Khalid Blankinship | Middle East Center

Professor of Religion, Temple University

A scholar of Islam and history, born in Seattle, WA, Khalid Yahya Blankinship obtained his BA in History in 1973 from the University of Washington (in Seattle), an MA in Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL, now called TESOL) in 1975 from the American University in Cairo, and an MA in Islamic History in 1983 from Cairo University. His Ph.D. in History is from the University of Washington in 1988.

After traveling extensively in Europe and the Middle East (1969-1971), Blankinship long resided in Egypt (1973-1975, 1976-1983) and in Saudi Arabia at Makkah (1975-1976), becoming fluent in both classical and colloquial Arabic. He taught English for several years at the American University in Cairo, and then History at the University of Washington. In 1990, Blankinship moved to Philadelphia, where he was appointed in the Department of Religion at Temple University, a position he has held since then. He has served as Chair of the Department of Religion 1998-2002, Departmental Graduate Director 2003-2013, and Chair again 2013-2017 and 2022 to present.

Blankinship is active in lecturing and research on religion in general and Islam in particular. His books include The End of the Jihâd State: The Reign of Hishâm ibn ‘Abd al-Malik and the Collapse of the Umayyads (1994), The Inimitable Qur’ân: Some Problems in English Translations of the Qur’ân with Reference to Rhetorical Features (2019), Murshid al-Qâri’: A Reader’s Guide to Classical Muslim Religious Literature in English: The Qur’ân and Tafsîr (2021), and the translation of Vols. XI and XXV of The History of al-Tabarî. Important articles he has written include “Muslim ‘Fundamentalism,’ Salafism, Sufism, and Other Trends,” “Parity of Muslim and Western Concepts of Just War,” “Imârah, Khilâfah, and Imâmah: The Origins of the Succession to the Prophet Muhammad,” and “The Tribal Factor in the ‘Abbâsid Revolution: an Analysis of the Betrayal of the Imam Ibrâhîm b.Muhammad.” His research interests include the origins of Islam and early Muslim history through the Umayyads and into the ‘Abbasid era as well as the Qur’an.

Much of Blankinship’s teaching has been on Islam, including such courses as Introduction to Islam, the Life of the Prophet Muhammad, Classical Muslim History, Modern Muslim Movements, the Islamic State, Hadith, Islamic Jurisprudence, and Islamic Mysticism. In additional to courses on Islam, he has also taught Religion in the World, Race and Poverty in the Americas, Religion and Science, and Earth Ethics. He has supervised 28 doctoral dissertations to date and served on the committees of many more. He has presented a number of papers at the annual meetings of the American Academy of Religion (AAR) and the American Oriental Society (AOS), and has also participated in meetings of the Middle East Studies Association (MESA). He has delivered lectures in many countries outside of the US, including Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, India, and Malaysia. Also, Blankinship studied with a number of Muslim religious scholars, especially Shaykh Ismâ‘îl Sâdiq al-‘Adawî (1934-1998), the Imâm of Masjid al-Azhar in Cairo, and he has made the acquaintance of many well-known scholars of the Muslim world. He has posted a number of webinars, lectures, discussions, and articles at the Lamppost Education Initiative website at https://lamppostedu.org/ , including some of his responses to questions on Muslim law. He also participated in the series of religious lectures in the Arabic language called al-Durûs al-Hasaniyyah (Hasanian Lectures) presented before the king in Morocco during Ramadân 1989-2000.