Aysha Hidayatullah

Aysha Hidayatullah is Associate Professor in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies, and she teaches undergraduate courses on gender, sexuality, race, ethics, and religious studies in Islamic traditions. She began teaching at USF in 2008, after receiving her MA and PhD in Religious Studies from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and her BA in Women's Studies and English from Emory University. 

She is the author of Feminist Edges of the Qur'an (Oxford University Press, 2014), a study of feminist exegesis of the Qur'an. Her forthcoming book, This Body Called Muslim, is a study of Islamic ritual practices in relation to the body. Her other publications and research interests span constructions of gender and sexuality in Islamic traditions; literary representations and self-representations of Muslims in relation to gender; constructive Muslim theology; and methodologies and epistemologies in the study of Islam.

• Constructions of gender and sexuality in Islamic traditions
• The body in Islamic ritual practices
• Feminist exegesis of the Qur'an

• PhD, Religious Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara, 2009
• MA, Religious Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara, 2005
• BA, Women's Studies and English, Emory University, 2001

• 2023, Collective Achievement Award (for co-developing “Moment to Movement” anti-racist pedagogy faculty workshop program), College of Arts & Sciences, University of San Francisco

• 2019, James Catiggay Changemaker Award, Interwoven Graduation Ceremony, University of San Francisco

• 2017, Distinguished Teaching Award, University of San Francisco & University of San Francisco Faculty Association
• 2016-2017, Dean's Scholar Award, College of Arts and Sciences, University of San Francisco
• 2015, Ignatian Service Award, University of San Francisco

• co-editor (2016). Islam at Jesuit Colleges and Universities. Lane Center Series Vol. 4 (spring).
• Hidayatullah, A. (2015). Behind Every Good Muslim Man: Fictional Representations of ‘A’isha after 9/11. Muhammad and the Digital Age (Chapter 6). Austin, TX: University of Texas Press.
• Hidayatullah, A. (2014). Feminist Edges of the Qur'an. UK: Oxford University Press.
• This Body Called Muslim (forthcoming book); Feminist Edges of the Qur'an, Oxford University Press, 2014

• Hidayatullah, A., Zaman, T. (2013). 'Speaking for Ourselves': American Muslim Women's Confessional Writings and the Problem of Alterity. Journal for Islamic Studies, Vol. 33.

  (Works examined: Love, InshAllah; I Speak for Myself; The Muslim Next Door; Red White, and Muslim)

• Research Guide to "Gender and Sexuality," Oxford Bibliographies Online: Islamic Studies
• Hidayatullah, A. (2014). Feminist Interpretation of the Qur’an in a Comparative Feminist Setting, Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion Vol. 30, (No. 2), pp. 115-129.
• Hidayatullah, A., Plaskow, J. (2011). Beyond Sarah and Hagar: Jewish and Muslim Reflections on Feminist Theology. Palsgrave Macmillan.
• Hidayatullah, A. (2011). Muslim Feminist Birthdays. Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion Vol. 27 (No. 1), pp. 119-122.
• Hidayatullah, A. (2010). Mariyya the Copt: Gender, Sex and Heritage in the Legacy of Muhammad's umm walad. Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations Vol. 21, (3).