Muhammad Mufaku al-Arnaut (; born 1952) is a Kosovar Albanian Syrian and retired professor of

Middle East studies Middle Eastern studies, sometimes referred to as Near Eastern studies, West Asian Studies or South Western Asian studies, is a name given to a number of academic programs associated with the study of the history, culture, politics, economies, an ...

. Muhammad Mufaku was born (1952) in

Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

. He graduated from

Damascus University Damascus University () is the largest and oldest university in Syria, located in the capital Damascus, with campuses in other Syrian cities. It was founded in 1923 as the Syrian University () through the merger of the Faculty of Medicine of Dama ...

with a degree in Arabic language and literature. Mufaku completed his master's and doctorate degrees in comparative literature and history at Pristina University,

Kosovo Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...

. Later Mufaku taught at Pristina University and was based in its Department of Oriental Studies until 1987 when he was expelled by the Milošević government of Yugoslavian Serbia. In Jordan he became a professor of modern history and taught in a number of its universities like at

Yarmouk University Yarmouk University (), also abbreviated YU, is a comprehensive public and state supported university located near the city centre of Irbid in northern Jordan. Since its establishment in 1976, it has been at the forefront of Jordanian and Middle E ...

Irbid Irbid (), known in ancient times as Arabella or Arbela (Άρβηλα in Ancient Greek language, Ancient Greek), is the capital and largest city of Irbid Governorate. It has the second-largest metropolitan population in Jordan after Amman, with a ...

and later was a lecturer at

Al al-Bayt University Al al-Bayt University (often abbreviated AABU) is a public university in Jordan. It is located on the outskirts of the city of Mafraq, 65 Kilometers to the north-east of the capital Amman. The university has integrated academic facilities, studen ...

Mafrak Mafraq ( ''Al-Mafraq'', local dialects: ''Mafrag'' or ''Mafra''; ) is the capital city of Mafraq Governorate in Jordan, located 80 km to the north of the national capital, Amman. It is located at a crossroads, with a road north going to Syri ...

until his retirement in 2018. During that time, Mufaku became the director of the House of Wisdom Institute, was a member of the Syrian Arab Academy of Sciences and a member of the Academy of Sciences and Arts of Kosovo. In the late 2010s, Mufaku was also elected by the assembly of the Oriental Studies Institute in Pristina as its director. Mufaku has written more than 30 books and over 100 articles in the Arabic and Albanian languages. His works have focused on Albanian history, Arab-Albanian relations, Albanian diaspora writings in Arabic and Balkan Islamic subjects. Mufaku has authored some pioneering works, due to his ability of researching Balkan and Arabic sources. In parts of the Levant, the Gulf, North Africa and the Muslim areas of the Balkans, Mufaku is recognised for his scholarly works, and in the Arab world he is considered an expert on Islam in the Balkans. Some works by Mufaku have aimed to reacquaint Arabic readers with the historical Muslim presence in the Balkans, an area of study often neglected in Middle Eastern academia. In 2012, Mufaku was decorated with the Medal of Merit by Kosovo's president.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mufaku, Muhammad 1952 births People from Damascus Academic staff of Yarmouk University Academic staff of the University of Pristina 20th-century Syrian historians 21st-century Syrian historians Syrian people of Albanian descent Damascus University alumni University of Pristina alumni Syrian academics Living people Academic staff of Al al-Bayt University