Khaled M. Abou El Fadl

Omar and Azmeralda Alfi Professor of Law

  • B.A. Yale, 1986
  • J.D. University of Pennsylvania, 1989
  • Ph.D. Islamic Studies, Princeton, 1999
  • UCLA Faculty Since 1998

Dr. Khaled Abou El Fadl is one of the world’s leading authorities on Shari'ah, Islamic law and Islam, and a prominent scholar in the field of human rights. He is the Omar and Azmeralda Alfi Distinguished Professor of Law at the UCLA School of Law where he teaches International Human Rights; Islamic Jurisprudence; Political Asylum and Refugee Law; The Trafficking of Human Beings: Law and Policy; Political Crimes and Legal Systems; and Muslims, Race and Law. He was also formerly the Chair of the Islamic Studies Interdepartmental Program at UCLA. He is the founder of the Institute of Advanced Usuli Studies ("The Usuli Institute"), a non-profit educational institute dedicated to ethics, beauty and critical thinking in the Islamic intellectual tradition.

Among his many honors and distinctions, Dr. Abou El Fadl was awarded the University of Oslo Human Rights Award, the Leo and Lisl Eitinger Prize in 2007, and named a Carnegie Scholar in Islamic Law in 2005. He was previously appointed by President George W. Bush to serve on the U.S. Commission for International Religious Freedom, and also served as a member of the board of directors of Human Rights Watch. He works with human rights organizations such as Amnesty International and the Lawyers' Committee for Human Rights (Human Rights First) as an expert in a wide variety of cases involving human rights, terrorism, political asylum, and international and commercial law. In 2018, 2017 and 2005, he was also listed as one of LawDragon’s Top 500 Lawyers in the Nation. In 2013, he was recognized among “The 50 Smartest People of Faith” by TheBestSchools.org, and was awarded the “American Muslim Achievement Award” in 2014. He has been ranked among “The Power 500 List of the World’s Most Influential Arabs” and “The World’s 500 Most Influential Muslims.”

A prolific scholar and prominent public intellectual, Dr. Abou El Fadl is the author of numerous books and articles on various topics in Islam and Islamic law. He has lectured on and taught Islamic law throughout the United States and Europe in academic and non-academic environments for over twenty years. His work has been translated into numerous languages including Arabic, Persian, French, Spanish, Malay, Ethiopian, Vietnamese and Japanese, among others.

Dr. Abou El Fadl is most noted for his scholarly approach to Islam from a moral point of view. He writes extensively on universal themes of humanity, morality, human rights, justice, and mercy, and is well known for his writings on beauty as a core moral value of Islam. He is one of the foremost critics of puritan and Wahhabi Islam. Dr. Abou El Fadl has appeared on most major national and international media channels and has published widely in such publications as The New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, Al-Jazeera English, Boston Review and many others.

Professor Abou El Fadl is the founding advisory board member of the UCLA Journal of Islamic and Near Eastern Law (JINEL), and an editorial board member for Political Theology, the Journal of Religious Ethics, the Journal of Islamic Law and Society, the Journal of Islamic Law and Culture, and Hawa: Journal of Women of Middle East and the Islamic World, among others. He also serves as an advisory board member for the University of Adelaide Research Unit for the Study of Society, Law and Religion (RUSSLR) in Australia; the Carnegie Corporation of New York’s Islam Initiative Publications Project; the Harvard Press Series on Islamic Law; and the Journal of Islamic Studies (Islamabad), among others.

His latest book is entitled, Reasoning with God: Reclaiming Shari'ah in the Modern Age (Rowman and Littlefield, 2014), considered to be his magnum opus and intellectual autobiography. His other books include: The Great Theft: Wrestling Islam from the Extremists; Speaking in God’s Name: Islamic Law, Authority and Women; Rebellion and Violence in Islamic Law; And God Knows the Soldiers: The Authoritative and Authoritarian in Islamic Discourses; Islam and the Challenge of Democracy; The Place of Tolerance in Islam; and The Search for Beauty in Islam: A Conference of the Books.  His book, The Great Theft, was the first work to delineate the key differences between moderate and extremist Muslims and was named one of the Top 100 Books of the year by Canada’s Globe and Mail (Canada’s leading national newspaper).  His book, The Search for Beauty in Islam: A Conference of the Books, is a landmark work in modern Muslim literature.

Dr. Abou El Fadl holds a B.A. in Political Science from Yale University, a J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School, and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Islamic law from Princeton University.  Dr. Abou El Fadl is also an Islamic jurist and scholar, having received 13 years of systematic instruction in Islamic jurisprudence, grammar and eloquence in Egypt and Kuwait.  After law school, he clerked for Arizona Supreme Court Justice James Moeller, and practiced immigration and investment law in the U.S. and the Middle East.  He previously taught Islamic law at the University of Texas at Austin Law School, Yale Law School and Princeton University.

Bibliography

  • Books
    • The Prophet's Pulpit: Commentaries on the State of Islam. Usuli Press (2022).
    • Routledge Handbook of Islamic Law (edited by Khaled Abou El Fadl, Ahmad Atif Ahmad, Said Fares Hassan). Routledge (2019).
    • Series Editor: Palgrave Series in Islamic Theology, Law and History (Palgrave MacMillan). Series Info
    • Series Editor: Brill's Arab and Islamic Laws Series. Series Info
    • Reasoning with God: Reclaiming Shari'ah in the Modern Age. Rowman & Littlefield (2014). Paperback released September 2017.
    • The Search for Beauty in Islam: A Conference of the Books. Rowman & Littlefield (2005). Expanded and updated. First edition: 2001.
    • The Great Theft: Wrestling Islam from the Extremists. Harper Collins (2005).
    • Islam and the Challenge of Democracy. Princeton University Press (2004). Translated into Indonesian (Islam Dan Tantangan Demokrasi, Jakarta: PT Serambi Ilmu Semesta, 2003).
    • The Authoritative and Authoritarian in Islamic Discourses: A Contemporary Case Study. 3rd ed. Al-Saadawi Publishers (2002). Translated into Arabic (Al-Istibdad wa al-Marja'iyya fi al-Khitab al-Islami: Dirasat Hala Mu'asira, Trans. Muhammad Adil Eid, Cairo, Egypt: Shorouq Dawliyya, 2003.)
    • Shattered Illusions: Analyzing the War on Terrorism (edited by Khaled Abou El Fadl, John Esposito, Aftab Ahmad Malik). Amal Press (2002).
    • The Place of Tolerance in Islam. Beacon Press (2002).
    • Rebellion and Violence In Islamic Law. Cambridge University Press (2001).
    • And God Knows the Soldiers: The Authoritative and Authoritarian in Islamic Discourses. University Press of America (2001).
    • Speaking in God's Name: Islamic Law, Authority and Women. Oneworld Press (2001).
    • The Authoritative and Authoritarian in Islamic Discourses. 3rd ed. Dar Taiba (1997). Prior editions: 1997; MVI, 1996.
  • Articles And Chapters
    • Modern Re-readings of the Hadith through a Gendered Lens, in Oxford Handbook of Islam and Women, (edited by Asma Afsaruddin, Oxford Univ. Press, forthcoming).
    • The Aborted Spring and Islamic Exceptionalism: A Personal Retrospection, in The Myth of “Middle East Exceptionalism:” The Unfinished Project of MENA Social Movements, (edited by Mojtaba Mahdavi, Oxford Univ. Press, forthcoming).
    • Tensions in Tradition: Hadith, Gender, and Reasonable Interpretation, 19 UCLA Journal of Islamic and Near Eastern Law 2 (2021). Full Text
    • Law and Ethics in the Islamic Normative Tradition, in The Encyclopedia of Islamic Bioethics, (Oxford Univ. Press, 2019). Also published on Oxford Islamic Studies Online.
    • What Type of Law is Islamic Law?, in Routledge Handbook of Islamic Law, (edited by Khaled Abou El Fadl, Ahmad Atif Ahmad and Said Fares Hassan, Routledge, 2019).
    • Islamic Ethics, Human Rights and Migration, in Migration and Islamic Ethics: Issues of Residence, Naturalization and Citizenship, (Brill, 2019). Part of the series Studies in Islamic Ethics, Volume 2.
    • The Roots of Persuasion and the Future of Shariʿah, in Locating the Shari'ah Conference Volume, (edited by Sohaira Siddiqui, Brill, 2018).
    • Islamic Law, Jihad and Violence, 6 UCLA Journal of Islamic Law and Near Eastern Law 1 (2017). Full Text
    • Qur'anic Ethics and Islamic Law, 1 Journal of Islamic Ethics 7 (2017). For Qur'an and Ethics Conference Proceedings, organized by the Research Center for Islamic Legislation and Ethics (CILE) and Qatar Faculty of Islamic Studies.
    • Series Editor's Preface, in The Contemporary Islamic Governed State: A Reconceptualization, (by Joseph Kaminski, Palgrave MacMillan, 2017). Part of the Palgrave Series in Islamic Theology, Law and History, series editor Khaled Abou El Fadl (Palgrave Macmillan, 2017). Series Info | Book Info
    • Egypt’s Secularized Intelligentsia and the Guardians of Truth, in Egypt and the Contradictions of Liberalism: Illiberal Intelligentsia and the Future of Egyptian Democracy, (edited by D. Fahmy and D. Faruqi, Oneworld, 2017).
    • Shari'ah and Human Rights, in Routledge Handbook on Human Rights and the Middle East and North Africa, (edited by A. Tirado Chase, Routledge, 2016).
    • The Epistemology of Truth in Modern Islam, in Toward New Democratic Imaginaries - Istanbul Seminars on Islam, Culture and Politics, (edited by Seyla Benhabib and Volker Kaul, Springer, 2016).
    • The Epistemology of the Truth in Modern Islam, 41 (4-5) Philosophy and Social Criticism 473-86 (2015).
    • Failure of a Revolution: The Military, Secular Intelligentsia and Religion in Egypt's Pseudo-Secular State, in Routledge Handbook of the Arab Spring: Rethinking Democratization, 253-70 (edited by Larbi Sadiki, Routledge Press, 2015).
    • Violence, Personal Commitment, and Democracy, in Islam and English Law: Rights, Responsibilities and the Place of Shari‘a, (edited by Robin Griffith-Jones, Cambridge Univ. Press, 2013).
    • When Happiness Fails: An Islamic Perspective, 29 The Journal of Law and Religion 109 (2014).
    • Shari'a, in The Oxford University Handbook of Islam and Politics, (edited by John L. Esposito and Emad El-Din Shahin, Oxford University Press, 2013).
    • Violence, Personal Commitment, and Democracy, in Islam and English Law: Rights, Responsibilities and the Place of Shari‘a, (edited by Robin Griffith-Jones, Cambridge Univ. Press, 2013).
    • The Praetorian State in the Arab Spring, 34 University of Pennsylvania Journal of International Law 305 (2013). Full Text
    • Preface, in Fiqh al-Aqalliyyat: History, Development, and Progress, (by Said Fares Hassan, Palgrave, 2013). Part of the Palgrave Series in Islamic Theology, Law and History (Series Editor Khaled Abou El Fadl, Palgrave Macmillan, 2013). Series Info | Book Info
    • Cultivating Human Rights: Islamic Law and the Humanist Imperative, in Law and Tradition in Classical Islamic Thought: Studies in Honor of Professor Hossein Modarressi, (edited by Michael Cook, Najam Haider, Intisar Rabb, and Asma Sayeed, Palgrave MacMillan, 2013). Part of the Palgrave Series in Islamic Theology, Law and History, Series Editor Khaled Abou El Fadl (Palgrave Macmillan, 2017). Series Info | Book Info
    • Preface, in Law and Tradition in Classical Islamic Thought: Studies in Honor of Professor Hossein Modarressi, (edited by Michael Cook, Najam Haider, Intisar Rabb, and Asma Sayeed, Palgrave MacMillan, 2013). Part of the Palgrave Series in Islamic Theology, Law and History, Series Editor Khaled Abou El Fadl (Palgrave Macmillan, 2013). Series Info | Book Info
    • The Islamic Legal Tradition: A Comparative Law Perspective, in Cambridge Companion to Comparative Law, (edited by Mauro Bussani and Ugo Mattei, Cambridge Univ. Press, 2012).
    • Conceptualizing Shari'ah in the Modern State, 56 Villanova Law Review 803 (2012). Full Text
    • Reading the Signs: The Moral Compass of Transcendent Engagement, Challenges for Islamic Theology in Europe (2012). Lecture Publication for Conference, “Challenges for Islamic Theology in Europe," hosted by Paderborn University and the University of Münster in Münster, Germany on June 11, 2011.
    • Religious Authority in the 21st Century, Speaking in God's Name: Re-examining Gender in Islam (2012). Conference publication.
    • Preface, in The Fatigue of the Shari‘a by Ahmed A. Ahmed, (Palgrave Macmillan, 2012). Part of the Palgrave Series in Islamic Theology, Law and History, Series Editor Khaled Abou El Fadl (Palgrave Macmillan, 2012). Series Info | Book Info
    • Preface, in Constructing a Religiously Ideal 'Believer' and 'Woman' in Islam by Adis Duderija, (Palgrave Macmillan, 2011). Part of the Palgrave Series in Islamic Theology, Law and History, Series Editor Khaled Abou El Fadl (Palgrave Macmillan, 2011). Series Info | Book Info
    • The Centrality of Shari'ah to Government and Constitutionalism in Islam, in Constitutionalism in Islamic Countries: Between Upheaval and Continuity, (edited by Rainer Grote and Tillman Roder, Oxford University Press, 2011).
    • The Language of the Age: Shari'a and Natural Justice in the Egyptian Revolution, 52 Harvard International Law Journal Online 311 (April 2011). An Article in the Series: Law in the Aftermath of the Egyptian Revolution of 25 January. Full Text
    • Preface, in Shi’i Jurisprudence and Constitution: Revolution in Iran by Amirhassan Boozari, (Palgrave Macmillan, 2011). Part of the Palgrave Series in Islamic Theology, Law and History, Series Editor Khaled Abou El Fadl (Palgrave Macmillan, 2011). Series Info | Book Info
    • Preface, in Custom in Islamic Law and Legal Theory: the Development of the Concepts of ‘Urf and ‘Adah in the Islamic Legal Tradition, (edited by Ayman Shabana, Palgrave Macmillan, 2010). Part of the Palgrave Series in Islamic Theology, Law and History (Series editor, Khaled Abou El Fadl, Palgrave Macmillan, 2010).
    • The Paradoxes of Islamophobia and the Future of the World, in The Essential Message of Islam, (edited by Muhammad Yunus and Ashfaque Ullah Syed, Amana Publications, 2009).
    • Fascism Triumphant?, 10 (4) Political Theology 577-81 (2009). Translated into Dutch: Opinion, VolZin, The Netherlands, Issue 15, Fall 2009.
    • Islamic Authority, in New Directions in Islamic Thought: Exploring Reform and Muslim Tradition, (edited by Kari Vogt, Lena Miller and Christian Moe, I.B. Tauris, 2009).
    • Islamic Law, Human Rights and Neo-Colonialism, in Oxford Amnesty Lectures 2006: The `War on Terror', (edited by Chris Miller, Manchester University Press, 2009).
    • The Human Rights Commitment in Modern Islam, in Wanted: Equality and Justice in the Muslim Family, (edited by Zainah Anwar, Musawah, 2009). An initiative of Sisters in Islam, Malaysia, 2009. Full Text
    • Conflict Resolution as a Normative Value in Islamic Law: Handling Disputes with Non-Muslims, in Faith-Based Diplomacy: Trumping Realpolitik, 178-209 (edited by Douglas Johnston, Oxford University Press, 2008).
    • The Unique and International and the Imperative of Discourse, 8 Chicago Journal of International Law 43-57 (2007).
    • Forward, in Inside the Gender Jihad: Women's Reform in Islam by Amina Wadud (Oneworld Publications, 2006); pp. vii-xiv.
    • Islam and Violence: Our Forgotten Legacy, in Islam in Transition, 460-464 (edited by John Donohue and John Esposito, Oxford Univ. Press, 2006).
    • The Crusader, 28 (2) Boston Review (March/April 2006).
    • The Place of Ethical Obligations in Islamic Law, 4 UCLA Journal of Islamic and Near Eastern Law 1 (2005).
    • Introduction, in With God on our Side: Politics and Theology of the War on Terrorism, xli-xlv (Amal Press, 2005).
    • Islam and the Theology of Power, in With God on our Side: Politics and Theology of the War on Terrorism, 299-311 (Amal Press, 2005).
    • A distinctly Islamic View of Human Rights:  Does it exist and is it compatible with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights?, 27 (2) Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) 27 (2005).
    • Islam and the Challenge of Democratic Commitment, in Does Human Rights Need God?, 58-103 (edited by Elizabeth M. Bucar and Barbra Barnett, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2005).
    • The Orphans of Modernity and the Clash of Civilisations, in Islam and Global Dialogue: Religious Pluralism and the Pursuit of Peace, 179-88 (edited by Roger Boase, Ashgate Publishing Co., 2005).
    • Dogs in the Islamic Tradition, in Encyclopedia of Religion and Nature, (edited by Bron Taylor, Continuum International, 2005).
    • Legal and Jurisprudential Literature: 9th to 15th Century, in Encyclopedia of Women & Islamic Culture, 37-41 (Brill Academic Publishers, 2004).
    • Rebellion, in Encyclopedia of the Qur’an, Vol. 4, (Brill Academic Publishers, 2004).
    • Retaliation, in Encyclopedia of the Qur’an, Vol. 4, (Brill Academic Publishers, 2004).
    • Speaking, Killing and Loving in God’s Name, 6 (1) The Hedgehog Review (Spring 2004).
    • The Death Penalty, Mercy and Islam: A Call for Retrospection, in A Call for Reckoning: Religion and the Death Penalty, 73-105 (edited by Erik C. Owens, John D. Carlson & Eric P. Elshtain, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co, 2004).
    • Islam and the Challenge of Democratic Commitment, 27 Fordham International Law Journal 4-71 (2003).
    • 9/11 and the Muslim Transformation, in September 11: A Transformative Moment? Culture, Religion and Politics in an Age of Uncertainty, 70-111 (edited by Mary Dudziak, Duke University Press, 2003).
    • The Human Rights Commitment in Modern Islam, in Human Rights and Responsibilities in the World Religions, 301-364 (edited by Joseph Runzo, Nancy M. Martin and Arvind Sharma, Oneworld Publications, 2003).
    • The Modern Ugly and the Ugly Modern:  Reclaiming the Beautiful in Islam, in Progressive Muslims, 33-77 (edited by Omid Safi, Oneworld Publications, 2003).
    • Islam and the State: A Short History, in Democracy and Islam in the New Constitution of Afghanistan, (edited by Cheryl Benard and Nina Hachigian, Conference Proceedings, Rand Corporation and Center for Asia Pacific Policy, March 2003).
    • Between Functionalism and Morality: The Juristic Debates on the Conduct of War, in Islamic Ethics of Life: Abortion, War, and Euthanasia, 103-128 (edited by Jonathan E. Brockopp, University of South Carolina Press, 2003).
    • The Unbounded Law of God and Territorial Boundaries, in States, Nations and Borders: The Ethics of Making Boundaries, 214-227 (edited by Allen Buchanan and Margaret Moore, Cambridge University Press, 2003).
    • The Culture of Ugliness in Modern Islam and Reengaging Morality, 2 UCLA Journal of Islamic and Near Eastern Law 33-97 (2002).
    • The Orphans of Modernity and the Clash of Civilizations, 4 Global Dialogue 1-16 (2002).
    • Introduction, in Shattered Illusions: Analyzing the War on Terrorism, 19-44 (edited by Khaled Abou El Fadl, John Esposito, Aftab Ahmad Malik, Amal Press, 2002).
    • Peaceful Jihad, in Taking Back Islam, 33-39 (edited by Michael Wolfe, Rodale Press, 2002).
    • Islamic Law and Ambivalent Scholarship, 100 Michigan Law Review 1421-43 (2002). Reviewing The Justice of Islam: Comparative Perspectives on Islamic Law and Society, by Lawrence Rosen.
    • Soul Searching and the Spirit of Shari'ah, 1 Washington University Global Studies Law Review 553-72 (2002). Reviewing The Sprit of Islamic Law, by Bernard Weiss.
    • Constitutionalism and the Islamic Sunni Legacy, 1 UCLA Journal of Islamic & Near Eastern Law 67-101 (2002).
    • Negotiating Human Rights Through Language, 5 Journal of International Law & Foreign Affairs 229-36 (2001).
    • Book Review, The Use and Abuse of "Holy War", 14 Ethics and International Affairs 133-40 (2000). Reviewing The Holy War Idea in the Western & Islamic Traditions, by James Johnson.
    • Fox Hunting, Pheasant Shooting, and Comparative Law (with Alan Watson), 48 American Journal of Comparative Law 1-37 (2000).
    • The Rules of Killing at War: An Inquiry into Classical Sources, in LXXXIX The Muslim World, 144-57 (1999).
    • Striking the Balance: Islamic Legal Discourses on Muslim Minorities, in Muslims on the Americanization Path?, (edited by Yvonne Haddad & John Esposito, Scholars Press, 1998). Reprinted Oxford University Press (1999).
    • Political Crime in Islamic Jurisprudence and Western Legal History, 4 UC Davis Journal of International Law & Policy 28 (1998).
    • Muslims and Accessible Jurisprudence in Liberal Democracies: A Response to Edward B. Foley's Jurisprudence and Theology, 66 Fordham Law Review 1227-31 (1998).
    • Dia, in 7 Encyclopedia Iranica, 360-62 (1996).
    • Muslim Minorities and Self-Restraint in Liberal Democracies, 29 Loyola Law Review 1525-42 (1996).
    • Hostages (with Asma Sayeed), in Encyclopedia of the Modern Islamic World, (Oxford University Press, 1995).
    • Diplomatic Immunity, in Encyclopedia of the Modern Islamic World, (Oxford University Press, 1995).
    • Democracy and Islamic Law, in Under Siege: Islam and Democracy, (edited by Richard Bulliet, Middle East Institute of Columbia University, 1994).
    • Islamic Law and Muslim Minorities: The Juristic Discourse on Muslim Minorities From the 2nd/8th to the 11th/17th Centuries, 1 Journal of Islamic Law & Society 141-87 (1994).
    • Legal Debates on Muslim Minorities: Between Rejection and Accommodation, 22 Journal of Religious Ethics 127-62 (1994).
    • Tax Farming in Islamic Law: A Search for a Concept, 31 Islamic Studies 5-32 (1992).
    • The Common and Islamic Law of Duress, 6 Arab Law Quarterly 121 (1991). Reprinted as The Law of Duress in Islamic Law and Common Law: A Comparative Study, 30 Islamic Studies 305 (1991).
    • Ahkam al-Bughat: Irregular Warfare and the Law of Rebellion in Islam, in Cross, Crescent and Sword: The Justification and Limitation of War in Western and Islamic Tradition, (edited by James Turner Johnson and John Kelsay, Greenwood Press, 1990).
  • Other
    • Rediscovering the Power of Ramadan, ABC Religion and Ethics (April 29, 2020). Full Text
    • Saudi Arabia is Misusing Mecca, NY Times (Nov. 12, 2018). Full Text
    • The tragedy of Jamal Khashoggi: Why does the Saudi regime continue to get away with murder?, ABC Religion and Ethics (Oct. 15, 2018). Full Text
    • On the Tariq Ramadan Affair, Al-Jazeera Online (July 2018). Full Text
    • Opinion and Postscript, "On the Tariq Ramadan Affair," originally published then censored and removed from OpenDemoracy.net, July 17, 2018. Reprinted in its entirety at The Search for Beauty on beauty and reason in Islam.
    • Who's Afraid of the Muslim Brotherhood? How Hatred of Islam is Corrupting the American Soul, ABC Religion and Ethics (Jan. 18, 2017). Reprinted, "How Hatred of Islam is Corrupting the American Soul," The Huffington Post, Jan. 19, 2017.
    • Make America White Again: Donald Trump and the Cancer of Racism, ABC Religion and Ethics (Nov. 21, 2016). Reprinted in The Blog, The Huffington Post (Nov. 21, 2016).
    • Religious Liberty, Equal Citizenship and the Threat of Anti-Shari’a Loyalty Oaths, ABC Religion and Ethics (Aug. 1, 2016). Reprinted in The Blog, The Huffington Post (Aug. 2, 2016).
    • Is This the Dawn of a New Age of Unreason?, ABC Religion and Ethics (July 26, 2016). Reprinted in The Blog, The Huffington Post (July 26, 2016).
    • Murdering the Sabri Brothers, Al-Jazeera English (June 27, 2016). Full Text
    • Islam and Happiness: Seeking Goodness, Resisting Sterile Godlessness, ABC Religion and Ethics (June 7, 2016).
    • The Source of Goodness: Human Rights in the Islamic Tradition, ABC Religion and Ethics (Dec. 4, 2015).
    • Dominating Muslims, Domesticating Islam: How the Middle East was Lost, ABC Religion and Ethics (Aug. 6, 2015).
    • The End of the Arab Spring, the Rise of ISIS and the Future of Political Islam, ABC Religion and Ethics (April 23, 2015).
    • Evil Acts for a Good Cause? Why it is Dangerous to be Assured of One's Salvation, ABC Religion and Ethics (Feb. 4, 2015).
    • The Refusal of Happiness: When Submission to God becomes Stereotypical Islamicity, ABC Religion and Ethics (Dec. 31, 2014).
    • What is an 'Islamic State'? Submission to God, Moral Diversity and the Welfare of the People, ABC Religion and Ethics (Dec. 1, 2014).
    • All for a Good Cause? Islamic State and the Delusions of ‘Salvational Cause Amorality', ABC Religion and Ethics (Oct. 17, 2014).
    • Life in the Light of God: Islamic Law, Ethical Obligation and the Problem of Punishment, ABC Religion and Ethics (Sept. 30, 2014).
    • Way of Truth and Justice: Understanding Islamic Law, ABC Religion and Ethics (Sept. 23, 2014).
    • The Tragedy of Great Power: The Massacre of Gaza and the Inevitable Failure of the Arab Spring, ABC Religion and Ethics (Aug. 8, 2014).
    • Why the West Stays Silent: The Disquieting Case of Khaled al-Qazzaz, ABC Religion and Ethics (July 2, 2014).
    • Who’s Afraid of the Islamists? From Attaturk to al-Sisi, from John Dewey to Fox News, ABC Religion and Ethics (May 15, 2014).
    • A State of Grace: Defending Human Rights against Terrorism and Secular Nationalism, ABC Religion and Ethics (Jan. 9, 2014).
    • Dominating Religion in Egypt’s Pseudo-secular State, ABC Religion and Ethics (Sept. 15, 2013). Reprinted in The Huffington Post (Sept. 18, 2013).
    • Egypt, Wake Up and Smell the Money, ABC Religion and Ethics (Sept. 6, 2013). Reprinted in The Huffington Post (Sept. 13, 2013),
    • Egypt in the Twilight Zone, The Huffington Post (Sept.2, 2013). Full Text
    • The collapse of legitimacy: How Egypt’s secular intelligentsia betrayed the revolution, ABC Religion and Ethics (July 11, 2013).
    • I Mourn Egypt, The Huffington Post (July 9, 2013). Full Text
    • Egypt: Is political Islam dead?, Al-Jazeera English Online (July 8, 2013). Full Text
    • The Perils of a ‘People’s Coup’, NY Times (July 7, 2013). Full Text
    • Did the military really save Egypt?, ABC Religion and Ethics (July 5, 2013). Full Text
    • Islam is now living through its dark ages – and rebirth is not assured, ABC Religion and Ethics (June 17, 2013).
    • Living in the light of God: Islamic law and ethical obligation, ABC Religion and Ethics (Feb. 25, 2013).
    • Injustice in God’s name: The corruption of modern Islam, ABC Religion and Ethics (Sept. 24, 2012).
    • Renewing Islam amid these Dark Ages, ABC Religion and Ethics (Aug. 4, 2011).
    • The Emergence of Supremacist Puritanism in Modern Islam, ABC Religion and Ethics (July 21, 2011).
    • Islam and Vulgarity in the Modern Age, ABC Religion and Ethics (June 1, 2011). Full Text
    • Which Clash? What Civilizations, ABC Religion and Ethics (May 16, 2011).
    • The Culture of Ugliness in Modern Islam, ABC Religion and Ethics (May 4, 2011).
    • What is Shari’a?, ABC Religion and Ethics (Mar. 22, 2011).
    • The Narcissistic Delusions of Hosni Mubarak, ABC Religion and Ethics (Mar. 20, 2011).
    • The Nature of Law and Morality, Policy Research Center, Islamic Foundation, Islamic Society of Britain (April 2010).
    • More of the Same: Obama in Cairo, Political Theology's first Web Editorial, and Religion and Ethics Newsweekly (2009).
    • Al-Qaeda and Saudi Arabia, Wall Street Journal (November, 2003).
    • On Rebuilding Iraq, Wall Street Journal (April, 2003).
    • Islam and the Challenge of Democracy, 28 Boston Review (April/May 2003).
    • Rebuilding the Law, Wall Street Journal (April 21, 2003).
    • Book Review, 32 International Journal of Middle Eastern Studies (2002). Reviewing The Origins of Islamic Law: The Qur'an, the Muwatta' and Madianan 'Amal, by Yasin Dutton.
    • Past Year Has Been Difficult for American Muslims, Dallas Morning News (Sept. 2002).
    • U.S. Muslims, Unify and Stand Up, Los Angeles Times (July 14, 2002).
    • Moderate Muslims Under Siege, New York Times (July 1, 2002).
    • Islam and Tolerance: Abou El Fadl Replies, 27 Boston Review (February/March 2002).
    • The Place of Tolerance in Islam, 26 Boston Review (December 2001/January 2002). Translated into Arabic for publication in Al-Rashad.
    • Islam and the Theology of Power, 221 Middle East Report 28-33 (Winter 2001).
    • What Became of Tolerance in Islam?, Los Angeles Times (Sept. 14, 2001).
    • Terrorism is at Odds With Islamic Tradition, Los Angeles Times (Aug. 22, 2001).
    • Islamic Sex Laws, Los Angeles Daily Journal (Aug. 5, 1999).
    • Human Rights Must Include Tolerance, Los Angeles Times (Aug. 12, 1997). Republished in: Austin-American Statesman (Aug. 15, 1997); the Orlando Sentinel (Aug. 18, 1997); The Philadelphia Inquirer Aug. 22, 1997; The Trenton Times (Aug. 25, 1997); Houston Chronicle (Aug. 25, 1997). Also appeared in Canadian newspapers and the Herald Tribune in London, England.
    • Book Review, 9 The American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences 268-72 (1992). Reviewing Law and Islam in the Middle East, edited by Daisy H. Dwyer.
    • Critique: Reviewing U.S. Department of State's Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, Egypt.  Lawyer's Committee for Human Rights for the years 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, and 1996.
    • Weathering Away (Poem), in The Weathervane (Yale University Press, 1985).
    • Lebanon: Microcosm of the Middle East Conflict, The Yale International Forum (May, 1984).
    • Just Some Whispering Thoughts (Dar al-Buhuth al- Ilmiyya, 1980). Book of Poetry.
    • Published several Arabic articles, short stories and poems in Egyptian and Kuwaiti newspapers.

Courses Available

LAW 338

Islamic Jurisprudence
LAW 270

Public International Law
LAW 273

International Human Rights Law
LAW 477

Muslims, Race & the Law
LAW 456

The History of American Legal Thought
LAW 383

Political Asylum and Refugee Law
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