Ibrahim M. Abu-Rabi‘
Encyclopedia
Ibrahim M. Abu Rabi Professor and The Edmonton Council of Muslum Communities Chair in Islamic Studies.
Ibrahim M. Abu Rabi‘ is Professor and Edmonton Council of Muslim Communities Chair in Islamic Studies in the Department of History and Classics at the University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada
. His primary areas of academic specialization are the Middle East
and International Relations.
Prof. Abu Rabi‘ earned his Ph.D. in Islamic Studies, with concentrations in Modern Islamic Thought and Comparative Islamic Cultures, from the Temple University Department of Religion in 1987. His dissertation was entitled, “Islam Arabic: إسلام and Search for Social Order in Modern Egypt: An Intellectual Biography of Shaykh al-Azhar ‘Abd al-Halim Mahmud.” Prior to that, he earned a M.A. in Religious Studies from Temple University (1983) and an M.A. in Political Science from the University of Cincinnati (1982). Prof. Abu Rabi‘ was born and attended primary and secondary schools in NazarethNazareth الناصرة , Palestine Palestine فلسطين.
Abu-Rabi left from Temple University for stops at Virginia Commonwealth University and the University of Texas at Austin, before taking a post at the Hartford Seminary in Connecticut, where he was professor at the Macdonald Center for the Study of Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations, beginning in 1991. He had a special interest in the study and practice of interfaith dialogue between the Islamic and Christian religious traditions, and specialized in issues of contemporary Islamic thought, particularly on religion and society, and mysticism.
In 2006, he was the Senior Fulbright Scholar in Singapore and Indonesia at the Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. He was also the senior editor of The Muslim World.
In 2008, Abu-Rabi came to the U of A as the first holder of the Edmonton Council of Muslim Communities Chair in Islamic Studies, the first teaching and research chair of its kind in Canada.
“I am greatly saddened to learn of the sudden loss of one of our own, professor Ibrahim Abu-Rabi, chair of Islamic studies,” said President Indira Samarasekera. “As a mentor and a teacher, he was well known for his passion for teaching and his dedication to building understanding between people of various faiths.
“He will be remembered for his enthusiasm for his work, his unwavering support of his colleagues and students, and his care and compassion for all.”
Abu-Rabi was also a devoted researcher and a prolific writer, with dozens of titles to his credit, including his latest work, The Contemporary Arab Reader on Political Islam (University of Alberta Press, 2010), which is a collection of the writings of highly influential figures in the field of Islamism that attempts to address misunderstood notions of contemporary Islam.
In an interview done in the spring 2011 edition of WOA (Work of Arts), the Faculty of Arts alumni magazine, about his latest work, Abu-Rabi said that, while there have been many books written in the West that purport to explain Islamism, virtually all have been written by westerners, and Islamist voices have remained largely absent.
“Most Islamist groups are pro-democracy and anti-violence, but you’d never know this from what’s reported in the press,” he said. “I wanted to give Islamists the chance to speak for themselves.”
Dr. Ibrahim Abu-Rabi’, died suddenly of a heart attack on July 2 2011 while attending a conference in Amman, Jordan.
A CV with Abu-Rabi's publications is on the web site of the Hartford Theological Seminary, where he taught until moving to the University of Alberta.
Hartford Theological Seminary
Abu-Rabi was also affiliated with the International Council for Middle East Studies in Washington, DC, whose web page on him also notes his publications.
ICMES
Ibrahim M. Abu Rabi‘ is Professor and Edmonton Council of Muslim Communities Chair in Islamic Studies in the Department of History and Classics at the University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. His primary areas of academic specialization are the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
and International Relations.
Prof. Abu Rabi‘ earned his Ph.D. in Islamic Studies, with concentrations in Modern Islamic Thought and Comparative Islamic Cultures, from the Temple University Department of Religion in 1987. His dissertation was entitled, “Islam Arabic: إسلام and Search for Social Order in Modern Egypt: An Intellectual Biography of Shaykh al-Azhar ‘Abd al-Halim Mahmud.” Prior to that, he earned a M.A. in Religious Studies from Temple University (1983) and an M.A. in Political Science from the University of Cincinnati (1982). Prof. Abu Rabi‘ was born and attended primary and secondary schools in NazarethNazareth الناصرة , Palestine Palestine فلسطين.
Abu-Rabi left from Temple University for stops at Virginia Commonwealth University and the University of Texas at Austin, before taking a post at the Hartford Seminary in Connecticut, where he was professor at the Macdonald Center for the Study of Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations, beginning in 1991. He had a special interest in the study and practice of interfaith dialogue between the Islamic and Christian religious traditions, and specialized in issues of contemporary Islamic thought, particularly on religion and society, and mysticism.
In 2006, he was the Senior Fulbright Scholar in Singapore and Indonesia at the Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. He was also the senior editor of The Muslim World.
In 2008, Abu-Rabi came to the U of A as the first holder of the Edmonton Council of Muslim Communities Chair in Islamic Studies, the first teaching and research chair of its kind in Canada.
“I am greatly saddened to learn of the sudden loss of one of our own, professor Ibrahim Abu-Rabi, chair of Islamic studies,” said President Indira Samarasekera. “As a mentor and a teacher, he was well known for his passion for teaching and his dedication to building understanding between people of various faiths.
“He will be remembered for his enthusiasm for his work, his unwavering support of his colleagues and students, and his care and compassion for all.”
Abu-Rabi was also a devoted researcher and a prolific writer, with dozens of titles to his credit, including his latest work, The Contemporary Arab Reader on Political Islam (University of Alberta Press, 2010), which is a collection of the writings of highly influential figures in the field of Islamism that attempts to address misunderstood notions of contemporary Islam.
In an interview done in the spring 2011 edition of WOA (Work of Arts), the Faculty of Arts alumni magazine, about his latest work, Abu-Rabi said that, while there have been many books written in the West that purport to explain Islamism, virtually all have been written by westerners, and Islamist voices have remained largely absent.
“Most Islamist groups are pro-democracy and anti-violence, but you’d never know this from what’s reported in the press,” he said. “I wanted to give Islamists the chance to speak for themselves.”
Dr. Ibrahim Abu-Rabi’, died suddenly of a heart attack on July 2 2011 while attending a conference in Amman, Jordan.
A CV with Abu-Rabi's publications is on the web site of the Hartford Theological Seminary, where he taught until moving to the University of Alberta.
Hartford Theological Seminary
Abu-Rabi was also affiliated with the International Council for Middle East Studies in Washington, DC, whose web page on him also notes his publications.
ICMES