World.
Kholoud received her MA in Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution from Coventry University (UK) and her Mphil in Anthropology and Development from the University of Bergen (Norway). In addition to her academic experience in anthropology and religion, Kholoud has worked in the fields of refugee studies, gender, youth development, migration, human rights, and environmental justice in several countries of the Mediterranean region including Palestine, Jordan, Egypt, and Morocco. She was a Chevening visiting fellow at Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies (OCIS) and peace fellow of the MENA cohort fellowship programme of the United Nations Allience of Civilizations (UNAOC).
Kholoud is also an award-winning photographer and film-maker who has extensive experience developing and leading programs and projects among refugee communities, including innovative platforms for human rights research and media production among young refugee youth. Full bio.