Dr. Mohammed Bushra

Areas of Expertise

political science, Islamic reform, Islamic intellectual history

Biography

Dr. Mohammed El-Sayed Bushra researches Islamic intellectual history and political theory, with particular attention to modern movements and their engagement with classical Islamic traditions. He earned his Ph.D. in Islamic Studies at Georgetown University, where he studied transnational Islamic reform in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. He also holds degrees in political theory, Islamic studies and systems engineering.

He teaches religion and politics as a teaching fellow at the University of Otago’s School of Social Sciences in New Zealand. His research has appeared in Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa, and the Middle East, and he has presented at academic conferences and universities. He translated and edited the Arabic edition of S. Sayyid’s Recalling the Caliphate: Decolonization and World Order and has served as Managing Editor of Muftah Magazine.

Selected Publications and Work

Fulco, Carmen, and Mohammed El-Sayed Bushra. “An Organizational Perspective on Fading System-ness: Insights from the Case of the Ennahda in the post-Specialization Period (2016–2021).” Politics and Religion (Under review, 2024). Bushra, Mohammed El-Sayed. “A Salafī Pioneer of Saudi Anti-Communism: Muhammad Sultan al-Ma’sumi al-Khujandi (18801961).” Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East 43, no. 3 (December 2023). Sayyid, Salman. Istiʿādat al-khilāfa: tafkīk al-istiʿmār wa al-niẓām al-ʿālamī [Recalling the Caliphate: Decolonization and World Order (Arabic edition)]. Translated by Mohammed El-Sayed Bushra. Beirut: Arab Network for Research and Publishing, 2018.

Selected BIS Teaching

• IRL-523 Islamic History & Civilization
• IRL-612 Islam in America
• IRL-613 Religions in Contemporary America

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

Professional and Community Service

– Managing Editor of Muftah Magazine
– Co-host of Protean View, a podcast on religion, culture, and politics
– Occasional radio host and producer for Muslim Chaplaincy Conversations broadcast on Otago Access Radio
– Translator and editor of the Arabic edition of Recalling the Caliphate by S. Sayyid
– Interpreter and translator for the New Zealand Ministry of Justice