Central Eurasia Society Event: Speaker Mohammad Fadel

Contrary to popular belief, Islam is not an "Arab" religion, even if it originated among the Arabs. Not only are Arabs a distinct minority within the world of Islam, non-Arab Muslims played a fundamental role in formulating the meaning of Islam from the earliest periods of Islamic history to the present day. In particular, the lands of Central Asia along the Silk Route played a critical role in the formulation and transmission of what we know as normative Islam. I will discuss some of the major figures of Central Asian Islam and their influence in the development of Islamic law and theology. Mohammad Fadel completed his Ph.D at the University of Chicago where he wrote his dissertation in medieval Islamic legal history. He received his JD from the University of Virginia. He is currently a Professor at the University of Toronto's Faculty of Law where he teaches a number of classes on contemporary business law and Muslims in the liberal state. He has published numerous articles on Islamic legal history and Islamic law in the modern age. Before coming to the University of Toronto, Professor Fadel worked at the law firm of Sullivan & Cromwell LLP in New York.

For more information, contact Jonathan Song at  jun.xu@utoronto.ca