Professor Khaled Abou El Fadl Appointed to Alfi Chair in Islamic Law

Posted Nov 7, 2006      •Permalink      • Printer-Friendly Version Bookmark and Share

Professor Khaled Abou El Fadl Appointed to Alfi Chair in Islamic Law

LOS ANGELES—UCLA School of Law Professor Khaled Abou El Fadl was named to the Omar and Azmeralda Alfi Endowed Chair in Islamic Law, which was created through the generosity of Dr. Omar Alfi and Mrs. Azmeralda Alfi.

Professor El Fadl, a 2005 Carnegie Scholar, teaches courses in Islamic law, immigration law, national security law, investment law, and terrorism and the law.  He also conducts a seminar in human rights. Dr. El Fadl has served as an expert witness in international litigation involving Middle Eastern law, and in cases involving terrorism, immigration law and political asylum claims.

“I’m pleased that someone with Khaled’s strength of character, conviction and scholarship has been named to this important professorship,” commented UCLA Law Dean Michael H. Schill.  “He is truly among the world’s leading Islamic scholars and jurists.”

His book, “The Great Theft: Wrestling Islam from the Extremists” (Harper San Francisco, 2005), is the first and only book to define the differences between moderate and extremist Muslims on key points of theology and practice. The book takes aim at Muslim puritans and discourses on how extremist factions of Islam blatantly defy the true values of the religion. Professor El Fadl, who has long been an outspoken critic of the Saudi-sponsored Wahhabi sect of Islam, has been a target of Islamic extremists who eschew him and his beliefs.

Dr. El Fadl is the author of 10 books and over 50 articles on various topics in Islamic law.  Other books include: “The Search for Beauty in Islam: A Conference of the Books” (Rowman & Littlefield, 2nd. ed. 2005), “Islam and the Challenge of Democracy” (Princeton University Press, 2004), “The Place of Tolerance in Islam” (Beacon Press, 2002), “Speaking in God’s Name: Islamic Law, Authority and Women” (Oneworld Publications, 2001), “And God Knows the Soldiers: The Authoritative and Authoritarian in Islamic Discourses (UPA/Rowman and Littlefield, 2001), and “Rebellion and Violence in Islamic Law” (Cambridge University Press, 2001).

Professor El Fadl was trained in Islamic legal sciences in Egypt, Kuwait and the United States.  He holds degrees from Yale University (BA Political Science), the University of Pennsylvania Law School (J.D.), and Princeton University (M.A./Ph.D. Islamic Studies).  After law school, he clerked for Arizona Supreme Court Justice James Moeller, and has also practiced immigration and investment law in the United States and the Middle East.

About UCLA School of Law

Founded in 1949, UCLA School of Law is the youngest major law school in the nation and has established a tradition of innovation in its approach to teaching, research and scholarship.  With approximately 100 faculty and 970 students, the school pioneered clinical teaching, is a leader in interdisciplinary research and training, and is at the forefront of efforts to link research to its effects on society and the legal profession.

http://www.law.ucla.edu/home/News/Detail.aspx?page=20&recordid=874

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