Sherman Jackson

Dr. Sherman A. Jackson, also known as Abdul Hakim Jackson, is a leading Islamic studies scholar in the United States. He holds the King Faisal Chair in Islamic Thought and Culture and serves as Distinguished Professor of Religion and Professor of American Studies and Ethnicity at the University of Southern California. Jackson also directs the university's Center for Islamic Thought, Culture and Practice. He earned his doctorate in Oriental Studies with a focus on the Islamic Near East from the University of Pennsylvania and has held academic appointments at institutions including the University of Texas at Austin, Indiana University, Wayne State University, and the University of Michigan, where he served as the Arthur F. Thurnau Professor of Near Eastern Studies and Visiting Professor of Law. Early in his career, Jackson was executive director of the Center of Arabic Study Abroad in Cairo, Egypt, which contributed to his grounding in the classical Islamic tradition.

Jackson's scholarship covers classical Islamic law, theology, and intellectual history, with a focus on the intersections of Islam and contemporary issues in the West. His research addresses topics such as race, immigration, liberalism, democracy, pluralism, constitutionalism, and Muslim radicalism, all examined through the lens of Islam's classical and post-classical heritage. Jackson is the author of several books, including "Islamic Law and the State: The Constitutional Jurisprudence of Shihāb al-Dīn al-Qarāfī," "On the Boundaries of Theological Tolerance in Islam," "Islam and the Blackamerican: Looking Towards the Third Resurrection," "Islam and the Problem of Black Suffering," "Sufism for Non-Sufis?," "Initiative to Stop the Violence: Sadat's Assassins and the Renunciation of Political Violence," and "The Islamic Secular." In "The Islamic Secular," Jackson examines the concept of the secular in Islam, arguing that it differentiates certain pursuits from sharī'ah without placing them outside the domain of religion.

Jackson has contributed commentary on Islam in America to major outlets including the Washington Post-Newsweek blog On Faith and Huffington Post, and has lectured at institutions such as Stanford University and the Chautauqua Institution. He has been recognized by the Religion Newswriters Foundation's ReligionLink as a top expert on Islam in the United States and has been named among the world's 500 most influential Muslims by the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre in Amman, Jordan.

Jackson is a co-founder and core scholar of the American Learning Institute for Muslims, a former member of the Fiqh Council of North America, a former president of the Shari'ah Scholars' Association of North America, and a past trustee of the North American Islamic Trust. He delivered the eulogy at the funeral of Muhammad Ali. Through his teaching, writing, and public engagement, Jackson serves as a bridge between the classical Islamic intellectual tradition and the lived realities of Muslims in contemporary America.