Currently, Mostafa Hussein is working on a book project tentatively titled “Islam and Jewish Culture in Palestine, 1881-1948.” This book project provides a new perspective on the ways in which Arabo-Islamic civilization contributed to the development of Jewish thought in Palestine during the late nineteenth and mid-twentieth centuries. In so doing, this book focuses on Jewish intellectuals’ adoption of ideas and narratives originating in Islamic and Arabic sources in building a distinct Jewish culture. Dr. Hussein argues that in taking root in the Modern Middle East, several Jewish scholars found it imperative to come to terms with Arabo-Islamic civilization as the mainstream culture in the region. Yet, the participation of the indigenous culture in the process of nation building in Palestine has typically been overlooked. Dr. Hussein’s study, therefore, presents both a new understanding of the subtle ways through which Arabo-Islamic civilization, with its various manifestations, influenced the development of Jewish thought in Palestine. This study also provides a lens through which one revisits and enriches the history of the encounter between Jews and Arabo-Islamic culture in the evolution of the nationalist movements in the Modern Middle East.
Assistant Professor of Jewish-Muslim Studies
