Lecture: In the Names of God: Approaching the Asma’ Allah al-Husna Genre in Islam

On Wednesday, January 25th, AIC welcomed Dr. Yousef Casewit of the University of Chicago Divinity School to speak at its Academic Lecture Forum. Dr. Casewit presented an intriguing discussion on the Names of Allah that precipitated deep reflection and critical thinking regarding the “self”, “God”, and tawhid. If you missed this thoughtful lecture, you may watch the recording above.

Date: Wednesday, January 25, 2017
Time: 6:00pm Light Refreshments; 6:30pm Talk
Where: Conference Hall, Main Bldg, American Islamic College

Yousef Casewit is an Assistant Professor of Qur’anic Studies at the University of Chicago Divinity School. He specializes in the Qur’anic Studies, Andalusi and Maghribi intellectual history, and Sufism. He has several publications, the most recent (co-edited with Gerhard Bowering) is a critical edition of the Qurʾān Commentary by Ibn Barrajān of Seville (Brill TSQ Series, 2015). His study of Ibn Barrajan, The Mystics of al-Andalus, is forthcoming in April 2017. He is currently working on a critical edition, translation, and analytical examination of the “Commentary on the Beautiful Names of God” (Sharḥ asmāʾ Allāh al-ḥusnā) by the celebrated North African poet and gnostic ʿAfīf al-Dīn al-Tilimsānī (d. 690/1291). 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.