Faisal Devji: Time Traveller

The polyglot who speaks 10 languages is Reader in Modern South Asian History and Director, St Antony’s College, Asian Studies Centre, at Oxford. Faisal Devji’s scholarship helps us understand Islam better and grasp the intricacies of Jihadist thought with greater clarity. Born in Dar es Salaam, raised in Canada and elsewhere, he is a scholar who has untangled various complex aspects of Islam. His books, such as Landscapes of the Jihad: Militancy, Morality, Modernity, Muslim Zion: Pakistan as a Political Idea, The Terrorist in Search of Humanity: Militant Islam and Global Politics, and lectures offer valuable insights into poorly understood and opaque issues. An authority on geopolitical trends in the Indian Subcontinent, his book on Gandhi, The Impossible Indian, offers rare, new perspectives. The star historian’s works are useful in understanding India’s past—and therefore what lies ahead.

See the complete list of Open Minds 2016: Public Square

historiansIndian historyIslamjihadorthodox MuslimsPakistan