Aziz Al-Azmeh (

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walte ...

: عزيز العظمة) (born July 24, 1947) is a

Syrian Syrians ( ar, سُورِيُّون, ''Sūriyyīn'') are an Eastern Mediterranean ethnic group indigenous to the Levant. They share common Levantine Semitic roots. The cultural and linguistic heritage of the Syrian people is a blend of both indig ...

academic and professor at the Department of History,

Central European University Central European University (CEU) is a private research university accredited in Austria, Hungary, and the United States, with campuses in Vienna and Budapest. The university is known for its highly intensive programs in the social sciences and ...

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

. Among other books and papers, he published ''

Islams and Modernities ''Islams and Modernities'' is a book by Aziz Al-Azmeh, a professor at Central European University. It was first released in 1993. The book explores the history of interaction between Islam and Europe, analyzing myths about those interactions c ...

''. In May 1993, he received the Republican Order of Merit, for services to Arab culture, from former President of Tunisia,

Zine El Abidine Ben Ali Zine El Abidine Ben Ali ( ar, زين العابدين بن علي, translit=Zayn al-'Ābidīn bin 'Alī; 3 September 1936 – 19 September 2019), commonly known as Ben Ali ( ar, بن علي) or Ezzine ( ar, الزين), was a Tunisian politician ...

Early life and education

Aziz Al-Azmeh was born on July 24, 1947 in Damascus, Syria. He received a D.Phil. in

Oriental Studies Oriental studies is the academic field that studies Near Eastern and Far Eastern societies and cultures, languages, peoples, history and archaeology. In recent years, the subject has often been turned into the newer terms of Middle Eastern stud ...

from

St Antony's College, Oxford St Antony's College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1950 as the result of the gift of French merchant Sir Antonin Besse of Aden, St Antony's specialises in international relations, economics ...

(supervised by

Albert Hourani Albert Habib Hourani ( ar, ألبرت حبيب حوراني ''Albart Ḥabīb Ḥūrānī''; 31 March 1915 – 17 January 1993) was a Lebanese British historian, specialising in the history of the Middle East and Middle Eastern studies. Bac ...

), having previously attended the

University of Tübingen The University of Tübingen, officially the Eberhard Karl University of Tübingen (german: Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen; la, Universitas Eberhardina Carolina), is a public research university located in the city of Tübingen, Baden-W� ...

, and the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universit ...

Career

He has taught undergraduate and postgraduate courses (though latterly focusing on postgraduate teaching and research) across the whole thematic range of Arab and Islamic historical studies, medieval and modern, at the

, the American University of Beirut,

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manha ...

, the

University of Exeter , mottoeng = "We Follow the Light" , established = 1838 - St Luke's College1855 - Exeter School of Art1863 - Exeter School of Science 1955 - University of Exeter (received royal charter) , type = Public , ...

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to ...

, the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the world's second-oldest university in contin ...

, the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

(where he was the Sultan Visiting Professor),

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...

, and more recently at the Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations of the

Aga Khan University Aga Khan University is a non-profit institution and an agency of the Aga Khan Development Network. It was Founded in 1983 as Pakistan's first private university. Starting in 2000, the university expanded to Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, the United Ki ...

.Ruhr-Universität Bochum - Aziz Al-Azmeh, Prof. Dr.
/ref> He has served on the editorial boards of several academic journals, including the ''Medieval History Journal'' and the ''

Journal of Arabic and Islamic Studies The ''Journal of Arabic and Islamic Studies'', often abbreviated to ''JAIS'', is an international, peer-reviewed academic journal. It was founded in 1995 by Joseph N. Bell from the University of Bergen, Norway, and Petr Zemánek from Charles Univ ...

''. In addition, Al-Azmeh has been invited to various international conferences, talks, seminars, lectures and symposia.Archived resume from 2007
/ref> His book ''

'' was released on October 17, 1996. The book explore the history of interaction between Islam and

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located enti ...

, analyzing myths about those interactions created by Orientalist and Islamist viewpoints. A new version was released on August 7, 2009, also examining "the discourse surrounding Islamism and irrationalism after 9/11." ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide ...

'' wrote that "''Islams and Modernities'' raises urgent questions that are central to the concerns of the contemporary world.” ''

New Statesman The ''New Statesman'' is a British political and cultural magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first connected with Sidney and Beatrice Webb and other leading members o ...

'' wrote that “Aziz Al-Azmeh is perhaps the most original thinker on these themes in Britain today." In 2002 he became a professor at the

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

. In 2010, he was then a visiting research fellow at the university in the School of History and Interdisciplinary Historical Studies.

Awards and honors

*1993: The Republican Order of Merit, for services to Arab culture, was conferred by the former President of Tunisia,

in May. *2005: An international conference was held at the

, to mark the tenth anniversary of the publication of book ''

''. The proceedings, papers delivered and transcript of discussions, are in preparation for publication.

Bibliography

* ''Arabic Thought and Islamic Societies'' (1986) * ''Ibn Khaldun: An Essay in Reinterpretation'' (1990) * ''

'' (1993) * ''Muslim Kingship: Power and the Sacred in Muslim, Christian and Pagan Polities'' (1997) * ''The Times of History: Universal Topics in Islamic Historiography'' (2007) * ''The Emergence of Islam in Late Antiquity: Allah and His People'' (2014)

References

External links

Aziz Al-Azmeh: Is Islamism the Arab Destiny?

The Relevance and Irrelevance of Muslim Political Traditions

Podcast
at Oxford University
Profile
at Department of History, CEU
Profile
at Department of Medieval Studies, CEU

{{DEFAULTSORT:Azmah, Aziz 1947 births Syrian Christians Syrian people of Turkish descent Syrian academics People from Damascus Living people Historians of Islam Academic staff of Central European University University of Tübingen alumni University of Pennsylvania alumni Academic staff of Kuwait University Alumni of St Antony's College, Oxford Critics of postmodernism Syrian expatriates in the United States Syrian expatriates in the United Kingdom Syrian expatriates in Kuwait Syrian expatriates in Hungary Al-Azma family

Early life and education

Career

Awards and honors

Bibliography

See also

References

External links