Writings/Publications
Articles
“The Science of the Apocalypse: Astrology, Rebellion, and Abbasid Legitimacy” forthcoming
Book Chapters/Edited Volumes
“Jinn in the Qur’an” in The Routledge Handbook of the Qu’ran ed. George Archer, Maria M. Dakake, Daniel Madigan. London and New York: Routledge Press, 2021.
Olomi, Ali A. “Modernization.” Conflict in the Modern Middle East, Edited by Jonathan Katz. Santa Barbara: ABC Clio, 2019
“Women and Education in Islam” in Encyclopedia of Women in World Religions, Santa Barbara: ABC-Clio, 2018
“The Fall of Baghdad and the End of the Caliphate” in Great Events in Religion, Santa Barbara: ABC-Clio, 2016.
“The Ottoman-Safavid Wars” in Great Events in Religion, Santa Barbara: ABC-Clio, 2016.
“Ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhab and the Birth of Salafism” in Great Events in Religion, Santa Barbara: ABC-Clio, 2016.
“Rumi and the Mystical Tradition of Sufism” in World History Series Vol. 2, Gale, 2016
“The Ghaznavid Empire” in World History Series Vol. 1, Gale 2016.
“Gender and Sacred Space of the Harem” in World History Series Vol. 2, Gale 2016
Book Reviews
Olomi, Ali A. “Review of Goran Collste’s ‘Global Rectifactory Justice.’” Itinerario 40 (2016): 330-332.
Olomi, Ali A. “Hovsepian-Bearce, Y. The Political Ideology of Ayatollah Khamenei: Out of the Mouth of the Supreme Leader of Iran.” Journal of International and Global Studies Vol 8 No 1 (2016): 121-122
Public Articles
“Americans Spent 20 years Forgetting Afghanistan, I Did Not Have that Luxury” – The Washington Post
“Who is Mullah Hasan Akhund? What does the Taliban’s choice of interim prime minister mean for Afghanistan” -The Conversation
“The History of the Taliban is Crucial in Understanding Their Success now–and also what might happen next” -The Conversation
“The US replicated crucial flaws from the past in Afghanistan” – Washington Post
“Religion in the Age of Trump“- Religion News Network
“On or off, peace talks with Taliban spell disaster for Afghanistan“- Washington Post
“Trump’s Muslim Ban a Gift to Terrorists“- University of Southern California’s Religion Dispatches
“Obsession With Attackers’ Backgrounds Misses the Point of Terrorism“- University of Southern California’s Religion Dispatches
“Orlando Tragedy and the Tangled History of Jihad and Homosexuality” -University of Southern California’s Religion Dispatches
“The Roots of Homophobia and Anti-Gay Sentiment in the Muslim World” -Duke University’s IslamiCommentary
“The Iran Deal From an Afghan-American Perspective” -Your Middle East
“Same-sex Relationships and the Fluidity of Marriage in Islamic History” -Duke University’s IslamiCommentary
“The Political Failure of the War with ISIS” – International Policy Digest
“The New Face of Activism” – The Geek Anthropologist
“Orientalism is Thriving” – International Policy Digest
“Why We Are Right to Be Shocked by the Mob Murder of a 27 Year-Old Woman in Afghanistan” – History News Network
“Afghanistan’s President Thinks His Wife Can Play a Decisive Role in Country’s Future Despite Her Gender, Why He’s Right” -History News Network
“ISIS is Not Mediaeval” – openDemocracy
“In Iraq It Isn’t Just About the Minorities” – Informed Comment
“The 10 Questions You Need Answered About the Caliphate” – History News Network
“Would you Want to be Elected Afghanistan’s President” – History News Network
Academic Essays and Reserach
“Imagining Muslims: Construction of a Golden Age, Identity, and Legitimacy in Perso-Islamic World” (Doctoral Dissertation)
Abstract: My dissertation explores the how Muslims constructed the idea of a “Muslim homeland” in the context of a fragmenting caliphate using geographic and cosmological literature. My research examines the formations of “place” as a cite of affective belonging and its consequences for Muslim identity. Through a genealogical analysis, I examine how the discourse of homeland was then picked up in the 19th century anti-imperialized political movements of pan-Islamism.
“The Oriental and the Orientalist: Al Afghani and the Construction of Pan-Islamism” (Master’s Thesis)
Abstract: Scholarship on Jamal ad-Din Al Afghani focuses on the apparent contradiction in his writings between those addressed to a European audience and those addressed to an Islamic audience. This paper resolves that contradiction by placing Al Afghani within the discourse of orientalism and pan-Islamism. My conclusions illuminate the gendered and constructed nature of Al Afghani’s pan-Islamic state and how he imagined his state within the contextual history of Islamic rationalism. This paper highlights the creative way in which he draws from multiple discourses, appropriates ideas, and formulates ideas of an new pan-Islamic masculinity.