Shenila Khoja-Moolji

Last updated

Shenila Khoja-Moolji is the Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani Endowed Chair of Muslim Societies and an Associate Professor at Georgetown University. [1] She is a Shia Ismaili Muslim scholar known for her scholarship on Muslims, gender, and Pakistan studies.

Contents

Khoja-Moolji is the author of several books that have won awards from international academic associations. Her books include: Forging the Ideal Educated Girl: The Production of Desirable Subjects in Muslim South Asia (University of California Press, 2018); Sovereign Attachments: Masculinity, Muslimness, and Affective Politics in Pakistan (University of California Press, 2021); Rebuilding Community: Displaced Women and the Making of a Shia Ismaili Muslim Sociality (Oxford University Press, 2023); and The Impossibility of Muslim Boyhood (University of Minnesota Press, 2024).

Early life and education

Khoja-Moolji grew up in Hyderabad, Pakistan. [2] She received a scholarship from the United World Colleges to do an International Baccalaureate. [2] She studied at Brown University, Harvard University, and Columbia University. [2]

Career

Between 2016 and 2018, Khoja-Moolji was a postdoctoral and visiting scholar at the University of Pennsylvania’s Alice Paul Center for Research on Gender, Sexuality and Women. [3] In 2018, she joined the Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies program at Bowdoin College, where she earned early tenure and promotion within three and a half years.[ citation needed ] In 2022, Khoja-Moolji was appointed as the Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani Associate Professor of Muslim societies, a tenured and endowed chair position,[ citation needed ] at Georgetown University. [1]

Khoja-Moolji is known for her theorizations of Muslim girlhood, which includes several articles that analyze the portrayal of Malala Yousafzai and the politics of international development campaigns. [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]

Her first book, Forging the Ideal Educated Girl: The Production of Desirable Subjects in Muslim South Asia , published by the University of California Press (2018), is a genealogy of the ‘educated girl.’ The book shows how girl's education is a site of struggle for multiple groups—from national to religious elites—through which they construct gender, class, and religious identities. [9] [10] [11] The book was published in the Islamic Humanities open-access series. [12] The book won the 2019 Jackie Kirk Outstanding Book Award from the Comparative and International Education Society. [13]

Her second book, Sovereign Attachments: Masculinity, Muslimness, and Affective Politics in Pakistan , also published the University of California Press (2021), re-theorizes sovereignty by drawing on affect, cultural, and religious studies. [14] [15] The book won the Best Book Award from the Theory section of the International Studies Association. [16] The book also won the 2022 Best Book award from The Association for Middle East Women's Studies. [17]

Her third book, Rebuilding Community: Displaced Women and the Making of a Shia Ismaili Muslim Sociality published by Oxford University press (2023), is a first attempt to archive the lives of twentieth-century Ismaili women. The book follows Ismaili women who were displaced in the 1970s from East Africa and East Pakistan, to elaborate how they recreated their religious community in transit and in new regions of settlement, particularly North America. The book won the 2024 Nautilus Book Award.

Her fourth book, The Impossibility of Muslim Boyhood (University of Minnesota Press, 2024) is a public cultural critique of Muslim boyhood in America.

In 2019, Khoja-Moolji was elected to the South Asia Council of the Association for Asian Studies. [18] In 2023, she joined the Steering Committee of North American Religions at the American Academy of Religion. [19]

Khoja-Moolji is the recipient of multiple career awards: the Emerging Scholar Award from the Muslim Philanthropy Initiative based at Indiana University; [20] the Early Career Award for Community Engagement from the International Studies Association's Feminist Theory and Gender Studies section; [16] and the Early Career Award from Teachers College, Columbia University. [21] [22]

Khoja-Moolji has published writing in Al Jazeera and the Express Tribune on Ismaili culture and Islamic culture. [23] [24]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aga Khan III</span> 48th imam of the Nizari Ismaili community

Sir Sultan Mahomed Shah, known as Aga Khan III, was the 48th imam of the Nizari Ism'aili branch of Shia Islam. He was one of the founders and the first permanent president of the All-India Muslim League (AIML). His goal was the advancement of Muslim agendas and the protection of Muslim rights in British India. The League, until the late 1930s, was not a large organisation but represented landed and commercial Muslim interests as well as advocating for British education during the British Raj. There were similarities in Aga Khan's views on education with those of other Muslim social reformers, but the scholar Shenila Khoja-Moolji argues that he also expressed a distinct interest in advancing women's education for women themselves. Aga Khan called on the British Raj to consider Muslims to be a separate nation within India, the famous 'Two Nation Theory'. Even after he resigned as president of the AIML in 1912, he still exerted a major influence on its policies and agendas. He was nominated to represent India at the League of Nations in 1932 and served as President of the 18th Assembly of The League of Nations (1937–1938).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Isma'ilism</span> Branch of Shia Islam

Isma'ilism is a branch or sect of Shia Islam. The Isma'ili get their name from their acceptance of Imam Isma'il ibn Jafar as the appointed spiritual successor (imām) to Ja'far al-Sadiq, wherein they differ from the Twelver Shia, who accept Musa al-Kazim, the younger brother of Isma'il, as the true Imām.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hijra (South Asia)</span> Third gender of South Asian cultures

In the Indian subcontinent, hijra are transgender, intersex, or eunuch people who live in communities that follow a kinship system known as the guru-chela system. They are also known as aravani, aruvani, and jogappa, and in Pakistan, khawaja sira.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aga Khan IV</span> 49th Imam of the Ismaili (born 1936)

Prince Karim Al-Husseini, known as the Aga Khan IV since the death of his grandfather in 1957, is the 49th and current imam of Nizari Isma'ilis. He has held the position of Imam and the title of Aga Khan since 11 July 1957 when, at the age of 20, he succeeded his grandfather, Aga Khan III. The Aga Khan claims direct lineal descent from the Islamic prophet Muhammad through Muhammad's cousin and son-in-law, Ali, who is considered an Imam by Nizari Isma'ilis, and Ali's wife Fatima, Muhammad's daughter from his first marriage. Aga Khan IV is also known by the religious title Mawlānā Hazar Imam by his Isma'ili followers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jama'at Khana</span> Term used by some Muslim communities for a place of gathering

Jamatkhana or Jamat Khana is an amalgamation derived from the Arabic word jama‘a (gathering) and the Persian word khana. It is a term used by some Muslim communities around the world, particularly sufi ones, to a place of gathering. Among some communities of Muslims, the term is often used interchangeably with the Arabic word musallah. The Nizārī Ismā'īlī community uses the term Jama'at Khana to denote their places of worship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Khojki script</span> Abugida script

Khojkī, Khojakī, or Khwājā Sindhī, is a script used formerly and almost exclusively by the Khoja community of parts of the Indian subcontinent, including Sindh, Gujarat, and Punjab. However, this script also had a further reach and was used by members of Ismaili communities from Burma to East and South Africa. The Khojki script is one of the earliest forms of written Sindhi. The name "Khojki" is likely derived from the Persian word khoja, which means "master", or "lord".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Khoja</span> Nizari Ismaili Shia Islamic community in India

The Khoja are a mainly Shia tribe of people of the western Indian subcontinent. They are historically members of the Bania caste.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aga Khan Development Network</span> Network of development agencies founded by the Aga Khan

The Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) is a network of private, non-denominational development agencies founded by the Aga Khan, with the primary focus of improving the quality of life in different regions of Asia and Africa.

Lohana are a trading or mercantile jāti mostly in India and also in Pakistan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Education in Pakistan</span>

Education in Pakistan is overseen by the Federal Ministry of Education and the provincial governments, while the federal government mostly assists in curriculum development, accreditation and the financing of research and development. Article 25-A of the Constitution of Pakistan obligates the state to provide free and compulsory quality education to children of the age group 5 to 16 years. "The State shall provide free and compulsory education to all children of the age of five to sixteen years in such a manner as may be determined by law". Considering the challenges confronting the youth in Pakistan, it's hardly astonishing that well-off and educated young individuals and professionals are opting to depart the country whenever they have the opportunity, exacerbating the brain drain phenomenon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Female education</span> Complex set of issues and debates surrounding education for girls and women

Female education is a catch-all term for a complex set of issues and debates surrounding education for girls and women. It is frequently called girls' education or women's education. It includes areas of gender equality and access to education. The education of women and girls is important for the alleviation of poverty. Broader related topics include single-sex education and religious education for women, in which education is divided along gender lines.

Ginans are devotional hymns or poems recited by Shia Ismaili Muslims.

Ali Sultaan Asani is a Kenyan-American academic. He is Murray A. Albertson Professor of Middle Eastern Studies and Professor of Indo-Muslim and Islamic Religion and Cultures at Harvard University. He has served as Director of Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Islamic Studies Program at Harvard University as well as the Chair of the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations.

Satpanth is a Sanskrit term, given to a diverse group of individuals who follow Pir Sadardin. Pir Sadardin Imamshah Bawa, was a Shia Ismaili Da'i who founded the Satpanth Tariqa around 600 years ago, and taught tolerance, perennialism and syncretism of all religions, putting a particular emphasis on the syncretism of Islam and Hinduism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lila Abu-Lughod</span> Palestinian-American anthropologist

Lila Abu-Lughod is a Palestinian-American anthropologist. She is the Joseph L. Buttenweiser Professor of Social Science in the Department of Anthropology at Columbia University in New York City. She specializes in ethnographic research in the Arab world, and her seven books cover topics including sentiment and poetry, nationalism and media, gender politics and the politics of memory.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mughal people</span> Group of clans of North India and Pakistan

The Mughals is a Muslim corporate group from modern-day North India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. They claim to have descended from the various Central Asian Mongolic, Turkic and Persian peoples that had historically settled in the Mughal India. The term Mughal literally means Mongol.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jinnah family</span> Political family of Pakistan

The Jinnah family was a political family of Pakistan. It has played an important role in the Pakistan Movement for creation of Pakistan, a separate country for Muslims of India. The family held the leadership of All-India Muslim League, and its successor, Muslim League, until it was dissolved in 1958 by martial law.

Haji Bibi v. His Highness Sir Sultan Mohamed Shah, the Aga Khan, often referred to as the Haji Bibi Case, was a 1908 court case in the Bombay High Court heard by Justice Russell. The case was fundamentally a dispute over the inheritance of the estate of Hasan Ali Shah, a Persian nobleman with the title Aga Khan I and the hereditary leader of the Nizari Ismailis. A number of the properties and other monetary assets had been passed down to Aqa Ali Shah, Aga Khan II and then to his grandson, Sir Sultan Muhammad Shah, Aga Khan III. The plaintiffs included Haji Bibi who was a widowed granddaughter of Aga Khan I and a few other members of the family that all claimed rights to the wealth. The decision is notable as it confirmed the Aga Khan III's exclusive rights to the assets of his grandfather and to the continued religious offerings by his followers, including some Khojas, as the 48th Imam of the Nizaris.

Women of the Ismaili sect are part of Shia Islam. Some subsects have women's rights issues, others observe a relatively progressive environment within their sects, which is also dependent on the laws in the countries practicing this sect.

Aly Kassam-Remtulla is a U.S.-based academic, writer and scholar who is Vice Provost for International Affairs and Operations at Princeton University. Previously, he was associated with the MacArthur Foundation.

References

  1. 1 2 "ACMCU Welcomes Professor Shenila Khoja-Moolji to the Faculty". July 6, 2022. Archived from the original on July 12, 2022. Retrieved July 8, 2022.
  2. 1 2 3 Wood, Sarah (3 March 2021). "Meet Dr. Shenila Khoja-Moolji, a Champion for Inclusive Education". Issues in Higher Education. Archived from the original on July 12, 2022. Retrieved April 2, 2022.
  3. ↑ "Visiting Scholar, Alice Paul Center for Research on Gender, Sexuality and Women". University of Pennsylvania. Archived from the original on July 12, 2022. Retrieved April 2, 2022.
  4. ↑ Khoja-Moolji, Shenila (April 1, 2018). "Why is Malala such a polarising figure in Pakistan?". Al Jazeera. Archived from the original on April 2, 2022. Retrieved April 2, 2022.
  5. ↑ Khoja-Moolji, Shenila (2015). "Reading Malala: (De)(Re)Territorialization of Muslim Collectivities". Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East. 35 (3): 539–556. doi:10.1215/1089201X-3426397. Archived from the original on 2022-04-02. Retrieved 2022-04-02.
  6. ↑ Khoja-Moolji, Shenila (2020). "Death by benevolence: third world girls and the contemporary politics of humanitarianism". Feminist Theory. 21 (1): 65–90. doi:10.1177/1464700119850026. S2CID   197718506.
  7. ↑ Khoja-Moolji, Shenila (2017). "The Making of Humans and Their Others in and through Transnational Human Rights Advocacy". Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society. 42 (2): 377–402. doi:10.1086/688184. S2CID   151443956. Archived from the original on 2022-04-02. Retrieved 2022-04-02.
  8. ↑ Khoja-Moolji, Shenila (2016). "Doing the 'work of hearing': girls' voices in transnational educational development campaigns". Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education. 46 (5): 745–763. doi:10.1080/03057925.2015.1084582. S2CID   143121465.
  9. ↑ Leyava, Emily (2019). "Forging the Ideal Educated Girl: The Production of Desirable Subjects in Muslim South Asia by Shenila Khoja-Moolji". Comparative Education Review. 63 (3): 447–449. doi:10.1086/704135. ISSN   0010-4086. S2CID   240934549. Archived from the original on 2022-07-12. Retrieved 2022-07-12.
  10. ↑ Adenuga, Taiwo (2020-08-19). "Forging the ideal educated girl: the production of desirable subjects in Muslim South Asia". Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies in Education. 9 (2). doi: 10.32674/jise.v9i2.1666 . ISSN   2166-2681. S2CID   225429213. Archived from the original on 2022-03-01. Retrieved 2022-07-12.
  11. ↑ Marin-Velasquez, Melba; Closson-Pitts, Brittany (2019-05-19). "Forging the ideal educated girl: the production of desirable subjects in Muslim South Asia". Gender and Education. 31 (4): 560–561. doi:10.1080/09540253.2019.1583322. ISSN   0954-0253. S2CID   150972391. Archived from the original on 2022-07-12. Retrieved 2022-07-12.
  12. ↑ Open Access (2018). Forging the Ideal Educated Girl The Production of Desirable Subjects in Muslim South Asia. doi:10.1525/luminos.52. ISBN   9780520298408. S2CID   150332143. Archived from the original on 2022-03-19. Retrieved 2022-04-02.
  13. ↑ Comparative and International Education Society. "2019 Jackie Kirk Award Outstanding Book Award". Archived from the original on July 12, 2022. Retrieved April 2, 2022.
  14. ↑ Howard, Jamie Lee (2021). "Sovereign Attachments Masculinity, Muslimness, and Affective Politics in Pakistan. Khoja-Moolji, Shenila. 2021. Berkeley: University of California Press". Ethos. 49 (2): etho.12312. doi:10.1111/etho.12312. ISSN   0091-2131. S2CID   243979475.
  15. ↑ Hocking, Elise (2021). "Sovereign Attachments: Masculinity, Muslimness, and Affective Politics in Pakistan by Shenila Khoja-Moolji". CrossCurrents. 71 (4): 446–448. doi:10.1353/cro.2021.0037. ISSN   1939-3881. S2CID   247164767.
  16. 1 2 International Studies Association. "2021-2022 Awards Recipients". Archived from the original on April 7, 2022. Retrieved April 2, 2022.
  17. ↑ "Professor Khoja-Moolji wins award for new book: Sovereign Attachments". 5 December 2022.
  18. ↑ Association for Asian Studies (November 25, 2019). "AAS 2019 Election Results". Archived from the original on July 24, 2021. Retrieved April 2, 2022.
  19. ↑ "Asian North American Religion, Culture, and Society Unit and Secularism and Secularity Unit | PAPERS". papers.aarweb.org.
  20. ↑ "Awards". Archived from the original on March 11, 2022. Retrieved April 2, 2022.
  21. ↑ Teachers College, Columbia University. "Working Towards Social Justice: Academic Festival 2021". Archived from the original on November 19, 2021. Retrieved April 2, 2022.
  22. ↑ Teachers College, Columbia University. "2021 Alumni Award Recipients". Archived from the original on July 12, 2022. Retrieved April 2, 2022.
  23. ↑ "Shenila Khoja-Moolji". Al Jazeera author profile. Archived from the original on April 2, 2022. Retrieved April 3, 2022.
  24. ↑ "Stories from Dr Shenila Khoja Moolji". The Express Tribune. Archived from the original on February 11, 2022. Retrieved April 3, 2022.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.