PhD · History
University of Michigan, United States.
Documented academic record
Curriculum vitae
A public, privacy-safe rendering of the curriculum vitae Abdullah al-Ahsan supplied specifically for this website on August 5, 2026.
Source note. Professor al-Ahsan described that CV as “not complete yet” while saying it contained most of the record. This page therefore preserves what the supplied document supports without presenting itself as an exhaustive lifetime bibliography. Private address and telephone information are intentionally omitted.
Education
Academic formation
MA · Islamic Studies
McGill University, Montreal, Canada.
MS · History
Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan.
Academic appointments
Teaching, research and institutional leadership
2018–2020 · Istanbul Şehir University
Professor of Comparative Civilization, Department of Political Science and International Relations. Courses listed in the supplied CV include Globalization and the Muslim World; Europe and Islam; Developing World in Global Politics; and World Civilizations and Global Encounters.
2016–2017 · International Islamic University Malaysia
Editor and Professor, Department of History and Civilization.
2015–2016 · International Islamic University Malaysia
Professor, Department of History and Civilization.
2009–2015 · ISTAC, IIUM
Professor and Deputy Dean, International Institute of Islamic Thought and Civilization. Courses listed include Rise and Fall of Civilizations, Orientalism, Islam and the West, Modern Western Thought and Civilization, History of Islamic Economic Thought and Civilization, and Zionism.
1990–2017 · IIUM
The supplied CV records a continuous career at the International Islamic University Malaysia across faculty and leadership roles, including Director of IIUM Press and editor of Intellectual Discourse.
Additional experience
Research and visiting appointments
- Visiting Professor, Virginia Theological Seminary, United States.
- Visiting Professor and Assistant Professor, Dawah Academy, International Islamic University, Islamabad, Pakistan.
- Research Fellow, International Institute of Islamic Thought, Virginia, United States.
- H. B. Earhart Fellow, University of Michigan.
- McGill University Research Fellow.
- Translator and Writer, Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation.
Affiliations and languages
A transnational scholarly record
Affiliations listed in the 2026 CV
- World History Association — Member.
- Association of Muslim Social Scientists — Member.
- Caux Round Table — Fellow.
- Just World International — Vice President, as listed in the supplied CV.
Languages listed
English · Bengali · Hindi · Urdu · Arabic · French
Books
Five volumes
The translation and reprint notes below reproduce statements in the supplied CV.
- 2017Qur’anic Guidance for Good Governance: A Contemporary PerspectiveJointly edited with Stephen B. Young · Palgrave, New York.
- 2008 / 2013Guidance For Good Governance: Explorations in Qur’anic, Scientific and Cross-cultural ApproachesCo-edited with Stephen B. Young · International Islamic University Press and Caux Round Table.
- 1992Ummah or Nation: Identity Crisis in Contemporary Muslim SocietyThe Islamic Foundation, Leicester · CV notes Turkish and Bosnian translations.
- 1995A History of Khulafa-i-RashidunIqra International Educational Foundation, Chicago · written for children · CV states reprinted five times.
- 1988OIC: Introduction to an Islamic Political InstitutionIIIT, Herndon, Virginia · CV notes an Arabic translation.
Selected academic record
Articles and book chapters across four decades
For a more browsable mix of scholarly and public writing, use the Writing archive.
Israel’s Gaza War: A Symbol of Collapsing Civilization
In Genocide in Gaza: Voices of Global Conscience, eds. Ahmet Davutoglu and Richard Falk. Clarity Press, pp. 121–136.
The Question of Palestine and the Muslim World
New Middle Eastern Studies 8(2), 84–106.
Is Pakistan a Failed State? An Assessment of Islamist Ideals, Nationalist Articulation and Ground Realities
Insight Turkey 20(1), 119–141.
The Never-Ending Kashmir Dispute and Its Implications on the Contemporary Global Governance and Peace
Al-Shajarah 22(1), 5–34.
What is History?
International Journal of Islamic Thoughts 5(1), 17–32.
Civilizational Conflict, Renewal, or Transformation: Potential Role of the OIC
Islam and Civilisational Renewal 4(4), 579–600.
Problems of Eurocentric Views of History: An Examination of Certain Elementary Views about Colonialism in the Muslim World
Al-Shajarah 18(1), 35–58.
Dialogue of Civilizations: Islamic and Western Perceptions
Al-Shajarah 16(2), 157–179.
The Clash of Civilizations Thesis and Muslims: The Search for an Alternative Paradigm
Islamic Studies 48(2), 189–217.
Law, Religion and Human Dignity in the Muslim World Today: An Examination of OIC’s Cairo Declaration of Human Rights
Journal of Law and Religion 24(2), 569–597.
On History, Progress and Civilization
AJISS 19(2), 46–67.
Muslim and European Perceptions of Oceanic “Trade” in the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries and their Implications in International Politics
Intellectual Discourse 7(2), 172–188.
Elite Formation in Muslim Countries: Capable Administrators or Loyal Servants?
Islamic Studies 37(1), 29–55.
The Quranic Concept of Ummah
Journal of Institute of Muslim Minority Affairs 7(2), 672–692.
A Late Nineteenth Century Muslim Response to Western Criticism of Islam: A Case Study of the Life and Works of Amir Ali
AJISS 2(2), 179–206.
Selected presentations
Public scholarly engagements
- Qur’anic Guidance for Good Governance — CSIS, Washington, DC (listed in CV as 2008).
- The Clash of Civilizations: A Viable Alternative? — University of St. Thomas (listed in CV as 2008).
- Earlier personal WordPress archive.
Authority record
Names and identifiers
Publishes as Abdullah al-Ahsan; older records also use Abdullah Ahsan and Abdullahil Ahsan.
Wikidata Q24946801 · VIAF 33537331 · ISNI 0000 0000 8370 7327 · GND 170733661 · IIUM repository profile
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