Vincent Cornell

Vincent Cornell is a summa cum laude graduate of the University of California, Berkeley. He received his Ph.D. in Islamic Studies from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1989. He has taught at Northwestern University (2 years), the University of Georgia (1 year), and Duke University (9 years). Since July 1, 2000 he has been Professor of History and Director of the King Fahd Center for Middle East and Islamic Studies at the University of Arkansas. His pre-modern interests cover the entire spectrum of Islamic thought from Sufism to philosophy and Islamic law.

He has lived and worked in Morocco for nearly six years, and has spent considerable time both teaching and doing research in Egypt, Tunisia, Malaysia and Indonesia. He is presently working on three book projects: a biography of the North African Sufi Abu al-Hasan al-Shadhili, a work on Hermetic philosophy in Islamic Spain, and a history of Islamic moral philosophy. His most recent publications are on Islamic theology and philosophy ("Religion and Philosophy" chapter for World Eras Volume 2: The Rise and Spread of Islam 622-1500, Susan L. Douglass, ed.), and the challenges of the terrorist attacks of 9/11 to the Muslim world ("A Muslim to Muslims: Reflections After September 11," The South Atlantic Quarterly, 101:2, Spring 2002).

As a Muslim and self-described "critical traditionalist", Cornell has publicly deplored what he calls the superficiality of modern-day Islamic practices, which he sees as removed from the religion's traditions of deliberation. In his view, context should be taken into account in interpreting the sacred texts of Islam, and that in the globalized world of shifting ideas, Muslims cannot isolate themselves from reflexivity. He is critical of the spread of Wahhabism in the last several decades -- a phenomenon he attributes to a "corporate" form of organized Islam fueled by petro dollars. Nevertheless, he cautions against a simplistic view that "demonizes" the role played by the Saudi monarchy, which he sees as compelled to promote Wahhabism.

References

* [http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/2004/09/30_crisisinislam/index.shtml Interview by public radio program "Speaking of Faith"]
* [http://www.uark.edu/depts/mesp/vcornell.htm Official page]
* [http://www.greenwood.com/catalog/C8732.aspx Voices In Islam]