Dr. Aaron Spevack

Areas of Expertise

Islamic Intellectual History, Logic, Islamic Law

Biography

Dr. Aaron Spevack specializes in Islamic intellectual history, with an emphasis on law, theology and Sufism from the thirteenth through nineteenth centuries and their reception in contemporary Muslim communities. He serves as Dean of Student Life, Associate Professor and Chaplain at Zaytuna College. His academic work includes books and articles on Islamic intellectual traditions and research on legal reasoning and Islamic finance.

He has taught at Harvard’s Division of Continuing Education, Boston University, Hamilton College, Colgate University and Loyola University New Orleans. His Harvard affiliations have included research in Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations and the Program in Islamic Law. He co-founded the American Society of Islamic Philosophy and Theology and has served in editorial roles for its journals and book series. His experience also includes Muslim chaplaincy at Brandeis and Boston University.

Selected Publications and Work

Spevack, Aaron. The Logic of al-Fanari: A Study and Annotated Translation of al-Fanari's Commentary on the Isaghuji. Vol. 3. Lockwood Press, 2025. Spevack, Aaron. The archetypal sunni scholar: Law, theology, and mysticism in the synthesis of al-Bajuri. Suny Press, 2014. Spevack, Aaron. "Mass Transmission of Prophetic Miracles in the Contemplation and Proof of Core Creed." Analytic Islamic Epistemology: Critical Debates (2025): 133. Spevack, Aaron. "Continuing conversations: late Sunni Kalām-theology’s ongoing engagement with philosophy." In Philosophical Theology in Islam, pp. 231-253. Brill, 2020. Spevack, Aaron. "Al-Suyūṭī, the Intolerant Ecumenist: Law and Theology in Ta ʾyīd al-ḥaqīqa al-ʿaliyya wa-tashyīd al-ṭarīqa al-Shādhiliyya." Islamic History and Civilization (2016): 15.

Selected BIS Teaching

• IRL-721 Logic and Rhetoric

These are courses taught at BIS. For current academic information, explore the graduate program.