Professor of Religion, Islamic studies

Kecia Ali (Ph.D., Religion, Duke University) teaches a range of classes on Islam. Her research focuses on Islamic law; women and gender; ethics; and biography. Her books include Sexual Ethics and Islam: Feminist Reflections on Qur’an, Hadith, and Jurisprudence (2006, expanded ed. 2016), Marriage and Slavery in Early Islam (2010), Imam Shafi‘i: Scholar and Saint (2011), and The Lives of Muhammad (2014), about modern Muslim and non-Muslim biographies of Islam’s prophet. She co-edited the revised edition of A Guide for Women in Religion, which provides guidance for careers in religious studies and theology (2014). Her research also includes gender, ethics, and popular culture.

Ali held research and teaching fellowships at Brandeis University and Harvard Divinity School before joining the BU faculty in 2006. She is active in the American Academy of Religion, where she served on the Board as Status Committee Director from 2016-2018. She served from 2014-2016 as President of the Society for the Study of Muslim Ethics.

Current CV

Books


Cover image for Half of Faith: American Muslim Marriage and Divorce in the Twenty-First Century: A Reader. Edited by Kecia Ali
Half of Faith: American Muslim Marriage and Divorce in the Twenty-First Century
By Kecia Ali

 


Human in Death

Human in Death: Morality and Mortality in J. D. Robb’s Novels
By Kecia Ali
Baylor University Press
February 1, 2017
Buy it now from Baylor University Press!

 


Sexual Ethics

Sexual Ethics and Islam: Feminist Reflections on Qur’an, Hadith, and Jurisprudence
By Kecia Ali
Oneworld Publications
February 9, 2016
Buy it now from Amazon.com!


A Guide for Women in Religion

A Guide for Women in Religion
Co-edited by Mary E. Hunt, Monique Moultrie, Kecia Ali
Palgrave Macmillan; Revised edition (November 26, 2014)
Buy it now from Amazon.com!

 


The Lives of Muhammad

The Lives of Muhammad
By Kecia Ali
Harvard University Press
October 2014
Buy it now from Harvard University Press!

 


A Jihad for Justice - for Amina Wadud 2012-1-1

A Jihad for Justice; Honoring the work and life of Amina Wadud
Edited by Kecia Ali, Juliane Hammer, and Laury Silvers
ebook

 


Iman Shafi'i

Imam Shafi’i: Scholar and Saint
By Kecia Ali
Oneworld Publications
November 16, 2011
Buy it now from Amazon.com!

 


Marriage and Slavery in Early Islam

Marriage and Slavery in Early Islam
By Kecia Ali
Harvard University Press
October 1, 2010
Buy it now from Amazon.com!

 



Islam: The Key Concepts
By Kecia Ali and Oliver Leaman
Routledge Publications
December 30, 2007
Buy it now from Amazon.com!

 

Courses

  • CAS RN 214 Islam
  • CAS RN 340/640 The Quran
  • CAS RN 434/734  Representations of Muhammad
  • CAS RN 345/645 Islamic Law
  • CAS RN 434/734 Representations of Muhammad
  • CAS RN 435/735 Women, Gender, Islam

Links