19/05/2022
Who Are The Khojas with Dr. Iqbal Akhtar
LOUD THINKING
The Khojas are a mainly Nizari Isma'ili Shia community of people originating in India.
Derived from the Persian Khwaja, a term of honor, the word Khoja is used to refer to Lohana Rajputs who converted to Islam from Hinduism.
Dr. Iqbal Akhtar is an associate professor with a dual appointment in the departments of Religious Studies and Politics & International Relations in the Steven J. Green School of International and Public Affairs. He completed his doctorate at the University of Edinburgh’s New College School of Divinity. His current work explores the origin of the Khōjā peoples in the Subcontinent through extant oral traditions known as the kahaṇī in Sindhi, Gujarati, and Hindustani. He teaches both undergraduate and graduate courses as well as independent studies which include but are not limited to Islamic Political Thought, Advanced Interpretations of the Quran, Voice of the Prophet, Islamic Faith and Society, Women in Islam, and Islamic Mysticism (Sufism). He is the research director of the Western Indian Ocean Studies program and director of the Jain Studies program at FIU (USA).
