Expertise

Roots of religious violence; religion and constructive social engagement; interreligious peacebuilding; Islamic ethics of war and peace; peace studies

At the Keough School

A. Rashied Omar is associate teaching professor of Islamic studies and peacebuilding in the Keough School’s Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame. He is a faculty fellow of the Keough School’s Ansari Institute for Global Engagement with Religion and Pulte Institute for Global Development. Omar also is a member of the Pulte Institute’s PAMOJA ND Africa Initiative.

Courses

• Perspectives on Peacebuilding (undergraduate peace studies course)
• International Peace Studies Capstone Course (for master of global affairs concentration in international peace studies)
• Islamic Ethics of War and Peace (undergraduate and master of global affairs elective)

Biography

A. Rashied Omar earned an MA and PhD in religious studies from the University of Cape Town, South Africa, and an MA in international peace studies from Notre Dame.

A faculty fellow of Notre Dame’s Center for Social Concerns, Omar teaches a popular spring-semester course on the Islamic ethics of war and peace as well as peace studies courses. For the remainder of the year, he serves as field research advisor to master of global affairs students in Cape Town, South Africa.

In addition to being a university-based researcher and teacher, Omar serves as imam (religious minister) at the Claremont Main Road Mosque in Cape Town, South Africa, a trustee of the Healing of Memories Institute in South Africa, a member of the Interfaith Council for Ethics Education, Arigatou International in Japan, and an advisory board member for Critical Investigations into Humanitarianism in Africa.

Research and Publications

Omar’s research and teaching focus on the roots of religious violence and the potential of religion for constructive social engagement and interreligious peacebuilding. He is author of Avoiding Harm: A Muslim Response to COVID-19 (Wipf and Stock, 2023), co-author (with David Chidester et al.) of Religion in Public Education: Options for a New South Africa (UCT Press, 1994), a contributor to the Oxford Handbook of Religion, Conflict and Peacebuilding (Oxford University Press, 2015), and a contributor to the Encyclopedia of Islam and the Muslim World (Macmillan Reference USA, 2016).

Recent Work

• Journal article: Interreligious solidarity in South Africa: analyzing the role of the Muslim community (Interreligious Studies and Intercultural Theology)
• Book: Avoiding Harm: A Muslim Response to COVID-19 (Wipf and Stock)
• Book: Islam Beyond Violent Extremism (Durban: Afrika Impressions Media)
• Book chapter: “Between Compassion and Justice: Locating an Islamic Definition of Peace” (Peace Movements in Islam: History, Religion, and Politics)
• Book chapter: “Religious Violence and State Violence” (Oxford Handbook of Religion, Conflict, and Peacebuilding)

News & Media

• Blog posts on Contending Modernities
• Imagining a more compassionate post-COVID-19 world (Notre Dame Center for Social Concerns)
• Inter-religious dialogue or solidarity played a major role in uniting the oppressed communities in South Africa (Worldwide)
• Archbishop Tutu: A lifelong witness to human dignity, just peace and interfaith solidarity (IOL: Independent Online, South Africa)
• Meet Rashied Omar (NDWorks)
• Video: Fighting for Peace Among Religions (University of Notre Dame)