Theology Department Faculty
Natana J. DeLong-Bas
Professor of the Practice
Director, Theology and Interreligious Studies minor
Natana J. DeLong-Bas
Ph.D.
Contact
Stokes Hall 447N
Telephone: 617-552-3322
Email: delongba@bc.edu
Education
- B.A., Middlebury College
- M.A.A.S., Georgetown University
- Ph.D., Georgetown University
Courses
- Islam and Christianity in Dialogue
- Building and Sustaining a Habitable Planet
- Engaging Interreligious Leadership
- Women and Gender in Islam
- Contemporary Ethics in Christianity and Islam
- Islam and History in the Middle East
- Contemporary Islamic Thought and Practice
Office Hours
MW 10:00-10:45 and by appointment
Biography
Natana J. DeLong-Bas is the author of听Islam: A Living Faith, Shariah: What Everyone Needs to Know, and听Wahhabi Islam: From Revival and Reform to Global Jihad听(translated into Arabic, Russian, and French, named 1 of the top 5 books for understanding Islam by the Wall Street Journal), among other books.
She is Editor of听The Oxford Handbook of Islamic Reform,听Islam, Revival & Reform: Redefining Tradition for the Twenty-First Century, Co-Editor of the听Journal of Ecumenical Studies, and Editor-in-Chief of听Oxford Bibliographies Online 鈥� Islamic Studies听补苍诲听The Oxford Encyclopedia of Islam and Women, 2 vols.
Past President of the American Council for the Study of Islamic Societies (ACSIS) and an expert on Islam and Christianity, the environment, comparative ethics, women and gender, Islamic law, Saudi Arabia and the Arabian Gulf, and terrorism and extremism, she serves as a consultant to the United Nations, the media, and many governments and corporations.
She is Professor of the Practice of Theology and Islamic Civilizations and Societies, and Director of the minor in Theology and Interreligious Studies at Boston College.
Selected Presentations
- 鈥淲ater: Assuring Access To, Protecting, and Conserving the Source of Life as an Islamic Ethical Obligation,鈥� Society for the Study of Muslim Ethics, Washington, DC, January 8-11, 2026.
- 鈥淲riting Memory as History and History as Memory: Engaging the Material Turn in Ottoman-Wahhabi Relations,鈥� panel on 鈥淏etween Memory and Heritage: Politics of Remembering, Reclaiming, and Contesting the Ottoman Empire,鈥� at Beyond Crises: Resilience and (In)Stability, Memory Studies Association 9th听Annual Conference, Prague, Czechia, July 14-18, 2025.
- 鈥淪pirit of Place, Spirit of Revelation: Thomas Merton鈥檚 Reading of Nature as a Place of Dialogue for Muslims and Christians,鈥� Nineteenth General Meeting of the International Thomas Merton Society, Regis University, Denver, CO, June 19-22, 2025.
- 鈥淭he Wind Beneath Their Wings: A Comparative Ethical and Theological Engagement of Birds in the Bible and the Qur鈥檃n,鈥� International Meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa, July 7, 2023.
- 鈥淲ater: The Source of Life 鈥� an intertextual scriptural reading as inspiration for interfaith cooperation in water conservation and management,鈥� The Centre for Christian-Muslim Studies, St. Stephen鈥檚 House, Oxford, England, November 28, 2022.
- 鈥淏ridging the Orient and the West: Tracing Translations of the Qur鈥檃n into English through Arabia and the British Empire in India in the First Decades of the 20th听Century,鈥� international workshop on 鈥淒a鈥檞a and Qur鈥檃n translation in the first decades of the 20th听century,鈥澨鼳lbert-Ludwigs-Universit盲t Freiburg, Germany, funded by the European Research Council, June 21-22, 2022.
- 鈥淔rom Subjects and Objects to Citizens and Society Influencers: Saudi Arabian Women in Religion, History and Contemporary Society,鈥� presented to School of Foreign Service for Alwaleed Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, Georgetown University, Feb. 1, 2022.
- "Intertextual Scriptural Reading as Inspiration for Interfaith Cooperation in Water Conservation and Management," conference on 鈥淚slam, Environmental Science and Conservation,鈥� Michigan State University, October 15-16, 2020.
- "From 鈥楽ources and Origins鈥� to 鈥楥onversation Partners鈥�: Reframing the Historical Construction of the Qur鈥檃n," Round-Table Conference on 鈥淭he Qur鈥檃n in Its Milieu of Origin: Possibilities of the Historical Reconstruction of the Qur鈥檃nic Revelation,鈥� Center for Islamic Theology and the Cluster of Excellence, University of M眉nster, Germany, November 8-10, 2019.
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Social Media Presence
- 鈥淪haria: What Does Everyone Need to Know,鈥� conference on 鈥淭he Islamic World Today: Issues and Perspectives,鈥� Brigham Young University, October 18-29, 2021.听
- 鈥淚slam for Catholics 101,鈥� Woods School of Theology and Ministry, Boston College, March 5, 2015.听.
- 鈥淢uslim Women and Islamic Law: Myths and Realities,鈥� Woods School of Theology and Ministry, Boston College, October 15, 2015.听.听
Selected Recent Articles
- 鈥淭he Qur鈥檃n and the Bible,鈥澨�Oxford Bibliographies in Islamic Studies. New York: Oxford University Press, May 27, 2025.听Available at听
- 鈥淏ridging the Orient and the West: Tracing Translations of the Qur鈥檃n into English through Arabia and the British Empire in India in the First Decades of the 20th听Century,鈥澨�Journal of Qur鈥檃nic Studies听26.2 (2024): 97-128.听
- 鈥淚slamic Resources for Water Conservation and Management,鈥� in听Recovering Environmental and Economic Traditions in the Islamic World, ed. Sami Al-Daghistani. Leiden: Brill, 2024, 117-147.听
- 鈥淢odern Re-readings of the Classical Legal Literature on Women,鈥� in听The Oxford Handbook of Islam and Women, Editor-in-Chief Asma Afsaruddin. New York: Oxford University Press, December 2023, 200-220.听
- 鈥淭he Qur鈥檃n in Islamic Ritual and Practice,鈥� in听The Routledge Handbook of Islamic Ritual and Practice, ed. Oliver Leaman. New York: Routledge, June 2022, 13-37.
- 鈥淲ahhabism and Salafism in Global Perspective,鈥� in听Wahhabism in the World: Understanding Saudi Arabia鈥檚 Global Influence on Religion, ed. Peter Mandaville. New York: Oxford University Press, 2022, 35-52.
- 鈥淭he Role of Women in Solidifying 18th听Century Revival and Reform Initiatives into Ongoing Mass Movements,鈥� in听Islam, Revival and Reform: Redefining Tradition for the Twenty-First Century, ed, Natana J. DeLong-Bas. Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 2022, 3-29.
- 鈥淚slamic Law and Gender,鈥澨�Oxford Bibliographies in Islamic Studies. New York: Oxford University Press, 2019. Available at听.
- 鈥淚slam, Nature and the Environment,鈥澨�Oxford Bibliographies in Islamic Studies. New York: Oxford University Press, 2018. Available at听.
Grants and Awards
- Teaching, Advising and Mentoring Grant for Interreligious Studies, Jesuit Pedagogy and the Learning Sciences, 2025-2026.
- Teaching and Mentoring Expense Grant for Interreligious Studies and pedagogy, 2025.听
- Major Grant Award ($17,500) from Institute for Liberal Arts for a year-long interdisciplinary program on 鈥淐ontemporary Iran: Realities and Prospects for the Future鈥� from Institute for the Liberal Arts, 2023-2024.
- Major Grant from the Marion and Jasper Whiting Foundation for environmental study in the Galapagos Islands, May 2019-May 2022.
- University Council on Teaching Grant for Student Well-Being, Spring 2020.
- Major Grant Award from Institute for the Liberal Arts for conference on 鈥淚slam in the Post-Obama Era," Boston College, April 2018.听
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