Dr. Abbas Poya
Universität Freiburg
Fellow
01.08.11-31.07.12
Freiburg Institute for Advanced Studies (FRIAS)
School of History
I. Education
Ph.D. in Middle East Studies, University of Hamburg, 2002
M.A. in Middle East Studies, University of Hamburg, 1997
II. Professional Experience
From August 2011 | Junior Fellow at the Freiburg Institute for Advanced Studies (FRIAS), School of History. Title of Research Project: "Language, Religion and Nationalism. The Movement of Young Afghans and the Construction of the Afghan Nation" |
Apr. – Jul. 2011 | Substitute Professor of Islamic History and Muslim Societies, University of Freiburg, Department of Oriental Studies |
2004 – 2010 | Assistant Professor at the University of Freiburg, Department of Oriental Studies |
2008 – 2010 | Coordinator of Graduate Studies at the University of Freiburg, Department of Oriental Studies |
Sep. – Oct. 2006 | Excursion to Uzbekistan (Research about Islamic cultural heritage in Uzbekistan) |
2002 – 2004 | Visiting Lecturer at the University of Hamburg, Department of the History and Culture of the Middle East |
Aug. – Nov. 2003 | Visiting Researcher at the Academy of Sciences of Afghanistan. Title of Research Project: "Perspectives of Civil Society in Afghanistan" |
1998 – 2002 | Doctoral Dissertation. Title of Ph.D. Thesis: "Acknowledgement of Ijtihad – Justification of Tolerance. Possibilities of Internal and External Tolerance in Islam" |
Sep. – Oct. 1998 | Research on my Ph.D. Subject at George Washington University (USA) and at the McGill University (Canada) |
1991 – 1997 | BA & MA in Oriental Studies, Political Science and Comparative Religion at the University of Hamburg |
1995 – 1996 | Studying of Arabic Literature, Islamic History and Islamic Law at the University of Damascus |
III. Further Activities
2002 – 2004 | Working with MidEast Press Digest (Media-Analysis of Policy and Society in Near Eastern) |
1996 – 2000 | Working with Orient-Antiquarian, Analysis of Arabic, Persian, and Ottoman manuscripts |
1994 – 1996 | Working with Public TV/Radio in Hamburg |
PUBLICATIONS (10 selected)
Books:
● (Acknowledgement of Ijtihad – Justification of Tolerance: Possibilities of Internal and External Tolerance in Islam by the Example of Discussions on Ijtihad)
- Anerkennung des Ijtihād – Legitimation der Toleranz. Möglichkeiten innerer und äußerer Toleranz im Islam am Beispiel der Ijtihād-Diskussion, Berlin 2003.
● (Tolerance, Democracy and Human Rights)
- Shakibayi, Demokrasi va hoquq-e bashar, Teheran 2007.
● (Discontent in the Islamic Studies: A Classical Discipline in the Public Eye and Media)
- Das Unbehagen in der Islamwissenschaft. Ein klassisches Fach im Scheinwerferlicht der Öffentlichkeit und Medien, Bielefeld 2008 (herg. mit Maurus Reinkowski).
Articles:
● (Ijtihad and Religious Freedom: The Concept of Religious Freedom in Islam: Based on Sunni Legal Methodology)
- Ijtihād und Glaubensfreiheit – Darstellung einer islamisch-glaubensfreiheitlichen Idee anhand sunnitisch-rechtsmethodologischer Diskussionen, in: Der Islam 75/1998, S. 226-258.
● (Perspectives of Structure of Civil Society in Afghanistan: Ethical Neutrality, Ethnic Parity and Women’s Rights in the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan)
- Perspektiven zivilgesellschaftlicher Strukturen in Afghanistan. Ethische Neutralität, ethnische Parität und Frauenrechte in der Verfassung der Islamischen Republik Afghanistan, in: Orient 44/2003, S. 367-384.
● (On the Compatibility of ‘Religion’ and ‘Modernity’ in the Works of Mostafā Malekyān)
- Religiös und modern. Die Frage der Kompatibilität von Religion und Moderne in den Schriften von Mostafā Malekyān, in: Die Welt des Islams 1/2008, S. 2-22.
● (Public Image and Self Image in Opposite Discourses: Reflections on the Concept of Gharbzadegi by Fardid and Al-e Ahmad)
- Fremd- und Selbstbilder im Gegendiskurs. Überlegungen zum Begriff Gharbzadegi bei Fardid (1910/12-1994) und Āl-e Aḥmad (1923-1969), in: Benjamin Jokisch & Ulrich Rebstock & Lawrence I. Conrad (Hrsg.): Fremde, Freunde und Kurioses. Innen- und Außenansichten unseres muslimischen Nachbarn, Berlin/New York 2009, S. 453-476.
● Abraham as a Unifying Figure? The Figure of Abraham from Muslim Perspectives, in: Conscience and Liberty, 66/2010, S. 16-27.
● (Ijtihad, Sharia and Reason)
- Ijtihad, Scharia und Vernunft, in: Thorsten Gerald Schneiders (Hrsg.): Islam – Verherrlichung. Wenn die Kritik zum Tabu wird, Wiesbaden 2010, S. 83-93.
● Afghanistan, in: Islam in the World Today. A Handbook of Politics, Religion, Culture, and Society, (ed.) Werner Ende & Udo Steinbach, New York & London 2010.
“Language, Religion and Nationalism: the Movement of the ‘Young Afghans’ and the Construction of the Afghan Nation”
The project examines the history of nationalist narratives in Afghanistan. In particular, it focuses on the nationalist movement of the “Young Afghans”. This movement arose at the beginning of the 20th century and was influenced by the nationalist movements in Europe, Pan-Islamic ideas of the Arab modernists at the 19th century as well as young Turks in the Ottoman Empire. The analysis of the project is based primarily on a recently discovered manuscript, the 4th volume of a series called “seraj al-tawarikh” (The Candelabra of History). The author, Kateb Hazara (1881–1931), belonged to an oppressed minority group which renders it possible to study the nationalization process of the country from a subaltern perspective.