Islam scholar coming to CU

Ebrahim Moosa (Courtesy photo)

Ebrahim Moosa, an associate professor of Islamic Studies in the Department of Religion at Duke University, is coming to the CU-Boulder campus to lecture on his own work and to honor the work of CU’s Dr. Frederick Denny.

Moosa, is coming to CU Feb. 3. He will be lecturing on “Re-Thinking Modern Muslim Discursivities.” He will also honor the work in Islamic studies done by Denny, an emeritus professor in the CU Religious Studies Department.

Ruth Mas, one of the organizers of the event and an assistant professor of critical theory and contemporary Islam at CU, spoke of Denny’s extensive knowledge on Islam.

“He’s just a walking encyclopedia of Islam,” Mas said. “He has written a lot of books, he’s very well known and the Muslim community just absolutely adores him.”

Denny said he is now a retired professor, having taught at CU since 1978 and is still active in the department life and events. Before teaching at CU, he was on the faculties of Yale University and University of Virginia.

Denny said he is also the co-founder and co-moderator of the CU chapter of Theta Alpha Kappa National Honor Society for Religious Studies and Theology, and also serving on its national board of directors.

Denny said that he is honored by both this event and Moosa’s presence.

“I am certainly most grateful for the honor of such an event,” Denny said. “Having Professor Ebrahim Moosa of Duke University as the guest lecturer is very special, as he is one of the most respected, interesting and productive scholars in Islamic Studies today.”

Mas said she is equally excited about Moosa’s attendance, and that she feels they were lucky that such an interesting and well-known scholar would lecture.

Mas said that a lot of Moosa’s work is about taking traditional Islamic thought and putting it in a contemporary context.

“It’s really about thinking about the most difficult issues in classical Islamic thought, looking at past thinkers and the guidance that they gave, and just thinking about the relevance of that,” Mas said. “Ebrahim Moosa has been foremost in thinking about that and not just saying we’re going to study Islam from scratch, but saying there’s a whole background here that might be interesting to look at.”

In order to take advantage of having Moosa available to lecture, Mas organized a reading group, called “Technologies of the Self in Islam,” with four religious studies graduate students to study the works that Moosa has written.

Angela Maly, one of the students in the reading group, said she became involved to get more familiar with the Moosa’s texts. Maly said being a part of the group and working with Mas and Moosa has had a personal impact.

“Being able to work and communicate with such greats [Mas and Moosa] in the field is a really humbling and eye-opening experience that has charted the course for my own work and study,” Maly said.

Maly said she hopes she can learn a lot from Moosa.

“I am hoping not only to learn from his knowledge but about his journey in the world of academic scholarship,” Maly said.

Maly said, that Denny’s knowledge and work has helped influence her own studies.

“Dr. Fred Denny is a truly great scholar in the field of Islam,” Maly said. “Having only met him in person a few times, I am still always awed by his presence and the chance to hear him speak as he challenges me and readers of his work to think about Islam in contemporary society.”

The graduate students have also prepared a study of Moosa’s work that they will present to him at the event.

Nathan MacArthur, a 20-year-old senior biology and environmental studies major, said the event was a good opportunity to learn about Islam.

“I think it definitely a cool thing to do,” MacArthur said. “You can get a good perspective on different subjects, especially Islam that can really be misunderstood or misrepresented. I know I don’t know as much as I would like.”

The lecture “Re-Thinking Modern Muslim Discursivities: Counterpoints, Dilemmas and Politics,” will be Thursday Feb. 3, at 5:00 p.m. in Hale 270 on the Boulder campus.

Contact CU Independent Breaking News Editor Isa Jones at Alexandra.i.jones@colorado.edu.