Curriculum Vitae
Education
2009-2013
Dr. phil. in Political Science at the Department of Middle Eastern Studies, Faculty of Humanities, Social Sciences, and Theology, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg (cum laude).
Dissertation Topic: Moderation or Transformation: Explaining the Different Ideological Trajectories of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood and the Turkish Justice and Development Party
2004-2006
Master of Art in International Studies at Birzeit University, Palestine (with distinction).
Master Thesis: The interrelationship between the resistance and the state: a comparative study of Hamas and Hizboullah
1999-2003
Bachelor of Art in History and Political Science, Birzeit University, Palestine.
1986-1999
School Education in Ramallah, Palestine.
Professional Activities
05/2017 to present
Research Fellow, Department “Law & Anthropology”, Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology, Halle/Saale, Germany
10/2013 to 12/2017
Research Fellow, Erlangen Center for Islam and Law in Europe (EZIRE), Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany
11/2015 to 12/2017
Research Fellow, Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities, Munich, Germany
04/2007 to 04/2009
Senior Researcher at the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, Ramallah, West Bank, Palestine
2007-2008
Senior Researcher at AMAN: The Coalition for Accountability and Integrity, Ramallah, West Bank, Palestine
2006-2007
Senior Researcher at Muwatin: The Palestinian Institute for the Study of Democracy, West Bank, Palestine.
Teaching
- Reading Sayyid Qutb: His work “Milestones”
- Understanding Islamist Ideology: Texts and Discourse
- Islamists in Arab Media: Texts and Discourse
- Arab Uprisings in Islamist Thought: Texts, Language, Discourse and Ideology
- Authoritarianism and Political Change in the Middle East: Before and after the “Arab Uprising”
Grants and Awards
2009-2013
Doctoral Scholarship, German Academic Exchange Programme (DAAD)
2004-2006
Scholarships for Masters level study, Ibrahim Abu Lughod Institute of International Studies, Birzeit University, Palestine.
Fieldwork
2018 / 2019
Germany (mainly Bavaria, Berlin, Bremen and North Rhine-Westphalia)
11/2015 to 04/2017
Germany (Bayern)
2/2015 to 10/2015
Germany (Berlin)
11/2013 to 12/2014
Germany (Erlangen, Nürnberg, Frankfurt, Wuppertal, and Köln)
Public Lectures
5/2020
“The Practice of "Paralleljustiz" among Arab "Clans" in Germany: Economic Resources, Family Networks and Social Capital, University of Hamburg, Hamburg Lectures in Law and Economics.
9/2019
“Sharia in Action: How Muslim Religious Actors Practice Khul‘ and Child Custody in Germany, Conference: Islamic Family Law in Europe and the Islamic World, University of Tübingen and Oxford University.
4/2019
The Challenges of US Policy in the Middle East: The Gulf – Iran – Israel, the 13th Al Jazeera Forum, Al Jazeera Centre for Studies.
3/2019
The Internal dynamic of khul in Germany. The debate on child custody and Mahr, Conference: Strictly Observant Religion, Gender and the State, Woolf Institute, University of Cambridge.
12/2018
The Future of Salafism: Did an Ideological Upheaval Start Against Saudi Arabia? International Conference: Future of Salafism , Oxford Department of International Development (University of Oxford) and The King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies (KFCRIS).
6/2018
Towards tangible solutions of “The injustice of Marital Captivity”, Hearing, European Parliament, Brussels.
6/2018
The practice of khulʿ in Germany: how do local Muslim communities in Germany dissolve unregistered marriage (nikāh) through khulʿ?’, International Conference: Reformulating matrimony in Islamic law: new questions and responses among Muslims in Europe, The Oxford Research Centre for the Humanities (TORCH) and Pembroke College, University.
4/2018
How Local Muslim Communities Dissolve Unregistered Islamic Marriage (nikāh) in Germany?, International Conference: Europe’s New Migrants: Marriage Practices and Policies, University of Birmingham.
04/2017
Practicing Shari’a in the West: How Local Religious Communities in Germany Dissolve Unregistered Marriage through Khulʿ? International Conference: Unregistered Muslim Marriages, Regulations and Contestations, De Montfort University Leicester, England.
12/2016
Debating ‘the Sharia Parallel Justice System’ in Germany. International Conference: Cultural Expertise in Socio-Legal Studies and History, (EURO-EXPERT), Oxford, England.
11/2016
Khul’ Divorce in Germany: Mutual Consent as Opposed to Litigation, MARICAP Conference: “Marital Captivity: Divorce, Religion and Human Rights”, Ius Commune Research School Conference Faculty of Law, Maastricht University, The Netherlands.
11/2016
From Worship to Judiciary: The Changing Role of Imams in the German Muslim Community. International workshop: Courts, Religion, and Politics in Contemporary Muslim States, School for International Studies, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
11/2015
Debating “Sharia Parallel Justice” in Germany. The Annual Meeting of the Middle East Studies Association (MESA), Denver, USA.
10/2015
ADR in family disputes under the auspices of cultural and religious norms in Germany (field findings). International Conference: Legal Pluralism and Human Rights within Family Disputes in Europe, Human Right Center, Ghent University, Belgium.
09/2015
Debating “Sharia Parallel Justice” in Germany. 22nd International Conference of the German Middle East Studies Association (DAVO), Bochum, Germany.
09/2014
Counselling and Mediation among Muslims in Germany: The legal framework, practical evidence and the German debate on Sharia parallel justice. International Conference: Counselling and Mediation among Muslims in Europe, Leiden University, The Netherlands.
9/2012
Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood and Regime Change in the Post-Mubarak Era. International Conference: Participation and Justice in Times of Change in the Arab World, The German Foreign Office and German Academic Exchange Services, Berlin, Germany.
06/2012
Mobilization for Change: Social Movements in a Developing World. International workshop, A Right Livelihood College campus, Bonn, Germany.
2/2012
Regime Change and the Ideological Transformation of Social Movements: The Case of AKP in Turkey. Research-Workshop: Reform and Revolution in the Middle East, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany.
09/2010
Islamic Movements, Political Opportunities Structure and Ideological Transformation: A Comparative Political Study of the Islamic Movements in Egypt and Turkey. DOT, 31st German Conference of Oriental Studies, Marburg, Germany.
06/2010
The Moderation of the Islamic Movement in Turkey and Egypt: A Comparative Framework. Research-Workshop: Religion – State Ideology, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany.
11/2009
Hamas Fighting Against Fateh in 2007 and During the War 2008/2009. 43rd Annual Meeting of the Middle East Studies Association (MESA), Boston, USA.
Languages
Arabic, English, German