About Madawi al-Rasheed
Born 1962. Madawi al-Rasheed is a Saudi anthropologist and university teacher.
Madawi al-Rasheed, (; ) is a British citizen of Saudi origin and a professor of social anthropology. Al-Rasheed has held a position at the Department of Theology and Religious Studies in King's College London and as a Visiting Professor at the Middle East Centre at the London School of Economics and Political Science. She gives occasional lectures in the United States, Europe, and the Middle East. She is the granddaughter of Muhammad bin Talāl al-Rashid, the last prince of the Emirate of Ha'il, which was conquered by the Al-Saud in the early 20th century. She has written several books and articles in academic journals on the Arabian Peninsula, Arab migration, globalisation, gender, and religious transnationalism. , she is a Visiting Research Professor at the Middle East Institute at the National University of Singapore.
Background Al-Rasheed was born in Paris to a Saudi father and a Lebanese mother. Her father descends from the Rashidi dynasty. When al-Rasheed was at a "very early age", the family moved to Saudi Arabia, where al-Rasheed grew up.
In 1975, King Faisal of Saudi Arabia was assassinated by his nephew, Faisal bin Musaid. His mother was a sister of al-Rasheed's father, and the Saudi government accused the Rashidi family of being behind the assassination. Further investigation found this to be untrue, but in 1975, al-Rasheed's family moved to Lebanon, where al‐Rasheed finished her baccalaureate in 1981. She then started her studies in anthropology and sociology at the American University of Beirut.
Recognition Al-Rasheed was recognized as one of the BBC's 100 women of 2013.
Selected publications Books 1991 Al-Rasheed M. Politics in an Arabian Oasis: the Rashidi Tribal Dynasty, London: I.B. Tauris 1998 Al-Rasheed, M. Iraqi Assyrian Christians in London: the Construction of Ethnicity, New York: Edwin Mellen Press 2002 Al-Rasheed, M. A History of Saudi Arabia, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Also in Arabic, Spanish and Polish. 2005 Al-Rasheed, M. Mazaq Al-islah fi al-Saudiyyah fi al-Qarn al-Wahid wa al-Ishrin, London: al-Saqi 2007 Al-Rasheed, M. Contesting the Saudi State: Islamic Voices from a New Generation, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 2010 Al-Rasheed, M. A History of Saudi Arabia, Second Edition, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 2013 Al-Rasheed, M. A Most Masculine State: Gender, Politics and Religion in Saudi Arabia, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 2015 Al-Rasheed, M. Muted Modernists: The Struggle over Divine Politics in Saudi Arabia, Oxford University Press 2018 Al-Rasheed. M. Salman's Legacy: The Dilemmas of a New Era in Saudi Arabia, Oxford University Press 2020 Al-Rasheed. M. The Son King: Reform and Repression in Saudi Arabia, Hurst Publishers
Edited books 2004 Al-Rasheed, M. & R Vitalis (eds.) Counter-Narratives: History, Contemporary Society and Politics in Saudi Arabia and Yemen, New York, Palgrave 2005 Al-Rasheed, M. (ed.) Transnational Connections and the Arab Gulf, London: Routledge. 2008 Al-Rasheed, M. (ed.) Kingdom without Borders: Saudi Political, Religious and Media Expansion, London: Hurst and Co. 2009 Al-Rasheed, M. & M. Shterin. (eds.) Dying for Faith: Religiously Motivated Violence in the Contemporary World, London: I.B. Tauris. 2012 Al-Rasheed, M. Kersten, C. and Shterin, M. (eds,) Demystifying the Caliphate: Historical Memory and Contemporary Contexts, London: Hurst and Co.
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Important facts
People in Madawi al-Rasheed's life
Named in this biography and alive at the same time
Contemporaries
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Frequently asked questions
Who is Madawi al-Rasheed?
Saudi professor of social anthropology
When was Madawi al-Rasheed born?
Madawi al-Rasheed was born in 1962 in Paris.
What is Madawi al-Rasheed's occupation?
Madawi al-Rasheed is an anthropologist and university teacher.
What nationality is Madawi al-Rasheed?
Madawi al-Rasheed is Saudi.
Sources & further reading
· Wikipedia: Madawi al-Rasheed
Cite this page
APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Madawi al-Rasheed. https://biography.guide/madawi-al-rasheed/
MLA: "Madawi al-Rasheed." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/madawi-al-rasheed/.
Chicago: "Madawi al-Rasheed." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/madawi-al-rasheed/.
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