2024 Alwaleed Dissertation Prize Winner

While the Selection Committee was impressed by all of the excellent submissions we received for this year’s dissertation prize, they have chosen Dr. Armaan Siddiqi (NELC) as the winner of the 2024 Alwaleed Bin Talal Dissertation Prize in Islamic Studies for her dissertation entitled, “Portrait of a Moroccanʿālim: Shaykh Muḥammad b. Jaʿfar al-Kattānī’s Life, Works, and World (1858–1927)”. While scholarship on reformism in the Middle East and North Africa tends to focus on liberal reformism, which reinterprets the scriptures in light of contemporary and social changes, and misses the significance of Islamic political and moral theories that can be considered as forming some of the roots of modern political Islam, Armaan’s dissertation fills this lacuna through her study of a conservative ʿālim and intellectual. Armaan also makes an important contribution to the political and intellectual history of Morocco, a region less studied than Egypt and the Levant, and during the crucial juncture of precolonial times. She studies a variety of genres, including  al-Kattānī’s admonition of the Sultan of Morocco, theological works, biographical works, and the exchange of ideas between al-Kattānī and scholars in other parts of North Africa and the Middle East. With its clear and organized writing and innovative research, Armaan’s dissertation makes an important contribution to Islamic studies, particularly the study of Islam and politics in Morocco.

Congratulations Armaan!