Aurangzeb Haneef
Assistant Professor, Study of Religion
Director, Minor in the Study of Religion (2024–2027)
Aurangzeb Haneef’s research lies at the intersection of Islamic intellectual history and the study of religion in the modern period. His work explores the formative and early classical periods of Islam, with particular attention to Qurʾānic exegesis (tafsīr), ḥadīth, historiography, manuscript culture, and the transmission of knowledge. His doctoral research examined the tafsīr attributed to Sufyān al-Thawrī (d. 161/778), situating it within its intellectual and historical contexts. Beyond the premodern period, his scholarship engages contemporary questions about conflict, peacebuilding, justice, and ecology through the lens of religion and scriptural interpretation.
Education
Ph.D., Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies, University of Edinburgh, 2022
Thesis: “The Tafsīr of Sufyān al-Thawrī (d. 161/778): A study of its provenance, sources, methods, and topics”Master of Theological Studies, Harvard Divinity School, 2009 (Islamic Studies)
International M.A. in Peace, Conflict, and Development Studies, Universitat Jaume I / University of Innsbruck, 2007
Thesis: “Religion and Peacebuilding: Nonviolence and Use of Force in Islam”
Courses Taught
Islamic Studies (core)
Qurʾān and Its Interpreters: Between Text and Context
Religion, Conflict, and Peacebuilding
Jihād: Religion and Warfare in the Islamicate Context
Planned offerings: The Sacred Nature: Religion and Ecology; Theologies of Liberation: Justice in World Religions; The Prophetic Word: Ḥadīth in Context; Qurʾān in the Modern Age
Academic and Other Links
Photography: @AurangzebH