Maria M Dakake

Associate Professor

Islamic Thought; Qur'anic Studies; Shi'ite and Sufi Traditions; Women and Gender

Dr. Dakake researches and publishes on Islamic intellectual history, Quranic studies, Shi`ite and Sufi traditions, and women's spirituality and religious experience. She is one of the general editors and contributing authors of the The Study Quran (HarperOne, 2015), which comprises a translation and verse-by-verse commentary on the Qur'anic text that draws upon the rich and varied tradition of Muslim commentary on their own scripture. Her most recent publication, The Routledge Companion to the Qur'an (September 2021), is a co-edited volume with 40 articles on the Qur'an's history, content, style, and interpretation written by leading contemporary scholars working from different methodological perspectives. She is currently completing a monograph, Toward an Islamic Theory of Religion, and has begun work on a partial translation of a Persian Qur'an commentary written by the 20th century Iranian female scholar, Nusrat Amin.

Selected Publications

The Routledge Companion to the Qu'ran (co-edited with George Archer and Daniel Madigan), Routledge, September 2021.

The Study Qur'an (with S.H. Nasr, C. Dagli, J. Lumbard, and M. Rustom), HarperOne, 2015.

The Charismatic Community: Shi`ite Identity in Early Islam, State University of New York Press, 2007. (Paperback released 2008).

"Ta'wil in the Qur'an and Islamic Exegetical Tradition: The Past and Future of the Qur'an" in The Enigma of Divine Revelation: Between Phenomenology and Comparative Theology (eds. Jean-Luc Marion and Christiaan Jacobs-Vandegeer). Contributions to Hermeneutics 7 (2020).

"Qur'anic Terminology, Translation, and the Islamic Conception of Religion" in Religion 49, no. 3 (2019).

"Conceptions of a Spiritual Elect in Shiite and Sufi Thought: Early Sources and Connections" in Esotérisme shièite, ses racines et ses prolongements (ed. M. Ali Amir-Moezzi), Brepols, 2016.

Expanded Publication List

Books

The Routledge Companion to the Qu'ran(co-edited with George Archer and Daniel Madigan), Routledge, September 2021.

The Study Qur’an (general editor and contributor, with S.H. Nasr (editor-in-chief), J. Lumbard and C. Dagli, Harper Collins, (forthcoming, 2015).

The Charismatic Community: Shi`ite Identity in Early Islam, State University of New York Press, 2007. (Paperback released 2008).

Articles

"Qur'anic Terminology, Translation, and the Islamic Conception of Religion" in Religion 49, no. 3 (2019), 343-363.

"Teaching Islam at a State University: Facilitating and Embracing Critical Conversations" in The Muslim World (2018).

"Rules of Engagement: The Qur'an and the Etiquette of Interreligious Dialogue" in Renovatio (2017).

"Conceptions of a Spiritual Elect in Shiite and Sufi Thought: Early Sources and Connections" in Esotérisme shièite, ses racines et ses prolongements (ed. M. Ali Amir-Moezzi), Brepols (2016).

“Where Waters Meet: A Conversation with Maria Dakake,” in Michael Birkel (ed.), The Qur’an in Conversation, Baylor University Press, 2014.

“Hermeneutics and Allegorical Interpretation (Ta’wil)” in Oxford Encyclopedia of Islam and Philosophy, Science, and Technology (ed. Ibrahim Kalin), Oxford University Press, 2014.

“A Good Word is as a Good Tree: An Islamic Response to the Interfaith Challenges of Vatican II” in Modern Theology, October 2013.

“Writing and Resistance: The Transmission of Knowledge in Early Shi`ism” in The Study of Shi`i Islam: History Theology, and Law (eds. F. Daftary and G. Miskinzoda), I.B. Tauris, 2013.

“Sacred Land in Qur’an and Hadith and its Symbolic and Eschatological Significance.” Journal of Scriptural Reasoning, v. 10, no. 1, 2011.

“Hierarchies of Knowing in Mulla Sadra’s Commentary on the Usul al-Kafi,” Journal of Islamic Philosophy, vol. 6, 2011.

“Theological Parallels and Metaphysical Meeting Points: Christ, Adam, and the Word in Christianity and Islam” in Muslim and Christian Understanding (eds. Waleed El-Ansary and David Linnan) Palgrave, 2010.

“Human Conjecture and Divine Argument: Faith and Truth in the Qur’anic Story of Abraham” in Crisis, Call and Leadership (eds. Peter Ochs and Stacy Johnson), Palgrave/Macmillan, 2009.

“Religion” in Encyclopedia of the Modern World, (ed. Peter Stearns), Oxford University Press, 2008.

“‘Guest of the Inmost Heart’: Conceptions of the Divine Beloved among Early Sufi Women.” Journal of Comparative Islamic Studies, vol. 3, no. 1, 2007.

“Hiding in Plain Sight: The Doctrinal and Practical Significance of Secrecy in Shi`ite Islam.” Journal of the American Academy of Religion, v. 74, no. 2, June 2006.

“The Battle of Siffin” in The Encyclopaedia of the Qur’an, ed. Jane Dammen McAuliffe, Brill, 2006.

“The Soul as Barzakh: Trans-substantial Motion and Mulla’s Sadra’s Theory of Human Becoming,” The Muslim World, vol. 94, no. 1, January 2004.

“Walking upon the Path of God Like Men?: Women and the Feminine in the Islamic Mystical Tradition,” in Sophia: A Journal of Traditional Studies, v. 8, no. 2, 2002.

“Ghadir Khomm in Shi`ite Literature.” Encyclopaedia Iranica, ed. Ahmad Ashraf, New York: Columbia University Press, 2002.

Courses Taught

RELI 211: Religions of the Near East

RELI 272: Islamic Religious Life

RELI 374: Islamic Thought

RELI 375: Qur'an and Hadith

RELI 365: Muhammad: Life and Legacy

RELI 376 / WMST 300 Muslim Women Writers and Thinkers (FALL 2021)

RELI 490: Comparative Study of Religion

RELI 636: Religion and the Natural Environment

Education

PhD in Near Eastern Studies, Princeton University (2000)

MA in Near Eastern Studies, Princeton University (1998)

BA in Government, Cornell University (1990)