FACULTY OF ARTS AND HUMANITIES

LECTURER

Islamic Studies: Department of Religion and Theology

The Department of Religion and Theology, housed within the Faculty of Arts and Humanities, offers teaching specialisations in four subject areas, namely Theological Studies, Ethics, Religious Studies, and Islamic Studies. Collaborative research activities take place within six research frameworks, namely Religion, Theological Praxis and Development; Islamic Law, Theology and Spirituality; Religion, Gender and Sexualities; Ecumenical Theology, Muslim-Christian Dialogue, and Indigenous Spiritualities in Africa; Biblical and Quranic Hermeneutics and Rhetoric; and Christian and Islamic Eco-theologies.  Its work is marked by an ecumenical, interdisciplinary, decolonial, and contextually grounded approach, with particular attention to South African, African, and broader Global South scholarly conversations.

The Department seeks to appoint a suitably qualified and experienced applicant who will strengthen teaching, research, and postgraduate supervision in Islamic Studies, and contribute to the Department’s wider interdisciplinary and contextually grounded intellectual life.

Key performance areas

• Teaching at undergraduate, Honours and Master’s level.
• Supervising Honours and Master’s students and contributing to the development of postgraduate study in Islamic Studies.
• Conducting research and producing peer-reviewed research outputs.
• Participating in departmental and faculty committees.
• Coordinating research seminars and public lectures.
• Conducting academic duties at departmental level, including module/course co-ordination.
• Advancing public and community-engaged scholarship.

• A Master’s degree in Islamic Studies, Islamic Theology, Islamic Law, Islamic Philosophy, Islamic Ethics, or a related field, with evidence of registration for a PhD.
• Demonstrable expertise in one or more core areas of Islamic Studies, including Qur’anic studies, Hadith studies, Islamic theology, Islamic law, Islamic philosophy, Islamic ethics, or Islamic spirituality.
• A minimum of one (1) accredited publication.
• Evidence of innovative learning and teaching practice at undergraduate and honours level.
• Competence in Arabic, with the ability to engage primary Islamic texts.

• Active involvement in at least one community engagement activity relevant to the discipline.

Added advantages

• Ability to contribute to interdisciplinary teaching and research within religion and theology, the social sciences, and the broader humanities.
• An emerging research profile in one or more of the following areas: Islamic theology and philosophy, Islamic legal sciences, Sufism, Qur’anic sciences, contemporary Islamic thought, Islamic ethics, Islamic eco-theology, Muslim societies and civilizations, Islamic political thought, or Muslim education.
• Familiarity with both classical Islamic scholarly traditions and contemporary academic approaches to Islamic Studies.
• Evidence of postgraduate supervision or co-supervision.
• Demonstrable commitment to a decolonial approach to Islamic Studies, grounded in South African and broader African contexts, and engaged with Global South epistemologies and scholarly debates.
• Active participation in academic conferences and seminars and related scholarly networks.
• Research engagement in applied and interdisciplinary fields, including Islamic ethics (e.g., science, technology, ecology, and education), Islamic finance, gender studies, decoloniality, development studies etc.