Tahera Qutbuddin
Tahera Qutbuddin is Abdulaziz Saud Al-Babtain Laudian Professor of Arabic at the University of Oxford and one of the foremost contemporary scholars of classical Arabic literature. Her research explores the literary, religious, and political dimensions of Arabic intellectual culture, with particular emphasis on rhetoric, oratory, poetry, scripture, and ethical discourse in Islam.
Prior to joining Oxford, Professor Qutbuddin taught for two decades at the University of Chicago, where she established herself as a leading voice in the study of Arabic literature and Islamic intellectual history. Her scholarship combines philological rigor with literary sensitivity, demonstrating how Arabic literary forms served as vehicles for religious, ethical, and political expression across Islamic history.
A major focus of Professor Qutbuddin’s work concerns the eloquence, teachings, and legacy of Imam ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib. Through studies, translations, and literary analyses, she has illuminated the central place of ʿAlī’s sermons, letters, aphorisms, and ethical teachings within the Arabic literary and Islamic intellectual traditions. Her translation of Nahj al-Balāghah: The Wisdom and Eloquence of ʿAlī (2024) has been widely acclaimed as a landmark contribution to scholarship and was awarded the 2025 Sheikh Hamad Award for Translation and International Understanding.
Professor Qutbuddin has also made significant contributions to the study of Arabic oratory, rhetoric, poetry, Qur’anic interpretation, and prophetic traditions. Her award-winning book Arabic Oration: Art and Function (2019) offers a comprehensive examination of one of the most influential literary forms in Islamic civilization and received the 2021 Sheikh Zayed Book Award. Her scholarship consistently demonstrates the central role of eloquence in shaping religious authority, ethical discourse, and communal identity in Muslim societies.
Another important dimension of her work concerns the literary and intellectual traditions of South Asian Muslims, including the history of Arabic scholarship in India and the contributions of Fatimid and Tayyibi Bohra intellectual traditions. Her research highlights the global dimensions of Arabic literary culture and the diverse communities that have preserved and enriched it across centuries.
Among her major publications are Light in the Heavens: Sayings of the Prophet Muhammad (2016), Arabic Oration: Art and Function (2019), and Nahj al-Balāghah: The Wisdom and Eloquence of ʿAlī (2024). She is currently completing a major monograph on the life, teachings, and literary legacy of Imam ʿAlī, supported by the Leverhulme Foundation.
Professor Qutbuddin's work has been supported by numerous prestigious institutions, including the Carnegie Corporation, the Guggenheim Foundation, the American Council of Learned Societies, and the Franke Institute for the Humanities. Through her scholarship, teaching, and translations, she continues to deepen contemporary understanding of the literary, ethical, and spiritual dimensions of the Islamic intellectual tradition.
