Jonathan Brockopp

My primary research focus is on the literary remains of early Islamic cultures, including the Qur’an, hadith, legal and theological texts. I am particularly interested in the rise of a professional scholarly community in Egypt and North Africa, using early Arabic manuscripts to trace arguments and lines of influence. Recently, I have focused on the question of how these early scholars construct their notion of religious authority in my book, Muhammad’s Heirs: the Rise of Muslim Scholarly Communities (Cambridge, 2017). This work has led me to formulate a new theory of charismatic authority, one that attempts to account for the dynamic roles of text, community and history in constructing the charismatic leader. I plan on devoting my next book to fleshing out some of the implications of this theory. Arguably, Islamic law is as much a set of ethical guidelines as it is law. It thereby forms an essential backdrop to modern discussions of war, bioethics, economic justice, etc. I have pursued an active interest in these contemporary issues including the impact of climate change on Muslim communities. 

Recent Publications:

With Asma Hilali, Kairouan Manuscript Cultures / Cultures des manuscrits à Kairouan (Eisenbrauns/Penn State, 2026.

“Teaching by Example Charismatic Figures in Islamʼs Past and Present” Campus der Theologien 3 (2026).

Four manuscripts from the Mālikī tradition, a four-part series of posts on Islamic Law Blog, Harvard University.

“Senegalese Responses to Climate Change, an Ethical Analysis” in: Sami al-Daghistani, ed, Recovering Sustainable Tradition: Environment, Economic Thought, and Islamic Ethics (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 2024).

“Early Mālikī Manuscripts: A Retrospective”, Études Asiatiques – Asiatischen Studien 78 (2024), 3-18.

“A Tenth-Century Islamic Manuscript from Kairouan, Tunisia”, MAVCOR [Material and Visual Cultures of Religion] journal (2022).

“Constructing Muslim Charisma” the Routledge International Handbook of Charisma, edited J.P Zuquete (New York: Routledge, 2021), 163-174.

“MS Chester Beatty 3001 and the Apotheosis of Malik B. Anas (d. 179/795)” Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam 49 (2020), 249-275

“The Rise of Islam in a Judaeo-Christian Context” in Light Upon Light: Essays in Islamic Thought and History in Honor of Gerhard Bowering, edited by Jamal Elias and Bilal Orfali. Studies in Islamic History and Civilization (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 2019), 24-44.

Muhammad’s Heirs: The Rise of Muslim Scholarly Communities, 622-950. (Cambridge, 2017).

“Islamic Origins and Incidental Normativity” Journal of the American Academy of Religion 84.1 (2016).

Awards and Service:

Recent Courses:

HIST 108 – The Crusades
RLST/PHIL 133N – Ethics of Climate Change
ARAB/RLST 164 – Introduction to the Qur’an
HIST/RLST 471Y – Islamic Civilization
RLST/PHIL 472 – Islamic Philosophy
HIST 564 – Islamic Law and Society