Aslan holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in religions from Santa Clara University, a Master of Theological Studies degree from Harvard Divinity School, and a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Iowa’s Writers’ Workshop, where he was named the Truman Capote Fellow in Fiction. Aslan also received a Doctor of Philosophy in Sociology, focusing in the history of religion, from the University of California, Santa Barbara.[7][8][9] His dissertation was titled “Global Jihadism as a Transnational Social Movement: A Theoretical Framework”.[10] In August 2000, while serving as the Truman Capote Fellow at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, Aslan was named Visiting Professor of Islamic Studies at the University of Iowa, becoming the first full-time professor of Islam in the history of the state. Most widely held works by Reza Aslan No god but God : the origins, evolution, and future of Islam by Reza Aslan ( Book ) 34 editions published between 2005 and 2011 in 3 languages and held by 2,444 libraries worldwide Presents the origins and history of Islam, with emphasis on its relation to other religions and the impact that terrorism is having on the current perception of Islam throughout the non-Islamic world. How to win a cosmic war : God, globalization, and the end of the War on Terror by Reza Aslan ( Book ) 6 editions published between 2009 and 2010 in English and No Linguistic content and held by 920 libraries worldwide A cosmic war is a religious war, not between armies or nations, but between the forces of good and evil, a war in which God is believed to be directly engaged on behalf of one side against the other. The hijackers who attacked the United States on September 11, 2001, thought they were fighting a cosmic war. Scholar Reza Aslan maintains that by infusing the War on Terror with the same kind of religiously polarizing rhetoric, the United States is also fighting a cosmic war–a war that can’t be won. This book is both an in-depth study of the ideology fueling militants throughout the Muslim world, and an exploration of religious violence in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Aslan argues that we must strip conflicts of their religious connotations and address the earthly grievances that always lie behind the cosmic impulse. How do you win a cosmic war? By refusing to fight in one.–From publisher description. Tablet & pen : literary landscapes from the modern Middle East ( Book ) 2 editions published in 2011 in English and held by 807 libraries worldwide Spans a century of poems, short stories, novels, memoirs, and essays by Sait Faik Abasiyanik, Azra Abbas, Ghulam Abbas, Abu Salma, Adonis (Ali Ahmad Sa’id Asbar), Jalal Al-e Ahmad, Pegah Ahmadi, Tawfiq al-Hakim, Nazik al-Malāʼikah, Mozaffar al-Nawwab, Melih Cevdet Anday, ʻArrār (Mustafa Wahbi al-Tal), Manouchehr Atashi, Reza Baraheni, Faraj Bayraqdar, Simin Behbahani, Alireza Behnam, Sadeq Chubak, Ismat Chughtai, Zayd Mutee’ Dammaj, Simin Daneshvar, Mahmoud Darwish, Parvin E’tesami, Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Forugh Farrokhzad, Altaf Fatima, Khalil Gibran, Hoiushang Golshiri, Melisa Gürpinar, Yahya Haqqi, Haydar Haydar, Sadegh Hedayat, Nâzim Hikmet, Abdullah Hussein, Intizaar Hussein, Yusif Idris, Muhammad Iqbal, Ali Sardar Jafri, Mohammad Ali Jamalzadeh, Ghassan Kanafani, Orhan Veli Kanik, Refik Halit Karay, Cemil Kavukçu, Yaşar Kemal, Naguib Mahfouz, ʻAbd al-Raḥīm Mahmud, Saʻādat Ḥasan Manto, Miraji (Muḥammad S̲ānāʼullāh Dār), Zakaria Mohammad, Nader Naderpour, Kishwar Naheed, Aziz Nesin, Orhan Pamuk, Zoya Pirzad, Hamid Reza Rahimi, N.M. Rashed, Fahmida Riaz, Oktay Rifat, Zeeshan Sahil, Ahmad Shamloo, Cemal Süreya, Zakariyya Tami, Ahmet Hamdi Tanpinar. Goli Taraghi, Akhtar ul-Iman, Saadi Youssef, Can Yücel, Nima Yushij, and Haifa Zangana. Beyond fundamentalism : confronting religious extremism in the age of globalization by Reza Aslan ( Book ) 3 editions published in 2010 in English and held by 177 libraries worldwide Muslims and Jews in America : commonalities, contentions, and complexities ( Book ) 5 editions published in 2011 in English and held by 160 libraries worldwide Jews and Muslims make up less than 3% of the total population of the United States. Yet, despite their relatively small numbers, the members of these two minority groups often find themselves the focus of a disproportionate amount of media attention, particularly when it comes to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Beyond such international issues, American Jews and American Muslims find themselves struggling with similar inter-communal concerns when it comes to matters like education (for example tensions between student populations of Jews and Muslims on university campuses), politics (such as the swearing in of the first Muslim Congressman in the House of Representatives, Keith Ellison, or the omnipresent emails and robo-calls linking President Obama to the Muslim community that emerged during the 2008 Presidential election), or even pop culture (think of such recent Hollywood productions as Kingdom in Heaven, Munich, Paradise Now, and Traitor, to name but a few). In all of these matters, American Jews and American Muslims have consistently engaged each other in conversation – whether directly or indirectly; constructive or not – in ways that have usually eluded their co-religionists throughout the rest of the world. This has partly to do with America’s ethos as a “melting pot” of different religions, ethnicities, and cultures. But it also has to do with the innovative ways in which Judaism and Islam have absorbed, and been radically altered, by the so-called “American experience.” This book is an exploration of contemporary Jewish-Muslim relations in the United States and the distinct and often creative ways in which these two communities interact with one another in the American context. Each essay discusses a different episode from the recent twentieth and current twenty-first century American milieu that links these two groups together. Some deal with case examples of local inter-communal interaction, such as “dialogue groups,” which can help us better understand national trends of similar activities in other parts of the country. Others focus on national trends themselves, thus giving us greater insights into individual incidents. How to win a cosmic war [God, globalization, and the end of the War on Terror by Reza Aslan ( Recording ) 4 editions published in 2009 in English and held by 92 libraries worldwide Reza Aslan discusses the reasons that America is losing the war on terror and reviews the decisions made by the Bush Administration that have contributed to that loss. He also discusses how this war has been presented to citizens as a ‘cosmic war,’ or a battle between good and evil, and how that has affected governmental policies related to terrorism. Ritual : perspectives and dimensions by Catherine M Bell ( Book ) 2 editions published in 2009 in English and held by 91 libraries worldwide From handshakes and toasts to chant and genuflection, ritual pervades our social interactions and religious practices. Still, few of us could identify all of our daily and festal ritual behaviors, much less explain them to an outsider. Similarly, because of the variety of activities that qualify as ritual and their many contradictory yet, in many ways, equally legitimate interpretations, ritual seems to elude any systematic historical and comparative scrutiny. In this book, Catherine Bell offers a practical introduction to ritual practice and its study; she surveys the most influential theories of religion and ritual, the major categories of ritual activity, and the key debates that have shaped our understanding of ritualism. Bell refuses to nail down ritual with any one definition or understanding. Instead, her purpose is to reveal how definitions emerge and evolve and to help us become more familiar with the interplay of tradition, exigency, and self- expression that goes into constructing this complex social medium. How to win a cosmic war : confronting radical Islam by Reza Aslan ( Book ) 3 editions published between 2009 and 2010 in English and held by 80 libraries worldwide How to win a cosmic war : confronting radical religions by Reza Aslan ( Book ) 1 edition published in 2007 in English and held by 30 libraries worldwide Decoding the past. Secrets of the Koran ( Visual ) 1 edition published in 2006 in English and held by 18 libraries worldwide Explores the history and influence of the Koran. Scholars offer interpretations of the Koran’s verses and draw comparisons between the Koran and the Bible.
You judge.
Aslan is also a supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood, writing for the Washington Post in 2012, “The Muslim Brotherhood will have a significant role to play in post-Mubarak Egypt. And that is a good thing.” Aslan also praised the election of Mohammed Morsi, the Islamist leader of Egypt who was recently ousted by a military coup with wide popular support.
This easy tone goes back at least to a 2007 appearance in which Aslan categorically stated that the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood was not a jihadist organization.
In a February tweet, Aslan guessed that the relationship between Morsi and extremist Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad would “help their countries” — an assertion that raises serious questions about his reputation as a moderate, in addition to having been proven spectacularly wrong in the ensuing five months.
Aslan’s claim would also come as a surprise to Morsi himself, who in a 2012 speech exhorted the chant “Jihad is our path, and death for Allah is our most lofty aspiration.”
Aslan also claimed that Osama bin Laden was not inspired by Islam to attack the United States. “His justifications are not religious,” Aslan stated in a 2007 debate with atheist writer Sam Harris. “He states very clearly it’s because of Palestine, it’s because of troops in Saudi Arabia, it’s because of now what’s going on in Iraq.” He repeatedly told Harris that there were no theological grievances.
That, too, is false. Bin Laden had repeatedly invoked the Koran and the Prophet Muhammad to justify his attacks. “I’m fighting so I can die a martyr and go to heaven to meet God. Our fight now is against the Americans,” he told al-Quds al-Arabi the day after the Islamist terror attacks of September 11, 2001.
Aslan does not limit his kind words to Sunni extremists, however. His comments on Iran rarely if ever depart from the official line of that country’s mullahs.Aslan, whose last name is actually Aslanpour, did not return a phone call request for comment.
Since Aslan’s Fox News interview he has become a cause célèbre for BuzzFeed, The New York Times, Huffington Post, and many others. His book has also skyrocketed on Amazon’s bestseller lists.
The Washington Post’s Erik Wemple has demanded that Fox apologize to Aslan.