Shadi Hamid (born 1983) is an American author and political scientist, who is currently a columnist and member of the Editorial Board at the Washington Post.[1] Previously, he was a longtime senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and a contributing writer at the Atlantic.[2] He also holds the position of research professor of Islamic studies at Fuller Seminary. This appointment is the first time a Muslim scholar has been hired in the school's history.[3] He has been called a "prominent thinker on religion and politics" in the New York Times[4] and was named as one of "The world's top 50 thinkers" in 2019 by Prospect Magazine.[5] He is known for coining the phrase "Islamic exceptionalism" to describe Islam's resistance to secularization and outsized role in public life. The phrase has come under some criticism.[6][7]

Early life and education

edit

Hamid was born into a Muslim family of Egyptian ancestry in Pennsylvania.[8][9] A Marshall Scholar,[10] Hamid completed his doctoral degree in politics at Oxford University in 2010. His dissertation was titled Democrats without Democracy: the Unlikely Moderation of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and Jordan.[11] Hamid received his B.S. and M.A. from the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service.[12]

Hamid was a Hewlett Fellow at the Stanford University Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law and a Fulbright Fellow in Jordan, researching Islamist participation in the democratic process, and a research fellow at the American Center for Oriental Research in Amman, where he conducted research on the relationship between the Muslim Brotherhood and the Jordanian government.[12]

Books

edit
  • Felbab-Brown, Vanda; Trinkunas, Harold; Hamid, Shadi (2018). Militants, Criminals and Warlords: The Challenge of Local Governance in an Age of Disorder. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press. ISBN 978-0-8157-3189-4.[13]
  • Hamid, Shadi; McCants, William, eds. (2017). Rethinking political Islam. New York, NY, United States of America: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-064919-7. OCLC 960276884.[14]
  • Hamid, Shadi (2016). Islamic Exceptionalism: How the struggle over Islam is reshaping the world. New York, NY: St. Martin's Press. ISBN 978-1-250-06101-0. OCLC 933446666.[15]
  • Hamid, Shadi (2014). Temptations of Power: Islamists and illiberal democracy in a new Middle East. New York: Oxford University Press, USA. ISBN 978-0-19-931405-8. OCLC 870994390.[16]
  • Hamid, Shadi (2023). The problem of democracy: America, the Middle East, and the rise and fall of an idea. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-757946-6.

Wisdom of Crowds (podcast)

edit

The Wisdom of Crowds podcast started in 2019, with Hamid as a co-host.[17][18]

Reception

edit

Islamic Exceptionalism: How the Struggle Over Islam is Reshaping the World was shortlisted for the 2017 Lionel Gelber Prize.[19] Temptations of Power: Islamists and Illiberal Democracy in a New Middle East was named a Foreign Affairs "Best Book of 2014."[20]

References

edit
  1. ^ "Shadi Hamid - The Washington Post".
  2. ^ "Shadi Hamid". Brookings. 2016-06-01. Retrieved 2020-01-06.
  3. ^ "Fuller Seminary Receives Grant for Muslim-Christian Research". Fuller. Fuller Theological Seminary. 24 January 2022. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
  4. ^ Akyol, Mustafa (2019-12-23). "Opinion | A New Secularism Is Appearing in Islam". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-01-07.
  5. ^ Team, Prospect. "The world's top 50 thinkers 2019". Retrieved 2020-01-07.
  6. ^ Mneimneh, Hassan. "The Dangerous Stipulation of Islamic Exceptionalism". Middle East Institute.
  7. ^ Douthat, Ross (6 August 2016). "Opinion | The Meaning of a Martyrdom". The New York Times. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
  8. ^ Malley, JP O’. "The West fundamentally misunderstands the ethos of the 'caliphate,' writes Muslim author". Times of Israel.
  9. ^ "Shadi Hamid on "Church of Woke" - Providence". Providence Magazine. June 5, 2020.
  10. ^ Nixon, D. Pierce (November 22, 2005). "Pair Named Marshall Fellows". The Hoya. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
  11. ^ Hamid, Shadi (2009). Democrats without Democracy: the Unlikely Moderation of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and Jordan (PhD thesis). St. Antony's College (University of Oxford). Retrieved April 24, 2020.
  12. ^ a b "FSI | CDDRL - Shadi Hamid". cddrl.fsi.stanford.edu. Retrieved 2020-01-06.
  13. ^ Review of Militants, Criminals and Warlords
  14. ^ "Rethinking Political Islam (review)". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved April 24, 2020.
  15. ^ Reviews of Islamic Exceptionalism
  16. ^ Reviews of Temptations of Power
  17. ^ "About - Wisdom of Crowds". wisdomofcrowds.live. Retrieved 2024-08-04.
  18. ^ Freedland, Jonathan; Hamid, Shadi; Stephens, Danielle; Ebtehaj, Maz; Kacoutié, Axel (2022-03-11). "Is Putin proving the need for Western power? Politics Weekly America – podcast". the Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2024-08-04.
  19. ^ "Islamic Exceptionalism: How the Struggle Over Islam Is Reshaping the World". Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy. University of Toronto. 2017. Retrieved April 24, 2020.
  20. ^ "Best International Relations Books of 2014". Foreign Affairs. 16 April 2015. Retrieved 21 January 2020.