Dr Richard Todd

Dr Richard Todd

Department of Theology and Religion
Lecturer in Islamic Studies

Contact details

Pre-modern Islamic thought, especially philosophy, theology and Sufism

Qualifications

  • DPhil in Oriental Studies, University of Oxford
  • MSt in Oriental Studies, University of Oxford
  • BA (Hons) in Arabic with Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies, Durham University

Biography

Since completing his doctorate at the University of Oxford, Richard Todd has taught Arabic, classical Arabic literature, and Islamic cultural and intellectual history at Durham University, the American University of Sharjah (as Visiting Assistant Professor), and the University of Edinburgh (for ten years), where he also taught Turkish. In 2017 he joined the Department of Theology and Religion at the University 麻豆精选, where he teaches Islamic philosophy and medieval thought, and has supervised over a dozen PhDs in Islamic studies. He is also currently external examiner for both the University of St Andrews and the University of Oxford's undergraduate Arabic and Islamic studies programmes. He is the author of The Sufi Doctrine of Man: Sadr al-Din al-Qunawi's Metaphysical Anthropology (Brill 2014) and is editor-in-chief of the Taylor & Francis quarterly journal Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations. His research focuses on points of intersection between premodern Islamic philosophy, theology, mysticism, science, and literature (in Arabic, Persian, Ottoman Turkish, and Urdu), and often draws on Birmingham's Mingana collection of Islamic manuscripts. Recent research articles include 'Classical poetic motifs as alchemical metaphors in the Shudhur al-dhahab and its commentaries', Asiatische Studien聽75.2 (2021), 'Physics and Metaphysics in an Early Ottoman Madrasa: Dawud al-Qaysari on the nature of time',聽翱谤颈别苍蝉听50.1-2 (2022),聽'Alchemical Tafsir: Qur'anic Hermeneutics in the Works of the Twelfth-Century Moroccan Alchemist Ibn Arfa' Ra's',聽Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations, 34.3, (2023) and 鈥楾he Perfect Human (al-ins膩n al-k膩mil)鈥 in the St Andrews Encyclopaedia of Theology (2024). Recent invited lectures include 鈥榃as Orhan Gazi a sponsor of philosophical Sufism? What manuscript sources can tell us about the early Ottoman patronage of Ibn 'Arabi's school鈥, Bogazici University, Istanbul (2023), and 鈥楾he Vital Spirit in the Heart: the use of Galenic and Avicennian physiology in thirteenth-century Sufi texts鈥, Humboldt University, Berlin (2023).

Teaching

Undergraduate

  • Introduction to Islam
  • Introduction to Qur’anic and Classical Arabic
  • Sufism: Belief and Practice
  • Dissertation Preparation
  • Islamic Philosophy

Postgraduate

  • Islamic Philosophy
  • Approaches to Studying Islam
  • Research Methods in Theology and Religion

Contributions to team-taught modules

  • Introduction to the History of Christianity
  • Religion and the Arts
  • Dharmic Religions and Traditions
  • Introduction to the Study of Religion
  • Global Islam
  • Life After Death
  • The Human Condition

Postgraduate supervision

鈥 Haya Alqasem, 鈥淩ereading the Qur鈥檃n: the reformist hermeneutics of Muhammad Shahrur and 鈥楢dnan al-Rifa鈥檌鈥
鈥 Muhammad Yasir Al-Hanafi, "Imam al-Sanusi on the Ash'ari doctrine of God's transcendence"
鈥 Al Muatasim Al Maawali, "A juristic and codicological study of the narration of la qirad illa bi-'ayn"
鈥 Doaa Baumi, 鈥淢uslim perceptions of biblical lore narratives (7th-14th centuries)鈥
鈥 Rawdah Gawaher, "From duality of revelation to 'by scripture alone': navigating the crisis of religious authority in Protestantism and modern Islam"
鈥 Neelam Hussain, 鈥淢anuscripts and their readers: the Sirr al-asrar and the career of a pseudo-Aristotelian treatise鈥
鈥 Shazad Khan, 鈥淨asim Nanotvi鈥檚 Maturidi theology鈥
鈥 Nadir Mohammad, 鈥淭he theological poetry of Ahmed Raza Khan Barelvi鈥
鈥 Azra Omerbegovic, 鈥淏osnevi鈥檚 commentary on the Fusus al-hikam鈥
鈥 Muhammet Saygi, 鈥淣asafi on the concept of faith鈥
鈥 Sainulabdeen Thameem, 鈥淭he portrayal of Sri Lanka (Sarandib) in medieval Arabic travel and geographical texts (9th-15th centuries)"
鈥 Abdud Younus, "The Tafsir tradition in the Indian subcontinent: a historical analysis of Qur'anic exegesis in Arabic, Urdu, Bengali, and English."


Find out more - our PhD Theology and Religion  page has information about doctoral research at the University 麻豆精选.

Research

  • Sufism, especially the school of Ibn 'Arabi, and its historical interaction with Avicennian philosophy
  • Arabic alchemy聽
  • Islamic philosophy, especially metaphysics and the philosophy of time
  • Islamic theology
  • Esoteric commentaries on the Qur'an
  • Classical Arabic poetry
  • Christian-Muslim Relations
  • The Mingana collection of Arabic Islamic manuscripts

Other activities

  • Editor, Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations
  • Member of British Association of Islamic Studies

Publications

Recent publications

Article

Todd, R 2023, '', Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations, vol. 34, no. 3, pp. 285-302.

Todd, R 2022, '', Oriens, vol. 50, no. 1-2, pp. 108鈥142.

Todd, R 2021, '', Asiatische Studien, vol. 75, no. 2, 10, pp. 665-683.

Chapter (peer-reviewed)

Todd, R 2024, . in E Abuali & S Abdel-Latif (eds), Sufism and the Body. Handbook of Sufi Studies, Brill, Leiden & Boston.

Todd, R 2023, . in D Thomas (ed.), Christian-Muslim Relations: Primary Sources 600-1914. 1st edn, vol. 1, Bloomsbury Academic, London, pp. 51-54. <>

Todd, R 2023, . in D Thomas (ed.), Christian-Muslim Relations: Primary Sources 600-1914. 1st edn, vol. 1, Bloomsbury Publishing, London, pp. 31-32. <>

Todd, R 2023, . in D Thomas (ed.), Christian-Muslim Relations: Primary Sources 600-1914. 1st edn, vol. 1, Bloomsbury Publishing, London, pp. 64-66. <>

Todd, R 2022, . in D Thomas (ed.), The Bloomsbury Reader in Christian-Muslim Relations, 600-1500. 1st edn, Bloomsbury Academic, London, pp. 45-48. <>

Todd, R 2022, . in A Knysh & C Lange (eds), Sufi Cosmology. 1 edn, Handbook of Sufi Studies, vol. 2, Brill, Leiden and Boston, pp. 332-364.

Book/Film/Article review

Todd, R 2022, '', Journal of Islamic Studies, vol. 33, no. 2, etac014, pp. 240-246.

Todd, R 2020, '', Journal of Islamic Studies, vol. 31, no. 3, pp. 396-400.

Todd, R 2017, '', Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations, vol. 28, no. 1, pp. 107-109.

Entry for encyclopedia/dictionary

Todd, R 2024, . in BN Wolfe et al (ed.), St Andrews Encyclopaedia of Theology. University of St Andrews, St Andrews. <>

Todd, R 2023, . in K Fleet, G Kr盲mer, D Matringe, J Nawas & DJ Stewart (eds), Encyclopaedia of Islam, THREE. 3rd edn, vol. 2023-2, Encyclopaedia of Islam three, Brill, Leiden and Boston, pp. 145-149. <>

Foreword/postscript

Todd, R 2024, . in F Abdel-hadi (ed.), Ibn 'Arabi's Religious Pluralism: Levels of Inclusivity. 1 edn, Routledge Studies in Islamic Philosophy, Routledge, London, pp. x-xi.