Faculty Name
Mujahid Osman, M.GA; B.Soc.Sci Hon
Title
Instructor
Department
Philosophy & Religious Studies
Phone
404-270-5682
Office Location
Camille Olivia Hanks Cosby, Ed.D. Academic Center
Education
· Master of Global Affairs, International Peace Studies, University of Notre Dame
· Bachelor of Social Sciences Honours, Religious Studies, University of Cape Town
Biography
Mujahid Osman is a doctoral candidate in the Graduate Division of Religion at Emory University, Atlanta, USA. His work is at the intersection of Islam, progressive politics, queerness, coloniality, and liberation theology. He is also pursuing a certificate in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Emory University. Mujahid’s doctoral dissertation focusses on the theology and politics of social justice in the Muslim community of Cape Town, South Africa.
Mujahid holds a Master of Global Affairs with an International Peace Studies concentration from the University of Notre Dame where he examined forms of prophetic theologies and its role in building conditions of justpeace in the city of Jerusalem. He graduated with a Bachelor of Social Science Honors degree (in the first class) from the University of Cape Town (UCT) with a specialization in Religious Studies. Mujahid holds a B.A. in Political Studies and Religious Studies also from UCT.
He has worked with social justice organizations in Cape Town for over four years.
Courses Taught
· Introduction to the Qur’an
Research Interests
· Islamic Studies
· Feminist and Queer Theory
· Liberation Theology
· Religion, Gender, and Sexuality
· Religion, Violence, and Peacebuilding
News
Curriculum Vitae
Mujahid Osman
September 2023
Email: Mujahid.Osman@emory.edu
US Mobile: +1 404 539 4163
WhatsApp: +27 722 60 9544
Skype: mujahid.osman
Education and Academic Qualifications
Ph.D. Candidate, Asian, African, and Middle Eastern Religions
Graduate Division of Religion,
Emory University
Comprehensive Examinations (completed February 2022): Theory and Method in the Study of Religion, Islamic Studies, Secular Studies, Modern Islam
Tentative Dissertation Title: Witnessing for God: Ethics, Tradition, and Social Justice in Post-Apartheid South Africa
Master in Global Affairs (May 2019)
Specialization in International Peace Studies
Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, Keough School of Global Affairs
University of Notre Dame
Bachelor of Social Science Honours, in the First Class (December 2016)
Specialization in Religious Studies
University of Cape Town
Bachelor of Social Science, Dean’s Merit List (December 2015)
Majoring in Political Science and Religious Studies
University of Cape Town
Research Interests
Islamic Studies (Qur’anic Studies, Hadith Studies, Law and Authority, Ethics, Sufism, Anthropology of Islam)
Religion and Ethnography
Religion, Violence, and Peacebuilding
Religion, Gender, and Queerness
Liberation Theology
Postcolonial/Decolonial Thought
Publications: Peer-Reviewed Journal Publications
“Waterslamse in the Cape,” Indigenous Religious Traditions (under review).
with Sa’diyya Shaikh, “Islam, Muslims and the Politics of Queerness in Cape Town,” Journal of Gender and Religion in Africa, 23, no. 2. (2017): 43-67.
Publications: Book Chapters
with Sa’diyya Shaikh, “Queer Muslims in South Africa: Disrupting Normativities, Reimagining Possibilities,” in Sex, Sexuality, and Sexual Diversity in Islamic Thought and Praxis, ed. Scott Kugle and Omid Safi (under review, Duke University Press).
with Megan Robertson, “Queer Agency in South Africa: Lived Religion in the Rainbow Nation,” in Resisting Theologies and the Everyday: Addressing Inequalities in Constructive, Practical, and Liberative Approaches, ed. Wren Radford (under production, Bloomsbury Publishing).
“Toward an Intersectional Islamic Ethic: Reading the Engaged Scholarship of Saʾdiyya Shaikh,” in Nehanda: Women’s Theologies of Liberation in Southern Africa, ed. Fundiswa Kobo (under production, University of Bamberg Press).
Publications: Book Reviews
“Haji Mohamed Dawjee, Sorry, Not Sorry: Experiences of a brown woman in a white South Africa,” The African Journal of Gender and Religion, 4, no. 2 (2018): 142-146.
“Gilles, Kepel, Terror in France: The Rise of Jihad in the West.” Reading Religion.
Publications: Blog Posts
“Reading Religion and Queerness in Postcolonial Africa.” Contending Modernities, October 2021
Publications: Community
“Qur’anic Reflections: What does it mean to say Hasbuna Allah wa Ni’mal Wakil?” In Al-Mizan (Quarterly newsletter of the Claremont Main Road Mosque, Cape Town, South Africa). Vol. 6 No. 1 (2017).
“Toxic Masculinity.” In Al-Mizan (Quarterly newsletter of the Claremont Main Road Mosque, Cape Town, South Africa). Vol. 6 No. 2 (2017).
Presentations: Academic Conferences
Panelist, “Waterslamse in Cape Town,” Critical Terms in the Study of Religion in South Africa Panel, Association for the Study of Religion in Southern Africa, 2022.
Panelist and Panel Organizer, “The Politics of Muslim Coming Out,” Toward a Queer Islam Panel, American Academy of Religion, November 2021.
Co-Panelist, “Queering Religious Agency,” Religion and Queerness Panel, American Academy of Religion, November 2021.
Panelist, “Confronting the Silence: Islam, Queerness, and Intersectional Politics,” Intersectionality and Its Religion Problem Panel, Building Sustainable Peace Conference, Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, University of Notre Dame, November 2019.
Invited Panelist, “LGBTIQ Muslims in South Africa: Between Dismissal, Bigotry and Sectarianism,”
Presentations: Seminars
Guest Presenter, “Religion and Intersectionality,” Religion Honors Seminar, University of the Western Cape (March 2021)
Guest Presenter, “Islam and Queerness,” Muslim Women’s Stories Seminar, Emory University, (March 2021)
Guest Presenter, “Religion and Queerness,” Religion for Graduate Students, University of the Western Cape (July 2020)
Guest Presenter, “Peacebuilding and Intersectionality,” Junior Peace Studies Seminar, University of Notre Dame (Spring 2019)
Guest Presenter, “Understanding Homonationalism,” Masters Strategic Peacebuilding Seminar, University of Notre Dame (Spring 2018)
Guest Presenter, “What is Structural and Cultural Violence?” Junior Peace Studies Seminar, University of Notre Dame (Spring 2018)
Invited Presenter. “LGBTIQ Muslims in South Africa: The Case of the Inner Circle.” The Desmond Tutu Centre for Spirituality and Society, University of the Western Cape (August 2017).
Islam on the Margins Panel, Association for the Study of Religion in Southern Africa, July 2017.
Presentations: Public Service Talks
“Ramadan: Getting to Know the Self, Getting to Know God.” Masjid al-Ghurabā, Cape Town, South Africa (April 2023).
“Reflections on Sūrat Yāsīn.” Masjid al-Ghurabā, Cape Town, South Africa (March 2023).
“What is violence?” Al-Azhar Masjid, District Six, Cape Town, South Africa (June 2018).
“A Pedagogy of Sabr.” Claremont Main Road Mosque, Cape Town, South Africa (May 2018).
“A Muslim Understanding of Structural and Cultural Violence.” Claremont Main Road Mosque, Cape Town, South Africa (May 2018).
“What does it mean to be a queer Muslim?” Out in Academia Panel, GlassND, University of Notre Dame, IN, USA (November 2017).
“Challenging Gender-Based Violence: A Position of Solidarity.” Claremont Main Road Mosque, Cape Town, South Africa (August 2017).
“Hardship and Struggle: A Muslim’s Response to the Challenges of Life.” Claremont Main Road Mosque, Cape Town, South Africa (April 2017).
“Islam and Sexuality 101.” University of Cape Town Muslim Youth Movement Annual Lecture, Cape Town, South Africa (March 2017).
“Israel Apartheid Week: The Question of Palestinian Queers.” The People’s Mosque, The Inner Circle, Cape Town, South Africa (March 2017).
“Student Movements in South Africa.” Institute for the Healing of Memories, Cape Town, South Africa (July 2016).
“Reflecting on the Pulse Shooting: A Structural Critique of Queerphobia.” The People’s Mosque, The Inner Circle, Cape Town, South Africa (July 2016).
“Reflecting on 2015 Student Protests: The Spiritual is Political.” Claremont Main Road Mosque, Cape Town, South Africa (January 2016).
“The Relevance of Karbala Today.” Ahl al-Bayt Centre, Cape Town, South Africa (October 2015).
Participation in Group Research Projects
“ISIS in South Africa? Measuring its Scope and Mitigating its Influence?” Research Assistant for A. Rashied Omar (University of Notre Dame) for an anthology of on the scope of ISIS’s involvement in South Africa (January – August 2017).
Co-organizer. “7th Annual Wasatiyyah Symposium: ISIS in South Africa?” International Peace College of South Africa (IPSA), Cape Town, South Africa (May 2017).
Work Experience
Middle East and Islamic Studies Library Assistant Emory University (December 2021-September 2022)
Reviews Editor, Practical Matters Journal, Emory University (July 2020-May 2021)
Assistant Editor, Practical Matters Journal, Emory University (October 2019-July 2020)
Teaching Experience
Spelman College
Instructor, Introduction to the Qur’an (Fall 2023)
Emory University
Teaching Associate, Gandhi and Non-Violence in the Global South (Spring 2021)
Teaching Assistant, The Qur’an (Fall 2020)
Teaching Associate, Senior Seminar in Religion: Critique of Religion (Spring 2020)
University of Cape Town
Lecturer of the Islam section of Religion, Gender and Sexuality, University of Cape Town (2017)
Tutor of Religion, Gender and Sexuality, University of Cape Town (2017)
Tutor of Religions Past and Present, University of Cape Town (2017)
Tutor of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, University of Cape Town (2016)
Community Service
Board Member, Claremont Main Road Mosque (August 2014 - August 2017)
Founding Member, UCT Muslim Youth Movement (January 2015 - August 2017)
Internship, Joint Advocacy Initiative of the YMCA in East Jerusalem and YWCA of Palestine, Bethlehem (July 2018 - October 2018).
Volunteer, Sabeel Ecumenical Center, East Jerusalem (August 2018-October 2018)
Language Skills
English (Fluent reading, writing, and speaking)
Afrikaans (Fluent reading, writing, and speaking)
Arabic (Working proficiency reading, writing, and speaking)
Dutch (reading and listening proficiency)
Xhosa (beginner)