PAUL L - Georgetown University

PAUL L. HECK
Professor, Islamic Studies, Department of Theology, Georgetown University
EMPLOYMENT
2004—
2015—
2008—
2007
2001—2004
2000-2001
Georgetown University, Full Professor since May 2015
Pontifical Institute, Arabic/Islamic Studies (PISAI), Affiliated
Muhammad V University, Rabat, Affiliated
John Carroll University, Tuohy Chair of Inter-religious Studies
Princeton University, Society of Fellows in the Liberal Arts
Post-Doctoral Research Fellow, Encyclopaedia of the Qur’an
THE STUDY OF RELIGIONS ACROSS CIVILIZATION (SORAC), 2008(religionsacrosscivilizations.org): A program for the cross-cultural study of
religion in cooperation with Muhammad V University, Rabat and other educational
institutions in Morocco: SORAC aims to cultivate a particular niche in religious
studies and a method of theological insight for today’s world based on scholarly
engagement with multiple forms of religious reasoning. Programs have been funded
through grants (totaling more than half a million dollars) from the Institute for
Intercultural Studies and the Fund for Innovation in Public Diplomacy.
EDUCATION
Ph.D. Chicago, Islamic Studies, 2000
M.St. Oxford, Classical Literature, 1990
B.A. Harvard, Classical Literature, 1988.
UNIVERSITY SERVICE (selection)
Graduate Executive Committee, Theology, 2013—
Graduate Admissions Committee, Theology, 2005—
Steering Committee, Berkley Center, 2005-2013
Intellectual Life Committee, Theology, 2005-2010
Search Committees that hired Drs. Opwis (GU), Akinade (GU-Q), Gannagé (GU)
AWARDS (selection)
Fulbright, Muhammad V University (2008-2009)
Whiting Fellowship, Chicago (1999-2000)
Fulbright, University of Jordan (1997-1998)
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PUBLICATIONS
Books
Authored
Skepticism in Classical Islam: Moments of Confusion: Routledge 2013
Common Ground: Islam, Christianity, and Religious Pluralism: GUP 2009
The Construction of Knowledge in Islamic Civilization: Brill 2002
Edited
Sufism and Politics: The Power of Spirituality: Markus Wiener Press 2006
Current Book Projects
1) The Religious Purpose of Emotions in Islam
2) Concepts of Covenant in the Heritage of Abraham
3) One Polity, Two Sovereigns: Political Theology in Islam
Articles
Published
“Mawardi and Augustine on Governance: How to Restrain the Restrainer?”
Studies in Christian Ethics 29.2 (2016), 158-168.
“God’s Gift of Prayer to the Children of Abraham: Christians and Muslims in
Sacrificial Solidarity,” Islamochristiana 41 (2015), 57-73.
“Ethics, Sufism,” Encyclopedia of Islam (3rd edition).
“Friendship in the Service of Governance: Makārim al-Akhlāq in Abbasid
Political Culture,” in M.A. Pomerantz and A.A. Shahin, The Heritage of AraboIslamic Learning: Studies Presented to Wadad Kadi (Brill 2015), pp. 73-90.
“Signs of Skepticism in Early Abbasid Literature: The Case of al-Jāḥiẓ (d.
266/869),” Journal of Abbasid Studies 2 (2015), 1-25
“Knowledge,” in G. Böwering (ed.), Islamic Political Thought: An Introduction
(Princeton University Press 2014), pp. 105-122
“Conscience Across Cultures: The Case of Islam,” Journal of Religion 94.3
(2014), 1-33
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“Human Experience as Source of Moral Insight: Ibn Ḥazm’s Ṭawq alḤamāma,” Islamochristiana 39 (2013), 93-109
“Is the King a Democrat: The Politics of Islam in Morocco,” in M. Kessler (ed.),
Political Theology for a Plural Age (OUP 2013), pp. 108-132
“Turkish in the Language of the Qur’an: Hira’ Magazine,” in G. Barton et al.
(eds.), The Muslim World and Politics in Transition: Creation Contributions of
the Gülen Movement (Continuum 2013), pp. 143-153
“An Early Response to Wahhabism from Morocco: The Politics of
Intercession,” Studia Islamica 107 (2012), 235-254
“Paul and Muhammad: The Challenge of the Convert,” Islamochristiana 37
(2012), 127-143
“Abu Yusuf,” “Advice,” “Bureaucracy,” “Knowledge,” “Mulla ‘Umar,” and
“Usama Bin Ladin,” in G. Böwering (ed.), Encyclopedia of Islamic Political
Thought (Princeton University Press 2012).
“Language Theory and State Officials in the Reign of al-Muqtadir,” in J. Nawas
(ed.), 'ABBASID STUDIES II: Occasional Papers of the School of 'Abbasid Studies,
Leuven, 28 June - 1 July 2004 (Peeters 2010), pp. 271-282
“Joveyni, Emam al-Haramayn,” Encyclopedia Iranica, vol. 15 (2009), 68-71
“The Politics of Sufism: Is There One?” in C. Raudvere and L. Stenberg (eds.),
Sufism Today: Heritage and Tradition in the Global Community (I.B. Tauris
2008), pp. 13-29
“The Transmission of Knowledge in Islam,” in A. Rippin (ed.), The Islamic
World (Routledge 2008), pp. 312-324
“Doubts about the Religious Community (Milla) in al-Farabi and the Brethren
of Purity,” in P. Adamson (ed.), In the Age of al-Farabi: Arabic Philosophy in
the 4th/10th Century (Warburg Institute 2008), pp. 195-213
“Muhammad al-Habach et le dialogue interreligieux,” in B. Dupret et al. (eds.),
La Syrie au present (Actes Sud Sindbad 2007), pp. 413-420
“Noble Character in Islam,” Archiv für Religionswissenschaft 9 (2007), 37-50
“Sufism – What Is It Exactly?” Religion Compass 1 (2006), 148-164
“Mysticism and Morality: The Case of Sufism,” Journal of Religious Ethics 34
(2006), 253-286
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“The Crisis of Knowledge in Islam (I): The case of al-‘Āmirī,” Philosophy East
and West 56 (2006), 106-135
“Religion and the Authoritarian State: The Case of Syria,” Democracy and
Society 4 (2005), 4-9
“Eschatological Scripturalism and End of Community: Kharijism,” Archiv für
Religionswissenschaft 7 (2005), 137-152
“Jihad Revisited,” Journal of Religious Ethics 32 (2004), 95-128
“Religious Renewal in Syria: The Case of Muhammad al-Habash,” Islam &
Christian-Muslim Relations 15 (2004), 185-207
“Politics and the Qur’ān,” “Poll-Tax,” Scrolls,” “Taxation,” and “Vow,” in J.D.
McAuliffe (ed.), Encyclopædia of the Qur’ān (Brill 2001-2006)
“Role of Law in Abbasid Political Thought. From Ibn al-Muqaffa‘ (d. 139/756)
to Qudāma b. Ja‘far (d. 337/948),” in J.E. Montgomery (ed.), 'ABBASID STUDIES:
Occasional Papers of the School of Abbasid Studies (Peeters 2004)
“The Epistemological Problem of Writing in Islam,” Studia Islamica 94
(2002), 85-114
“Hierarchy of Knowledge in Islamic Civilization,” Arabica 48 (2002), 27-54
“Genres, Values and the Construction of Knowledge in Islam,” Bulletin of
Middle East Medievalists 13 (2001), 34-36
“Orientalism and Post-Modernism. A Note on Studying Islam with Muslims,”
Islamochristiana 26 (2001), 95-106
Forthcoming
“Sadness in Classical Islam: Its Relation to the Goals of Religion,” proceedings
of Emotions across Cultures: Classical Greek and Arabic, New York University
Abu Dhabi 25-26 February 2015
“The Descent of God's sakīna onto the Hearts of Believers: Bodily
Implications," proceedings of The Aesthetics of Crossing: Experiencing the
Beyond in Abrahamic Traditions, Utrecht University, 19-21 March 2015
“Adab in the Thought of Ghazālī (d. 505/1111): In the Service of Mystical
Insight,” in E. Feuillebois-Pierunek et al. (eds.), Ethics and Spirituality in
Islam: The Sufi Adab (proceedings of 2012 conference at University of Paris)
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“Skepticism in Classical Islam,” in D. Machuca and B. Reed (eds.), Skepticism
from Antiquity to the Present (Bloomsbury)
“Contested Fields. Knowledge Mobility. Discipline Crystallization. 661-950,”
in R. Tottoli and A. Salvatore (eds.), The Wiley-Blackwell History of Islam and
Islamic Civilization
“This World and the Next: al-Jāḥiẓ (d. 255/869) on the Wisdom of Rule by
Islam,” proceedings of Prophets, Viziers and Philosophers: Figures of Wisdom
in Arabic Literature (8th–11th centuries), Frei Universtät, Berlin, 10-11
October 2014 (Barkhius)
“Apocalyptic and Eschatological,” “Cosmology,” “Death and Afterlife,”
“Martyrdom,” “Preaching,” and “Shūrā,” in Oliver Nicholson (ed.), The Oxford
Dictionary of Late Antiquity
“Political Theology,” in M. Dakake and D.A. Madigan (eds.), The Routledge
Companion to the Qur’an
“Spiritual Jihad: Treating the Sick Soul according to Aḥmad Zarrūq (d.
899/1494),” proceedings of Spiritual Jihad, John Carroll, November 2015
Reviews (selection)
* Striving in the Path of God. Jihād and Martyrdom in Islamic Thought, A.
Afsaruddin: Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft
* Religion and State in Syria: The Sunni Ulama from Coup to Revolution, T.
Pierret: International Journal of Middle East Studies
* Keeping Faith at Princeton: A Brief History of Religious Pluralism at Princeton
and Other Universities, F. Houk Borsch: The European Legacy: Towards New
Paradigms
* Routes and Realms: The Power of Place in the Early Islamic World, Z. Antrim:
Journal of Historical Geography
* Ibn Hazm of Cordoba: The Life and Works of a Controversial Thinker, C.
Adang et al. (eds.): Marginalia
* Forgotten Saints: History, Power, and Politics in the Making of Modern
Morocco, S. Bazzaz: American Historical Review
* The Qur’an: Modern Muslim Interpretations, M. Campanini: Journal of Shi‘a
Islamic Studies
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* Modern Muslim Intellectuals and the Qur’an, S. Taj-Farouki (ed.): Die Welt
des Islams
* Guests of God. Pilgrimage and Politics in the Islamic World, R.R. Bianchi:
Journal of Near Eastern Studies
* Classification of Knowledge in Islam, O. Bakar: Bibliotheca Orientalis
* Mystic Regimes: Sufism and the State in Iran, M. Van Den Bos: International
Journal of Middle East Studies
* The Persian Presence in the Islamic World, R. Hovannisian and G. Sabagh
(eds.): Iran-Shenasi
* Sufism and Theology, A. Shihadeh (ed.): Journal of Qur’anic Studies
Doctoral Advisees
Diego Sarrio Cucarella, SMA (Georgetown 2014), dissertation now published
as Muslim-Christian Polemics across the Mediterranean: The Splendid Replies
of Shihāb al-Dīn al-Qarāfī (d. 684/1285) (Brill 2015)
Jason Welle, OFM—Ethics in Classical Sufism (Georgetown University)
Nicholas Boylston—Classical Persian Mysticism (Georgetown University)
Matthew Anderson—Blasphemy in Classical Islam (Georgetown University)
Matthew Taylor—Scripturalist Reasoning (Georgetown University)
Joshua Mugler—The Holy City in Late Antiquity (Georgetown University)
Wan Norhaziki Wan Abdul Halim—Loyalty/Disloyalty in Islam (PISAI)
Doctoral Committees
Henri Lauziere (Georgetown 2008), dissertation now published as The
Making of Salafism: Islamic Reform in the Twentieth Century (Columbia 2015)
George Archer (Georgetown University 2015)—“A Place between Two
Places: The Qur'an's Intermediate State and the Early History of the Barzakh”
Brooks Barber (Catholic University of America 2015)—“Poverty in alGhazali’s Ihyā’ ‘Ulūm al-Dīn”
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Pamela Klasova—Early Arabic Rhetoric (Georgetown University)
Tasi Perkins—Suffering and Divine Care in Shi'ism (Georgetown University)
COURSE OFFERINGS
Undergraduate (selection):
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Martyrdom: Dying for God
Theo-Humanism: Great Books about God
The Gods of Abraham: Father of Faith across Traditions
Empire and Religions
Modern Fundamentalisms
Graduate (selection)
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Sufism: Spirituality and Society
Political Theology: The Case of Islam
Skepticism in Classical Islamic Theology
Religious Humanism: The Case of Islam
Scriptural Reasoning: The Case of Islam
BLOG: A Nation in Need of Theology (paulheck.org): essays on religion and society.
THEO-HUMANISM VIDEO PROJECT: multiple online videos (available on YouTube)
on the convergence between humanistic literature and theological reflection.
Languages: Arabic, Persian, Turkish, French, German, Ancient Greek, Latin, Hebrew
Public Lectures: Numerous lectures delivered at professional societies,
universities, religious communities, and domestic and international conferences
Articles in non-scholarly journals (selection):
“The Pope and the Prophet,” National Interest (September 20, 2006)
“A Post-US Iraq,” National Interest (November 16, 2006)
“Violence, Morality and Islam’s Call,” On Faith: Washington Post (July 24, 2007)
Professional Societies:
American Academy of Religion (AAR)
American Oriental Society (AOS)
Middle East Medievalists (MEM)
Middle East Studies Association (MESA)
School of Abbasid Studies (SAS)
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