People

Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na'im

Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na'im

Role: Senior Fellow
Education: Ph.D., University of Edinburgh LL.B. ; University of Cambridge LL.B. LL.M. M.A. in Criminology; University of Khartoum
Webpage: click here

Charles Howard Candler Professor of Law, Emory University

Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na`im is a world-renowned scholar of Islam and human rights.

Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na`im is Charles Howard Candler Professor of Law at Emory University. Prior to joining Emory in 1995, he was Executive Director of Human Rights Watch/Africa. In February 2009, An-Na`im received an Honorary Doctorate from the Universite catholique de Louvain (UCL, Louvain-la-Neuve) and Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (K.U. Leuven, Leuven), Belgium. He also served as Global Legal Scholar at the Law School, University of Warwick, UK (until August 2010); and Extraordinary Professor at the Centre for Human Rights, Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria (until December 2010). An-Na`im has published more than 60 articles and book chapters on human rights, constitutionalism, Islamic law and politics. As a 2009 Carnegie Scholar, he is working on a book manuscript for Oxford University Press, tentatively entitled: “What is an American Muslim,” in which he is applying the thesis presented in his 2008 book, Islam and the Secular State: Negotiating the Future of Shari`a. This book is available for download free of charge in eight languages of Islamic societies at (http://sharia.law.emory.edu).

Publications & Lectures

Books

What Is an American Muslim? Embracing Faith and Citizenship, Oxford University Press, 2014
Muslim dan Keadilan Global, IMR Press, 2013
Muslims and Global Justice, University of Pennsylvania Press, 2011
Islam and Human Rights, Collected Essays in Law, Ashgate, 2010
Sharia and the Secular State in the Middle East and Europe, 2009
Islam and the Secular State: Negotiating the Future of Shari`a, Harvard University Press, 2008
African Constitutionalism and the Role of Islam, University of Pennsylvania Press, 2006
Islam and Human Rights: Advocacy for Social Change in Local Contexts, Global Media Publications, 2006
Inter-religious Marriages Among Muslims: Negotiating Religious and Social Identity in Family and Community, Global Media Publications, 2005
Cultural Transformation and Human Rights in Africa, Zed Books, 2002
Islamic Family Law in a Changing World: A Global Resource Book, Zed Books, 2002
Proselytization and Communal Self-Determination in Africa, Orbis Books, 1999
Human Rights and Religious Values: An Uneasy Relationship?, Rodopi, 1995
Human Rights in Africa: Cross-Cultural Perspectives, The Brookings Institution, 1990
Toward an Islamic Reformation: Civil Liberties, Human Rights and International Law, Syracuse University Press, 1990

Journals

"Emory International Law Review," Emory International Law Review, Vol. 25, No. 2 (2011)
"Religion, Family Law, and Recognition of Identity in Nigeria ," Emory International Law Review, Vol. 25, No. 2 (2011): 945-966

Articles

"The Compatibility Dialectic: Mediating the Legitimate Coexistence of Islamic Law and State Law," Modern Law Review, Vol. 73, No. 1 (2010): 1-29
"Islam and the Secular State: Framework for Christian-Muslim Relations," Islamochristiana, Pontifico Instituto di Studi Arabi e D’Islamica (PISA), , Vol. 35 (2009): 157-169
"Religion, the State and Constitutionalism in Islamic and Comparative Perspectives," Drake Law Review, Vol. 57, No. 4 (2009): 829-50
"Globalization and Jurisprudence: An Islamic Perspective," Emory Law Journal, Vol. 54, No. Special Edition (2005): 25-51
"The Interdependence of Religion, Secularism, and Human Rights," Common Knowledge, Vol. 11, No. 1 (2005): 56-80
"Human Rights in the Arab World: A Regional Perspective," Human Rights Quarterly, Vol. 23 (2001): 701-732
"The Contingent Universality of Human Rights: The Case of Freedom of Expression in African and Islamic Contexts," Emory International Law Review, Vol. 11 (1997): 29-66
"Cultural Transformation and Normative Consensus on the Best Interest of the Child," International Journal of Law and the Family, Vol. 8, No. 1 (1994): 62-81
"Civil Rights in the Islamic Constitutional Traditions: Shared Ideals and Divergent Regimes," The John Marshall Law Review, Vol. 25 (1992): 267-293
"Human Rights in the Muslim World: Socio-Political Conditions and Scriptural Imperatives - A Preliminary Inquiry," Harvard Human Rights Journal, Vol. 3 (1990): 13-52
"Islamic Ambivalence to Political Violence: Islamic Law and International Terrorism," German Yearbook of International Law, Vol. 31 (1988): 307-336

Lecture Tours

Paper Presentation
"The Cross-Cultural Coherence of Intellectual History: The Case of the Second Message of Islam from Sudan"
Conceptual History and Global Translations: The Euro-Asian and African Semantics of the Social and the Economic, University of Helsinki
Finland
May 2011
Paper Presentation
"Coping with Shared Human Vulnerabilities: The Cultural Mediation of Resentment and Retaliation"
Istanbul Seminars 2011: Overcoming the Trap of Resentment, Istanbul Bilgi University – Santral Campus
Turkey
May 2011
Keynote
"A Democratic State Cannot be Islamic"
Social Justice in Egypt: Theory, Research, Practice
American University in Cairo, Egypt
May 2011
"Experiences in Freedom of Religion in the African Context"
The Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences
Vatican City
April 2011
Public Lecture
"Human Rights, Universality and Sovereignty: The Relevance and Irrelevance of Islamic Law"
Washington and Lee University School of Law and the Transnational Law Institute
April 2011
Speaker
"Renewing Moral Norms"
Of Heaven and Earth: Religion, Belief and Women’s Rights, The Carter Center
Atlanta, Georgia
April 2011
"The 2011 Dale Somers Memorial Lecture, “Human Rights in Africa: The Post-colonial and Post-Post-Colonial.”"
Georgia State University
April 2011
Keynote
"Sharia, State Law and Freedom of Religion in Oklahoma"
Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR)
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
March 2011
Presentation
"Tolerance and Freedom: Sustainability of Toleration in Public Discourse"
Conference on Toleration and Freedom: The American Experience in Context, Institute for Philosophy & Religion, Boston University
Boston, Massachusetts
March 2011
Lecture
"Beyond Minority Politics: American Muslims and Citizenship"
Institute on Culture, Religion and World Affairs, Boston University
Boston, Massachusetts
March 2011
Public Lecture
"Human Rights, Universality and Sovereignty in African and Islamic Perspectives"
Rothko Chapel
Houston, Texas
March 2011
Public Lecture
"American Muslims and Citizenship"
The Boulder Public Library
Boulder, Colorado
March 2011
Presentation
"Human Rights, Universality and Sovereignty: The Relevance and Irrelevance of Shari’a"
Conference on Human Rights in Islam: The Politics of Cultural Transformation, Duke University
Durham, North Carolina
February 2011
Keynote
"For Sustainable Peace: From Religious Responsibility to Legal Accountability"
Regional Conference, Peacekeeping in West Africa: Faith Communities and their Role in Conflict,”
Freetown, Sierra Leone
December 2010
The Diane Markowicz Memorial Lecture on Gender and Human Rights
"Polygamy and Gender Justice in the 21st Century: Reflections on Basic Principles"
Gender, Culture, Religion and the Law Project
Brandeis University
November 2010
Public Lecture
"Normative Pluralism and State Legal Systems"
University of Warwick Law School
UK
October 2010
Keynote
"Islamic Law and Secular Societies"
International Summer School, Rethinking Rights in a Plural Society, Alta Scuola Societa Economia Teologia
Venice, Italy
September 2010
Plenary Panel Speaker
"Comparative Constitutional Law and Religion"
The XVIIIth International Congress of Comparative Law, Georgetown Law Center
Washington, D.C.
July 2010
Panel Speaker
"Association of American Law Schools Section on Comparative Law - A Dialogue on Comparative Law in the Curriculum"
The XVIIIth International Congress of Comparative Law, Ritz Carlton Hotel
Washington, D.C.
July 2010
Seminar
"Contemporary Islamic Thought on Islam, Democracy and Human Rights"
IAIN (State Institute of Islamic Studies) Suan Ampel
Surabaya, Indonesia
July 2010
Keynote
"Sharia, National Law, Rule of Law and Human Rights"
Conference on Sharia Incorporated: Legal Systems in the Muslim World – Recent Development, Center for the Study of Islam and Society
Leiden University, the Netherlands
June 2010
Presentation
"Islam and Human Rights: Framing and Reframing the Inquiry"
International Conference, Human Rights Today: Foundations and Politics, Goethe University Frankfurt am Main
Frankfurt, Germany
June 2010
Lecture
"Islam, Modernity and Freedom: Mediating Competing Claims of Freedoms of Speech and Religion"
Building Bridges Seminar: Christian and Muslim Perspectives on Tradition and Modernity, Georgetown University
Washington, D.C.
May 2010
Lecture
"The Idea of Cosmopolitanism and Religion"
New York University Abu Dhabi, at New York University
April 2010
Public Lecture
"The Compatibility of Islamic Law and State Law"
Duke Islamic Studies Center and the Center for International and Comparative Law, Duke Law School
April 2010
Public Lecture
"Negotiating the Future of Sharia in the Secular State"
American University of Beirut
Beirut, Lebanon
December 2009
Presentation
"Universality of Human Rights"
Conference on the Universality of Human Rights in a Changing World, The Advisory Council on International Affairs on the Netherlands, The Hague, Senate Building
December 2009
Public Lecture
"Feed the Donkey First: Freedom of Religion and the Geopolitics of Human Rights"
Hudson Institute, the Center for Religious Freedom
Washington, D.C.
November 2009
Panel Presentation
"Normative and Legal Pluralism and the Limitations of ‘access to justice’ paradigm"
Beyond Apology and Utopia: Critical Engagements with Good Governance in the Arab World
University of Windsor
Windsor, Canada
October 2009
Public Lecture
"Islam and the Secular State: Negotiating the Future of Sharia"
University of Windsor
Windsor, Canada
October 2009
Conversation with Patrick Weil
"Secularism and Liberty of Conscience"
The Center for the Humanities, The Graduate Center, CUNY
New York City, NY
October 2009
Paper Presentation
"The Compatibility Dialectic: Mediating the legitimate coexistence of Islamic Law and State Law, Re-imagining the Sharia: Theory, Practice and Muslim Pluralism at Large"
Warwick University School of Law
Venice, Italy
September 2009
Muslims of the West: Negotiating Citizenship, International Workshop
"Muslims in the USA: A Case Study"
University of Warwick School of Law
Coventry, UK
June 2009
Chorley Lecture 2009
"The Compatibility of Islamic Law and State Law"
London School of Economics
London, UK
June 2009
"Islamic Law and The Secular State"
Committee Room 16, House of Commons, UK Parliament, Ian Stewart MP and the Henry Jackson Society
June 2009
Public Debate
"Why Muslims Need a Secular State and Western Politics should not Interfere"
Kosmoplis Institute
Utrecht, the Netherlands
May 2009
Public Lecture
"Islam and the Secular State: Implications for Christian-Muslim Relations"
PISAI Pontifical Institute of Arabic and Islamic Studies
Rome, Italy
May 2009
Third Carl Heinrich Becker Lecture
"Sharia and the Secular State in the Middle East and Europe"
Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin
Berlin, Germany
May 2009
Public Lecture
"Re-imagining International Law for a New Politics of Human Rights"
University of California, Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara, CA
May 2009
Public Lecture
"Re-imagining International Law for a New Politics of Human Rights"
UCLA
Los Angeles, CA
May 2009
The Margolis Lecture
"Faith in Peace: the ICC and the Dar Fur Crisis"
The Center for Global Peace and Conflict Studies
University of California, Irvine
Irvine, CA
May 2009
Public Lecture
"Re-imagining International Law for a New Politics of Human Rights"
The Interdisciplinary Center for the Scientific Study of Ethics and Morality, University of California, Irvine
Irvine, CA
May 2009
Presentation
"The Interdependence of the Religious and Secular: The Religious Fallacy of Fundamentalism"
International Workshop on Retreat of the Secular, Challenges of Religious Fundamentalism
York University
Toronto, Canada
May 2009
Tanner Lectures on Human Values
"Transcending Imperialism: Human Values and Global Citizenship"
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA
March 2010
Public Lecture
"Can Islamic Law be Reformed? How is the Question Relevant?"
American University of Beirut
Beirut, Lebanon
December 2009