The Alwaleed Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding congratulates Shenila Khoja-Moolji, the Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani Associate Professor of Muslim Societies, for winning the 2024 Nautilus Book Award for her latest book Rebuilding Community: Displaced Women and the Making of a Shia Ismaili Muslim Sociality published by Oxford University Press.
Nautilus Book Awards honor books that contribute to social change and social justice.
Professor Khoja-Moolji’s Rebuilding Community tells the story of how women who fled East Pakistan and East Africa in the 1970s recreated religious community in North America. Her interlocutors are Shia Ismaili Muslims who are a minority within a minority: about fifteen percent of the world’s Muslim population is Shia and Ismailis are a marginal presence within that group. Drawing on oral histories, ethnographic fieldwork, and memory texts, the book examines women’s placemaking practices in cities such as Atlanta, Chicago, Toronto, and Fort Wayne, with particular attention to religion. In doing so, the book is an important contribution to the fields of refugee studies, Islamic studies, and gender studies.
The book is available through the Oxford University Press’ website: Rebuilding Community: Displaced Women and the Making of a Shia Ismaili Muslim Sociality (30% discount code: AAFLYG6)
For speaking engagements, please contact the professor at:
Shenila.KhojaMoolji@Georgetown.edu.
