Andalusia and Beyond*

Kathleen Young: Welcome to another podcast of Starr King School for the Ministry, educating Unitarian Universalist ministers and progressive religious leaders since 1904, in Berkeley, California. In this podcast of the September 5th lecture, “Andalusia and Beyond,” Dr. Ibrahim Farajaj e introduces his recent research on the historical and theological intersections of Islam, Judaism, and Christianity. In looking at Andalusia, Spain, for a multireligious dialogue, Dr. Farajaj e presents the need for an intersectional approach rather than a comparative approach for these religions, interrogating the complexity of how religious traditions inform each other, opens new possibilities into a pluralistic theological education. Dr. Farajaj e is Starr King Professor of Cultural Studies, of Religion, and Islamic Studies, and serves as director of Starr King’s Luce Project of Multireligious and Theological Education. Ibrahim Farajaj e: I would like, in respect for everybody’s time, to begin now. And we’ll begin with the recitation of the Surah al-Fatiha, the Opening, with which we begin every act, and I ask you, for those who are willing and able to rise for the recitation of the Fatiha. [Chanting of the Fatiha] I’m going to introduce myself. I am Professor Doctor Ibrahim Farajaj e, and I’m a professor of Islamic Studies and Cultural Studies here at Starr King. I am also associate faculty to the Center for Islamic Studies and I’m on the faculty for the Cultural and Historical Studies of Religions at the GTU. So I’m not only a client; I actually belong to the club as well. My title for this evening is “Andalusia and Beyond: Interrupting Epistemologies of Surprise.” A party for Starr King Theological Studies Luce Project, for Multireligious theological education. And, a warning, a warning, this is not for the faint of heart. We’re going to rock it. Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Rahim, In the name of Allah, the tenderly compassionate, and the infinitely merciful one. We ask permission of the people