Muslim Sectarianism Past and Present

Event time: 
Thursday, April 11, 2019 - 5:30pm to 6:30pm
Location: 
Sterling Divinity Quadrangle (SDQ ), Niebuhr Hall See map
409 Prospect Street
New Haven, CT 06511
Event description: 

This event will be available to view at https://livestream.com/yaledivinityschool

Michael Allan Cook, University Professor of Near Eastern Studies at Princeton University, will give the Sorensen Lecture at Yale Divinity School on Thursday, April 11, 5:30pm. Cook will speak on “Muslim Sectarianism Past and Present.”

Cook’s scholarship deals with the formation of Islamic civilization and the role played by religious values in that process. He has focused, in particular, on the Islamic concept of al-amr bi`l-ma’ruf, which refers to the collective duty of the Muslim community to encourage righteous behavior and discourage immorality.

A graduate of Cambridge (King’s College) and the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) at the University of London, Cook taught at SOAS for nearly 20 years before joining the Princeton faculty in 1986. His long list of publications includes Forbidding Wrong in Islam: An Introduction (Cambridge, 2003) and Ancient Religions, Modern Politics: The Islamic Case in Comparative Perspective (Princeton, 2014). For more on Michael Cook, visit his Princeton faculty page.

In his YDS lecture, Cook will explore why the level of sectarian conflict has been higher within Islam in recent decades than within Buddhism, Hinduism, and Christianity. He asks: Does this contrast arise from features of Muslim sectarianism inherited from pre-modern times? Is it the result of modern historical contingencies? Or some combination of the two?

The Margaret Lindquist Sorensen Lectureship at YDS was established in 1978 by a gift from her son, Dr. Andrew A. Sorensen, B.D. 1962, to provide an annual lecture on politics and ethics.

This lecture will not be LiveStreamed.

Open to: 
General Public

203-432-4473