About Shobhana Xavier

I am a religious studies professor based in Kingston (Turtle Island/Canada). I am interested in Islamic Studies broadly, but I think and write on Sufism, especially in North America and South Asia (Sri Lanka). I also teach courses on race and religion, religion and popular culture, gender and religion, ethnography, and Islam in Canada.

Shobhana Xavier is an Associate Professor of Religious Studies at Queen’s University. More details about her research and scholarship may be found here and here. She may be reached at shobhana.xavier@queensu.ca. You can follow her on Twitter via @shobhanaxavier.

Shobhana's website

NBN Episodes hosted by Shobhana:

Umme Al-wazedi and Afrin Zeenat, "Veil Obsessed: Representations in Literature, Art, and Media" (Syracuse UP, 2024)

March 17, 2024

Veil Obsessed

Umme Al-wazedi and Afrin Zeenat
Hosted by Shobhana Xavier

In their edited volume Veil Obsessed: Representations in Literature, Art, and Media (Syracuse University Press, 2024), Umme Al-wazedi and Afrin Zeenat…

Adam Bursi, "Traces of the Prophets: Relics and Sacred Spaces in Early Islam" (Edinburgh UP, 2024)

February 17, 2024

Traces of the Prophets

Adam Bursi
Hosted by Shobhana Xavier

Adam Bursi’s Traces of the Prophets: Relics and Sacred Spaces in Early Islam (Edinburg University Press, 2024) uses writings by early Muslims to map a…

Amanda Lanzillo, "Pious Labor: Islam, Artisanship, and Technology in Colonial India" (U California Press, 2024)

January 27, 2024

Pious Labor

Amanda Lanzillo
Hosted by Shobhana Xavier

Pious Labour: Islam, Artisanship, and Technology in Colonial India (University of California Press, 2023) focuses on the late nineteenth and early twe…

Dženita Karić, "Bosnian Hajj Literature: Multiple Paths to the Holy" (Edinburgh UP, 2022)

September 15, 2023

Bosnian Hajj Literature

Dženita Karić
Hosted by Shobhana Xavier
Listen:

Dženita Karić's new book Bosnian Hajj Literature: Multiple Paths to the Holy (Edinburgh University Press, 2023) maps the diverse understandings of the…

Jamila Rodrigues, "Sufi Women, Embodiment and the 'Self': Gender in Islamic Ritual" (Routledge, 2023)

August 18, 2023

Sufi Women, Embodiment and the 'Self'

Jamila Rodrigues
Hosted by Shobhana Xavier
Listen:

Jamila Rodrigues's new book Sufi Women, Embodiment and the “Self”: Gender in Islamic Ritual (Routledge 2023) uses her dance and performance studies ba…

Amir Sedaghat, "Translating Rumi Into the West: A Linguistic Conundrum and Beyond" (Routledge, 2023)

July 21, 2023

Translating Rumi Into the West

Amir Sedaghat
Hosted by Shobhana Xavier
Listen:

Amir Artaban Sedaghat’s Translating Rumi into the West: A Linguistic Conundrum and Beyond (Routledge, 2023) engages Rumi, the 13th-century Muslim Pers…

Teena U. Purohit, "Sunni Chauvinism and the Roots of Muslim Modernism" (Princeton UP, 2023)

April 28, 2023

Sunni Chauvinism and the Roots of Muslim Modernism

Teena U. Purohit
Hosted by Shobhana Xavier

Teena Purohit’s new book Sunni Chauvinism and the Roots of Muslim Modernism (Princeton University Press, 2023) maps how various Muslim modernists from…

Seema Golestaneh, "Unknowing and the Everyday: Sufism and Knowledge in Iran" (Duke UP, 2022)

March 3, 2023

Unknowing and the Everyday

Seema Golestaneh
Hosted by Shobhana Xavier

In her new ethnographic study Unknowing and the Everyday: Sufism and Knowledge in Iran (Duke University Press, 2023), Seema Golestaneh guides her read…

Afsar Mohammad, "An Evening with a Sufi" (Red River, 2022)

January 6, 2023

An Evening with a Sufi

Afsar Mohammad
Hosted by Shobhana Xavier

Afsar Mohammad's An Evening with a Sufi (Red River, 2022) is a collection of Afsar's Telugu poems translated into to English by Asfar and Shamala Gall…

Ken Chitwood, "The Muslims of Latin America and the Caribbean" (Lynn Rienner, 2021)

November 11, 2022

The Muslims of Latin America and the Caribbean

Ken Chitwood
Hosted by Shobhana Xavier

Ken Chitwood’s book The Muslims of Latin America and the Caribbean (Lynn Rienner Publishers Inc, 2021) is a provocation to its readers to include Lati…

Siobhan Lambert-Hurley et al., "Three Centuries of Travel Writing by Muslim Women" (Indiana UP, 2022)

October 14, 2022

Three Centuries of Travel Writing by Muslim Women

Siobhan Lambert-Hurley, Daniel Majchrowicz, and Sunil Sharma
Hosted by Shobhana Xavier

Siobhan Lambert-Hurley, Daniel Majchrowicz, and Sunil Sharma's edited anthology Three Centuries of Travel Writing by Muslim Women (Indiana University …

Mohamed Abdou, "Islam and Anarchism: Relationships and Resonances" (Pluto Press, 2022)

September 16, 2022

Islam and Anarchism

Mohamed Abdou
Hosted by Shobhana Xavier

In his new book Islam and Anarchism: Relationships and Resonances (Pluto Press, 2022), Mohamed Abdou reimagines the parameters of political Islam and …

Ariela Marcus-Sells, "Sorcery or Science?: Contesting Knowledge and Practice in West African Sufi Texts" (Pennsylvania State UP, 2022)

May 27, 2022

Sorcery or Science?

Ariela Marcus-Sells
Hosted by Shobhana Xavier

In Sorcery or Science? Contesting Knowledge and Practice in West African Sufi Texts (The Pennsylvania State University Press, 2022) Ariela Marcus-Sell…

Jasmin Zine, "Under Siege: Islamophobia and the 9/11 Generation" (McGill-Queen's UP, 2022)

April 29, 2022

Under Siege

Jasmin Zine
Hosted by Shobhana Xavier

In her new book Under Siege: Islamophobia and the 9/11 Generation (McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2022) Jasmin Zine explores the experiences of Cana…

Scott Kugle, "Hajj to the Heart: Sufi Journeys Across the Indian Ocean" (UNC Press, 2021)

April 1, 2022

Hajj to the Heart

Scott Kugle
Hosted by Shobhana Xavier

In his new book, Hajj to the Heart: Sufi Journeys Across the Indian Ocean (University of North Carolina Press, 2021) and is available as an open-acces…

Amélie Barras et al., "Producing Islams(s) in Canada: On Knowledge, Positionality, and Politics" (U Toronto Press, 2022)

March 4, 2022

Producing Islams(s) in Canada

Amélie Barras, Melanie Adrian, and Jennifer A. Selby
Hosted by Shobhana Xavier

In Producing Islam(s) in Canada: On Knowledge, Positionality and Politics (University of Toronto, 2021), Amélie Barras, Jennifer Selby, and Melanie Ad…

Elora Shehabuddin, "Sisters in the Mirror: A History of Muslim Women and the Global Politics of Feminism" (U California Press, 2021)

February 4, 2022

Sisters in the Mirror

Elora Shehabuddin
Hosted by Shobhana Xavier

Elora Shehabuddin’s new book Sisters in the Mirror: A History of Muslim Women and the Global Politics of Feminism (University of California Press, 202…

Murray Hogben, "Minarets on the Horizon: Muslim Pioneers in Canada" (Mawenzi House, 2021)

November 5, 2021

Minarets on the Horizon

Murray Hogben
Hosted by Shobhana Xavier

Minarets on the Horizon: Muslim Pioneers in Canada (Mawenzi House 2021) by Murray Hogben is an incredible archive of some of the early Muslim settlers…

Pamela J. Prickett, "Believing in South Central: Everyday Islam in the City of Angels" (U Chicago Press, 2021)

October 1, 2021

Believing in South Central

Pamela J. Prickett
Hosted by Shobhana Xavier

Believing in South Central: Everyday Islam in the City of Angels (University of Chicago Press, 2021) by Pamela J. Prickett is an ethnographic study of…

Kristian Petersen, "Muslims in the Movies: A Global Anthology" (Ilex Foundation, 2021)

September 17, 2021

Muslims in the Movies

Kristian Petersen
Hosted by Shobhana Xavier

Kristian Petersen’s new edited volume Muslims in the Movies: A Global Anthology (Ilex Foundation and Harvard University Press, 2021), introduces the …

Jyoti Gulati Balachandran, "Narrative Pasts: The Making of a Muslim Community in Gujarat, C. 1400-1650" (Oxford UP, 2020)

July 23, 2021

Narrative Pasts

Jyoti Gulati Balachandran
Hosted by Shobhana Xavier

Jyoti Gulati Balachandran's Narrative Pasts: The Making of a Muslim Community in Gujarat, c. 1400-1650 (Oxford University Press, 2020) explores the co…

Cemalnur Sargut, "O Humankind: Surah Ya-Sin" (Nefes, 2021)

June 25, 2021

O Humankind

Cemalnur Sargut
Hosted by Shobhana Xavier

O Humankind Surah Ya-Sin (Fons Vitae, 2021) is compiled by Cemalnur Sargut, who is a Sufi teacher based in Turkey and has been translated into English…

Muhyiddin Ibn 'Arabi, "The Translator of Desires: Poems" (Princeton UP, 2021)

May 21, 2021

The Translator of Desires

Muhyiddin Ibn 'Arabi
Hosted by Shobhana Xavier

In this ground-breaking work, Michael Sells (the Barrows Professor Emeritus of the History and Literature of Islam and Professor emeritus of comparati…

Ziad Elmarsafy, "Esoteric Islam in Modern French Thought: Massignon, Corbin, Jambet" (Bloomsbury, 2021)

April 30, 2021

Esoteric Islam in Modern French Thought

Ziad Elmarsafy
Hosted by Shobhana Xavier

In his new book Esoteric Islam in Modern French Thought: Massignon, Corbin, Jambet (Bloomsbury Academic Press, 2021) Ziad Elmarsafy maps the intellect…