Omid Safi

b. 1970 · United States (raised in Iran) · Scholar of Islamic studies and Sufism; professor at Duke University

Omid Safi was born in Jacksonville, Florida, and raised in Iran, moving with his family from Tehran to the United States in 1985. He is a professor of Asian and Middle Eastern studies at Duke University, where he directed the Duke Islamic Studies Center from 2014 to 2019, and was earlier on the faculty of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

His scholarship ranges across medieval Persian Islam, the history of the Prophet’s memory, and Sufism. He is associated with the progressive Muslim movement, which emphasises social justice, gender equality and pluralism, and he edited the volume Progressive Muslims. He has written a column for On Being and writes widely for general readers.

His own books include a study of ideology and religious inquiry in the Seljuq period, a historical account of the figure of Muhammad in Muslim memory, and an anthology of teachings on love from the Islamic mystical tradition.

Archived 19 October 2026 · Biography sources: en.wikipedia.org · openlibrary.org

Connections

See the whole network →

Teachers

None recorded yet

Students

None recorded yet

Influenced by

None recorded yet

Influenced

None recorded yet

Family

None recorded yet

Worked together

None recorded yet

Argued with

None recorded yet

Parallel projects

None recorded yet

Archived 23 October 2026 · Sources: the Wikipedia article of each author and the biographies on this site. Whole network

In their lifetime, in the History Hub:New states and revival Revolution and renewal Contemporary voices

Works

Books 3

BOOK 2006 · English

The Politics of Knowledge in Premodern Islam: Negotiating Ideology and Religious Inquiry

A study of how rulers, scholars and mystics negotiated religious authority and ideology in the Seljuq period.

Archived 19 October 2026 · Source: Internet Archive (borrowable)

Cite

Safi, Omid. The Politics of Knowledge in Premodern Islam: Negotiating Ideology and Religious Inquiry. 2006. Internet Archive (borrowable), https://archive.org/details/politicsofknowle0000safi. Archived 19 October 2026 in Islamic Internet Archives: Archive of Modern Islamic Thought. https://islamicarchives.org/authors/omid-safi/#omid-safi-the-politics-of-knowledge-in-premodern-islam-negotiating

READ AT SOURCE ↗

BOOK 2009 · English

Memories of Muhammad: Why the Prophet Matters

A historical and reflective account of Muhammad and of the ways Muslims have remembered and loved him.

Archived 19 October 2026 · Source: Internet Archive (borrowable)

Cite

Safi, Omid. Memories of Muhammad: Why the Prophet Matters. 2009. Internet Archive (borrowable), https://archive.org/details/memoriesofmuhamm00safi. Archived 19 October 2026 in Islamic Internet Archives: Archive of Modern Islamic Thought. https://islamicarchives.org/authors/omid-safi/#omid-safi-memories-of-muhammad-why-the-prophet-matters

READ AT SOURCE ↗

BOOK 2018 · English

Radical Love: Teachings from the Islamic Mystical Tradition

An anthology of passages from Sufi writers on divine and human love, with commentary.

Archived 19 October 2026 · Source: openlibrary.org

Cite

Safi, Omid. Radical Love: Teachings from the Islamic Mystical Tradition. 2018. Archived 19 October 2026 in Islamic Internet Archives: Archive of Modern Islamic Thought. https://islamicarchives.org/authors/omid-safi/#omid-safi-radical-love-teachings-from-the-islamic-mystical-tradition

No free copy online