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About Shehnaz Haqqani

Shehnaz Haqqani is an Assistant Professor of Religion at Mercer University. She earned her PhD in Islamic Studies with a focus on gender from the University of Texas at Austin in 2018. Her dissertation research explored questions of change and tradition, specifically in the context of gender and sexuality, in Islam. She is currently working on a book project on Muslim women's marriage to non-Muslims in Islam. Shehnaz runs a YouTube channel called What the Patriarchy?! (WTP?!), where she vlogs about feminism and Islam in an effort to dismantle the patriarchy and uproot it from Islam (ambitious, she knows). She can be reached at haqqani_s@mercer.edu.

Shehnaz Haqqani is an Assistant Professor of Religion at Mercer University. She earned her PhD in Islamic Studies with a focus on gender from the University of Texas at Austin in 2018. Her dissertation research explored questions of change and tradition, specifically in the context of gender and sexuality, in Islam. She can be reached at haqqani_s@mercer.edu.

Shehnaz's website

NBN Episodes hosted by Shehnaz:

Islamic Studies October 27, 2023

The Rise of Critical Islam

10th-13th Century Legal Debate

Youcef L. Soufi

Hosted by Shehnaz Haqqani
Youcef Soufi's book The Rise of Critical Islam: 10th-13th Century Legal Debate (Oxford University Press, 2023) is a fascinating and engaging exploration of the history of critique in Islamic legal and …
Islamic Studies September 1, 2023

Wives and Work

Islamic Law and Ethics Before Modernity

Marion Holmes Katz

Hosted by Shehnaz Haqqani
Listen:
In this interview, I speak with Marion Holmes Katz about her latest book Wives and Work: Islamic Law and Ethics Before Modernity (Columbia UP, 2022). This fascinating book explores the …
Islamic Studies August 4, 2023

Unruly Women

Race, Neocolonialism, and the Hijab

Falguni A. Sheth

Hosted by Shehnaz Haqqani
Listen:
In Unruly Women: Race, Neocolonialism, and the Hijab (Oxford UP, 2022), Falguni Sheth explores the multiple ways that liberalism is understood and exploited, and liberalism’s origin as a project of …
Islamic Studies May 12, 2023

Among the Eunuchs

A Muslim Transgender Journey

Leyla Jagiella

Hosted by Shehnaz Haqqani
In the powerful book Among the Eunuchs: A Muslim Transgender Journey (Hurst Publishers, 2022), Leyla Jagiella reflects on her story as a trans Muslim living among a third-gender community known as Khwajasira in …
Islamic Studies March 17, 2023

In the Shade of the Sunna

Salafi Piety in the Twentieth-Century Middle East

Aaron Rock-Singer

Hosted by Shehnaz Haqqani
Who are the Salafis, and what are the roots of Salafism? What does it even mean to be Salafi? Why is Salafism concerned with ethics of visibility and bodily regulation …
Islamic Studies February 17, 2023

Rebellious Wives, Neglectful Husbands

Controversies in Modern Qur'anic Commentaries

Hadia Mubarak

Hosted by Shehnaz Haqqani
In the excellent expansive book, Rebellious Wives, Neglectful Husbands: Controversies in Modern Qur'anic Commentaries (Oxford UP, 2022), Hadia Mubarak explores the many different interpretations of four Qur’anic verses: 4:128 on …
Islamic Studies January 20, 2023

The Muslim Difference

Defining the Line Between Believers and Unbelievers from Early Islam to the Present

Youshaa Patel

Hosted by Shehnaz Haqqani
According to a famous prophetic report, “Whoever imitates a people becomes one of them.” What does “imitation” here mean? Rather, what does this statement really mean at all, and how …
Islamic Studies November 25, 2022

Once in a Lifetime

Amina Wadud

Hosted by Shehnaz Haqqani
In this interview, we speak with Dr. amina wadud about her latest book Once in a Lifetime (Kantara Press, 2022), a book that started out as a blog for her …
Islamic Studies September 30, 2022

Hidden Caliphate

Sufi Saints Beyond the Oxus and Indus

Waleed Ziad

Hosted by Shehnaz Haqqani
Today, we speak with Waleed Ziad, about his book Hidden Caliphate: Sufi Saints beyond the Oxus and Indus, published in 2021 with Harvard University Press. Ziad is an assistant professor …
Islamic Studies August 19, 2022

An Anthology of Qur'anic Commentaries (vol. 2)

On Women

Karen Bauer and Feras Hamza

Hosted by Shehnaz Haqqani
Karen Bauer and Feras Hamza's co-written book An Anthology of Qur’anic Commentaries (vol. 2): On Women (Oxford UP, 2022) is a collection of historical and contemporary commentaries on the Qur’an. It covers five …
Islamic Studies July 8, 2022

The Sufi Saint of Jam

History, Religion and Politics of a Sunni Shrine in Shi'i Iran

Shivan Mahendrarajah

Hosted by Shehnaz Haqqani
Shivan Mahendrarajah’s book, The Sufi Saint of Jam: History, Religion, and Politics of a Sunni Shrine in Shi‘i Iran (Cambridge UP, 2021), which explores the history and politics of Ahmad-i-Jam’s …
Islamic Studies June 10, 2022

Journeys Toward Gender Equality in Islam

Ziba Mir-Hosseini

Hosted by Shehnaz Haqqani
In her latest book Journeys Toward Gender Equality in Islam (Oneworld Publications, 2022) Ziba Mir-Hosseini interviews several Muslim scholars of gender in different settings over the course of a decade …
Islamic Studies May 13, 2022

Innocent Until Proven Muslim

Islamophobia, the War on Terror, and the Muslim Experience Since 9/11

Maha Hilal

Hosted by Shehnaz Haqqani
In Innocent Until Proven Muslim: Islamophobia, the War on Terror, and the Muslim Experience Since 9/11 published in 2022 with Broadleaf Books, Maha Hilal describes how narratives of 9/11 and …
Islamic Studies March 18, 2022

Half of Faith

American Muslim Marriage and Divorce in the Twenty-First Century

Kecia Ali

Hosted by Shehnaz Haqqani
In Half of Faith: American Muslim Marriage and Divorce in the Twenty-First Century, readers find a wide range of texts on Muslim Americans’ experiences with questions of marriage and divorce …
Islamic Studies December 24, 2021

Intersectionality in the Muslim South Asian-American Middle Class

Lifestyle Consumption Beyond Halal and Hijab

Farha Bano Ternikar

Hosted by Shehnaz Haqqani
In Intersectionality in the Muslim South Asian-American Middle Class: Lifestyle Consumption beyond Halal and Hijab (Lexington Books, 2021), wherein Ternikar theorizes the everyday consumption of South Asian Muslim American women …
Islamic Studies August 20, 2021

Women as Imams

Classical Islamic Sources and Modern Debates on Leading Prayer

Simonetta Calderini

Hosted by Shehnaz Haqqani
What does Islam say about women’s leadership of prayer? What sources have Muslim scholars used historically to answer this question, and what do those sources say exactly? What are the …
Islamic Studies August 6, 2021

'Uthman ibn 'Affan

Heather N. Keaney

Hosted by Shehnaz Haqqani
Who is ‘Uthman ibn Affan, and why does he matter? Why was his election as the third successor to the Prophet Muhammad so controversial? In fact, why is he a controversial …
Islamic Studies July 9, 2021

Faith in Freedom

Muslim Immigrant Women Experiences of Domestic Violence

Nafiseh Ghafournia

Hosted by Shehnaz Haqqani
In Faith in Freedom: Muslim Immigrant Women’s Experiences of Domestic Violence (Melbourne University Press, 2019), Nafiseh Ghafournia explores questions of domestic violence in the context of Muslim immigrant women in …
Islamic Studies May 14, 2021

The Colour of God

Ayesha S. Chaudhry

Hosted by Shehnaz Haqqani
In today’s episode, we speak with Ayesha Chaudhry about her new book, The Colour of God (Oneworld Publications, 2021). The book describes Chaudhry’s personal, spiritual, and professional journey as she navigates her …
Islamic Studies March 19, 2021

Islamic Interpretive Tradition and Gender Justice

Processes of Canonization Subversion and Change

Nevin Reda and Yasmin Amin

Hosted by Shehnaz Haqqani
In their groundbreaking new book, Islamic Interpretive Tradition and Gender Justice: Processes of Canonization, Subversion, and Change (McGill, 2020), Nevin Reda and Yasmin Amin raise excellent questions about the existence …
Islamic Studies February 19, 2021

Women and Gender in the Qur'an

Celene Ibrahim

Hosted by Shehnaz Haqqani
In Women and Gender in the Qur’an (Oxford University Press in 2020), Celene Ibrahim explores key themes related to gender in the Qur’an, focusing on women, such as female sexuality …
Islamic Studies January 22, 2021

The Golden Calf Between Bible and Qur'an

Scripture, Polemic, and Exegesis from Late Antiquity to Islam

Michael E. Pregill

Hosted by Shehnaz Haqqani
In his exciting and thorough book, The Golden Calf between Bible and Qur'an: Scripture, Polemic, and Exegesis from Late Antiquity to Islam (Oxford, 2020), Michael Pregill explores the biblical and …
Islamic Studies December 24, 2020

The Routledge Handbook of Islam and Gender

Justine Howe

Hosted by Shehnaz Haqqani
The Routledge Handbook of Islam and Gender (Routledge, 2020), edited by Justine Howe, includes an excellent introduction to Islam and gender as well as to the volume and 31 content chapters …
Islamic Studies November 6, 2020

Faces of Muhammad

Western Perceptions of the Prophet of Islam from the Middle Ages to Today

John Tolan

Hosted by Shehnaz Haqqani
John Tolan’s latest book Faces of Muhammad: Western Perceptions of the Prophet of Islam from the Middle Ages to Today (Princeton UP, 2019) is a fascinating and rich survey of …