Devin J. Stewart

Devin J. Stewart is a scholar of Islamic studies and Arabic language and literature. He is Samuel Candler Dobbs Professor of Middle eastern and South Asian studies at Emory University. His research interests include Islamic law, the Qur'an, Islamic schools and branches and varieties of Arabic.

Education Stewart graduated magna cum laude with an A.B. in Near Eastern studies from Princeton University in 1984 after completing a 143-page long senior thesis titled "Three Wise Men: The Safawi Religious Institution 1576 - 1629." He completed the Center for Arabic Study Abroad's program at the American University in Cairo, and then earned his PhD with distinction in Arabic and Islamic studies at the University of Pennsylvania six years later.

Career Stewart has taught Arabic studies, Islamic studies and Middle Eastern studies at the Department of Middle Eastern and South Asian Studies at Emory University since 1990. He also serves on the editorial board for the Library of Arabic Literature. He is one of the senior editors of the Encyclopedia of Islam.

Much of Stewart's work has focused on the reconstruction of early Muslim legal theory based on ancient texts. He has also called attention to infrequently studied genres of Arabic literature such as Maqama.

Work

Articles

Books Islamic Legal Orthodoxy: Twelver Shiite Responses to the Sunni Legal System. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1998.