Faisal Devji (born 1964) is a historian who specializes in studies of

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

globalization Globalization is the process of increasing interdependence and integration among the economies, markets, societies, and cultures of different countries worldwide. This is made possible by the reduction of barriers to international trade, th ...

, violence and ethics. He is Professor of Indian History at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, 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 List of oldest un ...

and Director of the Asian Studies Centre at

St Antony's College St Antony's College is a colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college 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 intern ...

Life and career

Devji was born in

Dar es Salaam Dar es Salaam (, ; from ) is the largest city and financial hub of Tanzania. It is also the capital of the Dar es Salaam Region. With a population of over 7 million people, Dar es Salaam is the largest city in East Africa by population and the ...

in 1964 to a family of western Indian origin. His undergraduate education was at the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a Public university, public research university with campuses near University of British Columbia Vancouver, Vancouver and University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, in British Columbia, Canada ...

, where he received double honors in history and anthropology. He received his PhD from the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

with his dissertation ''Muslim Nationalism: Founding Identity in Colonial India'' and was chosen to be a Junior Fellow at the

Harvard Society of Fellows The Society of Fellows is a group of scholars selected at the beginnings of their careers by Harvard University for their potential to advance academic wisdom, upon whom are bestowed distinctive opportunities to foster their individual and intellect ...

. His doctoral supervisor was Fazlur Rahman. After leaving Harvard he became head of graduate studies at the

Institute of Ismaili Studies The Institute of Ismaili Studies (IIS) is a research institute in London, United Kingdom. It aims to promote the study of Muslim cultures and societies, both historical and contemporary, in order to foster a greater understanding of their relatio ...

in London. Devji returned to academic life in 2003, holding faculty positions at the

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

and

The New School The New School is a Private university, private research university in New York City. It was founded in 1919 as The New School for Social Research with an original mission dedicated to academic freedom and intellectual inquiry and a home for p ...

before joining the

in 2009. Initially appointed a Reader in South Asian History, he was awarded the

Title of Distinction The University of Oxford introduced Titles of Distinction for senior academics in the 1990s. These are not established chairs, which are posts funded by endowment for academics with a distinguished career in British and European universities. Howeve ...

of Professor of Indian History by the university in September 2018. In Michaelmas term 2025 he will take up the newly-renamed position of Beit Professor of Global and Imperial History at

Balliol College, Oxford Balliol College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded in 1263 by nobleman John I de Balliol, it has a claim to be the oldest college in Oxford and the English-speaking world. With a governing body of a master and aro ...

. Devji is Zanzibari, and is now a Canadian citizen. In addition to his Oxford professorship, he is a senior fellow at the Institute for Public Knowledge (

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

) and Yves Oltramar Chair at the

Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies The Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (, abbreviated IHEID), commonly referred to as Geneva Graduate Institute, is a graduate-level research university in Geneva, Switzerland dedicated to international relations, dev ...

in Geneva.

Research

Devji's multidisciplinary work grounds empirical historical issues in philosophical questions. In 2005,

Cornell University Press The Cornell University Press is the university press of Cornell University, an Ivy League university in Ithaca, New York. It is currently housed in Sage House, the former residence of Henry William Sage. It was first established in 1869, maki ...

published his ''Landscapes of the Jihad: Militancy, Morality, Modernity'', exploring the ethical content of jihad as opposed to its more widely studied purported political content. The book draws a distinction between the majority of

Islamic fundamentalist Islamic fundamentalism has been defined as a revivalist and reform movement of Muslims who aim to return to the founding scriptures of Islam. The term has been used interchangeably with similar terms such as Islamism, Islamic revivalism, Qut ...

organizations concerned with the establishing of states and

al-Qaeda , image = Flag of Jihad.svg , caption = Jihadist flag, Flag used by various al-Qaeda factions , founder = Osama bin Laden{{Assassinated, Killing of Osama bin Laden , leaders = {{Plainlist, * Osama bin Lad ...

with its decentralized structure and emphasis on moral rather than political action. His next book was ''The Terrorist in Search of Humanity: Militant Islam and Global Politics'', published by

Columbia University Press Columbia University Press is a university press based in New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's la ...

in October 2008.

Bibliography

*''Landscapes of the Jihad: Militancy, Morality, Modernity'' (Ithaca:

, 2005) *''The Terrorist in Search of Humanity: Militant Islam and Global Politics'' (New York:

, 2008) *''The Impossible Indian: Gandhi and the Temptations of Violence'' (Cambridge, MA:

Harvard University Press Harvard University Press (HUP) is an academic publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University. It is a member of the Association of University Presses. Its director since 2017 is George Andreou. The pres ...

, 2012) *''Muslim Zion: Pakistan as a Political Idea'' (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2013) *''Political Thought in Action: The Bhagavad Gita and Modern India'' (co-editor with Shruti Kapila; Cambridge:

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press was the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted a letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it was the oldest university press in the world. Cambridge University Press merged with Cambridge Assessme ...

, 2013) *''Islam After Liberalism'' (co-editor with Zaheer Kazmi; New York:

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, 2017)

References

External links

Faisal Devji's homepage
at the New School
Online essays by Faisal Devji
at

openDemocracy.net openDemocracy is an independent media platform and news website based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 2001, openDemocracy states that through reporting and analysis of social and political issues, they seek to "challenge power and encourage d ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Devji, Faisal 1964 births Living people Zanzibari people of Indian descent 21st-century Canadian historians Canadian male non-fiction writers University of British Columbia alumni University of Chicago alumni University of Chicago faculty Yale University faculty Harvard University faculty The New School faculty Academic staff of the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies Tanzanian emigrants to Canada Canadian people of Gujarati descent People from Dar es Salaam Historians of Islam Historians of India Fellows of St Antony's College, Oxford Fellows of Balliol College, Oxford Beit Professors of Global and Imperial History