Islamic law and political thought (focus on fiqh literature and siyar law)
Zaydiyya and Zaydi Studies
Dhimma law and Muslim-Jewish encounters
Islamic (intellectual) history and (early) historiography
Manuscripts
Yemen (Jews and Muslims, Zaydi imamate)
Conceptual approaches
Imaginations of “the other”

 

Email: Kerstinhuenefeld@gmail.com
Personal website: Kerstin Huenefeld

Current Projects: 

My current project investigates conceptualizations of Self and Other in Islamic law and political thought with a special emphasis on the Yemeni Zaydiyya.

My latest monograph Dhimma im Kontext des zaiditischen Jemen: Imam Yaḥyā Ḥamīd al-Dīn  (1869-1948), die Juden:Jüdinnen von Sanaa und die Aushandlung  islamrechtlicher Regierungsführung (Dhimma in Zaydī Yemen: Imam Yahya Hamid al-Din, the Jews of Sanaa, and the negotiation of Islamic governance) will be published by De Gruyter in July 2023.

 

Curriculum Vitae

Education

2016: Dr. Phil. (Islamic studies), Freie Universität Berlin

2009: Magistra Artium in Islamic and Jewish Studies at Freie Universität Berlin

2002-2003: Visiting student, Rothberg International School, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem

 

Fellowships, Grants, and Academic Positions

2019-2023:     Martin Buber Society of Fellows Postdoctoral Fellowship, Hebrew University Jerusalem

2018-2019:      Herbert D. Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies, University of Pennsylvania

2017-2018:     Part-time substitute for Prof. Gudrun Krämer and adjunct faculkty, Department of Islamic Studies, Freie
                        Universität Berlin

2017:               Postdoctoral Fellow, State Islamic University Sunnan Kalijaga (UIN), Yogyakarta, Indonesia

2009-2017:     Teaching positions at the departments of Islamic and Jewish Studies at the Freie Universität Berlin and
                        the University of Potsdam

2010-2013:     Berlin Graduate School Muslim Cultures and Societies, doctoral student with stipend

2011-2012:     Yemen Center for Studies and Research (Markaz al-Dirāsāt wa’l-Buḥūth al-Yamanī), Sanaa, Yemen,
                        visiting researcher

2009-2010:     Department of Jewish Studies, Freie Universität Berlin, project: "Lexicon of Jewish Names,
                        Research Assistant

2006-2009:     Department of Jewish Studies, Freie Universität Berlin, student assistant

 

PUBLICATIONS

Monographs

July 2023:       Dhimma im Kontext des zaiditischen Jemen: Imam Yaḥyā Ḥamīd al-Dīn  (1869-1948), die Juden:Jüdinnen
                       von Sanaa und die Aushandlung  islamrechtlicher Regierungsführung. Berlin: De Gruyter, forthcoming.
                       (380 pages) https://www.degruyter.com/document/isbn/9783110563603/html?lang=de

2011 with

Tal Ilan:            Lexicon of Jewish Names in Late Antiquity, Part IV: The Eastern Diaspora 330 BCE-650 CE, Text and
                         Studies in Ancient Judaism, Vol. 141, ed. by P. Schäfer, A.Y. Reed, S. Schwartz et al. Tübingen:
                         Mohr Siebeck. (465 pages) DOI 10.1628/978-3-16-151474-6

2010:               Imam Yaḥyā Ḥamīd ad-Dīn und die Juden in Ṣanʿāʾ (1904-1948): Die Dimension von Schutz (Dhimma) in
                        den Dokumenten der Sammlung des Rabbi Sālim b. Saʿīd al-Ǧamal, Berlin: Klaus Schwarz.
                        (170 pages) https://doi.org/10.1515/9783112402450
                        [reviewed in: Die Welt des Islams 55,1 (2015), Judaica: Beiträge zum Verstehen des Judentums 68,
                        1 (2012), Afiqim 136/137 (2011), Bulletin of the Society for Arabian Studies 16 (2011), Chronique du
                        manuscript au Yémen 11 (2011) Jemen-Report 42 (2011) and Sehepunkte 11:6 (2011)]

Articles in Peer-Reviewed Academic Journals

Under review:    “Drei pseudoepigraphische Prophetenschutzbriefe aus dem zaiditischen Jemen: von der
                             Prophetenbiographie, über die zaiditischen Imamatsbedingungen bis zur praktischen
                             Anwendung im tribalen Kontext.” Die Welt des Islams (27 pages)

2023:                   “The 1948 turmoil in Sanaa from the viewpoint of two Yemeni Jewish sources.” Middle Eastern
                             Studies (accepted, 31 pages)

2013:                    “Niẓām al-Yahūd (“The Statute of the Jews”): Imām Yaḥyā’s writing to the Jews of Ṣanʿāʾ from
                             1323/1905.” Chronique du Manuscrit au Yémen 16 (2013): 26-74. (51 pages) 
                             https://doi.org/10.4000/cmy.2012

Articles in Edited Volumes

2011:                  “The Imām Is Responsible for Me Before God! – The Dimension of Protection (Dhimma) Granted by
                             Imām Yaḥyā to the Jews of Yemen.” In Mittuv Yosef: Yosef Tobi Jubilee Volume, Vol. 2: The Jews of
                             Yemen: History and Culture, lxxxii-cii, hgg. v. A. Oettinger and D. Bar-Maoz. Haifa: University of Haifa.
                             (21 pages)

2015 with

Menashe Anzi:   “Ṣanʿāʾ, Jerusalem, New York: Imām Yaḥyā Ḥamīd al-Dīn (1869-1948) and Yemeni-Jewish Migration
                             from Palestine to the United States.” In The Yemeni Manuscript Tradition, Brill Series Islamic
                             Manuscripts and Books, Vol. 7, 252-280, hgg. v. S. Schmitdke, C. Rauch and D. Hollenberg.
                             Leiden: Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004289765_011 (28 pages)
                             [reviewed in: Wiener Zeitschrift für die Kunde des Morgenlandes 108 (2018)]

 

Other Publications

2023                   “Zaydi fiqh and the Jews of Yemen." Leiden Arabic Humanities Blog

2023                    “State-building, Political Thought and the Other in Muslim ImperialPeripheries,” Al-ʿUṣūr al-Wusṭā
                            (conference report, submitted) with Ekaterina Pukhovaia 

 

2023                   “Eirik Hovden, Waqf in Zaydi Yemen: Legal Theory, Codification, and LocalPractice (Leiden: Brill, 2019),”
                            Shii Studies Review 6 (2023) (book review, forthcoming)

2022                   “Niẓām al-Yahūd (“The Statute of the Jews”).” In Encyclopedia of Jews inthe Islamic World, ed. by
                             Norman A. Stillman, Brill Online (encyclopedia article)

2021                   “Yūd, Nini al-ʿayin,” Tehuda 40 [Article collection in memory of Prof. Yehuda Nini], 329-333 (obituary in
​​​​​​​                             Hebrew) 
​​​​​​​                             ״יוד, ניני אל-עין,״ תהודה 40 (תשפ״א) 329-333 [אסופת מאמרים לכבוד פרופ׳ יהודה ניני ז״ל]

 

WORKSHOPS AND CONFERENCES

 

Workshop Organization 

6/2022            “State-building, Political Thought, and the Other in Muslim Imperial Peripheries,” hybrid
​​​​​​​                         (Zoom/in-Person) workshop at the Van Leer Jerusalem Institute and the Hebrew University of
​​​​​​​                         Jerusalem, 27-28 June 2022, in cooperation with Ekaterina Pukhovaia. cfp and program.

10/2018          „Order, Reorder, and Disorder: Jews and Muslims Encountering the Modern Era,“ Oktober 2018, Gruss
​​​​​​​                         Colloquium am Herbert D. Katz Center, University of Pennsylvania (co-organizer)

 

Invited Talks and Participations (selection)

5/2023            “The Sharḥ al-Azhār: A Zaydī fiqh compendium and its political relevance,” Department of Middle Eastern
​​​​​​​                         and African History, University of Tel Aviv

3/2023            “Resolving ambivalent notions of Imam Yahya’s Dhimma politics by  interlinking and contextualizing
​​​​​​​                         different kinds of sources,” Workshop: “Yemen under the rule of Imam Yaḥyā, 1904 through 1948: A
​​​​​​​                         critical assessment of the sources,“ organized by the Austrian Academy of Sciences, the Institute for
​​​​​​​                         Advanced Studies in Princeton, and the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas in Madrid,
​​​​​​​                         23-24 March 2023, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna

11/2022          “Zaydi fiqh and its political context: the forced conversion of Jewish Orphans to Islam and differences
​​​​​​​                         between Sunni and Shiite estimations of the principles of jurisprudence and the legitimacy of Qāsimid
​​​​​​​                         rule in Yemen,” Department-Seminar, 16 November 2022, Department of Islamic and Middle Eastern
​​​​​​​                         Studies, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (in Hebrew)

4/2022            Writing-Workshop (handbook) “Reimagining Jewish Life in the Modern Middle East, 1800 – Present:
​​​​​​​                         Culture, Society, and History.” Organized by Penn State University and the Ben Gurion University of the
​​​​​​​                         Negev, 25-29 April 2022, Penn State University

12/2021          Mini-Workshop, organized by CanCode-Projekt: Canonization and Codification of Islamic Legal Texts,
​​​​​​​                         University of Bergen, 9-10 December 2021, via Zoom

11/2021          Opening event of Qadmata – Young Scholars Forum, 11 November 2021, Ben-Zvi Institute Jerusalem,
​​​​​​​                         (respondent, in Hebrew)

10/2021          “Exploring Gendered Perspectives on Indonesia and the Middle East,“ 24.-25. Oktober 2021, The Hebrew
​​​​​​​                         University of Jerusalem, (Panel-Chair)

12/2020          ”Selves and Others in Early-Modern Islamic Law and Political Thought.“ The Buber Society of Fellows
​​​​​​​                         Seminar, ​14 December 2020, Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities an der Hebrew
​​​​​​​                         University of Jerusalem

11/2020          “Jemenitische(s) Juden(tum) und Migration: klassische und andere Narrative,“ Vortragsreihe „Basiswissen
​​​​​​​                         Islam,“ Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, 10 November 2020, via Zoom

3/2019            “Dhimma as Action Space: Conceptualizing the Protection Relationship Between Imam Yahya Hamid
​​​​​​​                         al-Din (r. 1904-1948) and the Jews of Sanaa,“ Institute for the Transregional Study of the Contemporary
​​​​​​​                         Middle East, North Africa, and Central Asia, 12 März 2019, Princeton University

10/2018          “Zaydī Arguments Against Muḥammad b. ʿAlī al-Shawkānī’s Fatwa on the Worldly Judgement of Jewish
​​​​​​​                         Orphans and the Legitimacy of the Late Qāsimī Imamate,“ Yemeni Manuscript Collections and Zaydi
​​​​​​​                         Studies: an international conference, Institute for Advanced Study, 6.-7. December 2018, Princeton

9/2016            “Ambivalent Aspects of Imam Yaḥyā Ḥamīd al-Dīn’s Dhimma Policy: Forced Conversion of Jewish
​​​​​​​                         Orphans, Its Islamic Legal Background and Inner-Yemeni Political Dimension,“ first international
​​​​​​​                         conference on “The Jews of Yemen: Social and Cultural Changes,” 4.-5. September 2016, Center for
​​​​​​​                         the Study of Yemeni Jewry, Ben-Zvi Institute, Jerusalem (in Hebrew)

 

Conferences and Workshops (selection)

4/2023            “Sharḥ al-Azhār (sefer ha-praḥim): korpus hilkhati zaydi be-heqshero ha-maḥshavati we-politi“ [„The
​​​​​​​                         Sharḥ al-Azhār: A Zaydi fiqh corpus and its intellectual and political context“], annual meeting of the
​​​​​​​                         ​​​​​​​Middle East & Islamic Studies Association of Israel (MEISAI), 27 April 2023, University of Haifa (in
​​​​​​​                         Hebrew)

2/2023            “Meqorot temaniyim-muslemim ʿal yehude Teman: mabaṭ ʿal we-raʿyonot le-shituf peʿula,“ [„Muslim
​​​​​​​                         Sources on the Jews of Yemen“] 13-15 February 2023, The Eighth International Conference for the
​​​​​​​                         Study of Yemenite Jewry, Ben-Zvi Institut Jerusalem (in Hebrew)

9/2023            “Zaydī Jurisprudence (fiqh) and the Other: Initial Findings,“ Deutscher Orientalistentag,
​​​​​​​                         13 September 2022, Berlin

2/2021            “From a Shariacate Context to a Dhimma-Space Concept: The Challenges of Researching the Jews of
​​​​​​​                         Twentieth-century Zaydī-Yemen,“ Workshop: “Reimagining Jewish Life in the Modern Middle East,
​​​​​​​                         1800 – Present: Culture, Society, and History,” organisiert von der Penn State University und der Ben
​​​​​​​                         Gurion University of the Negev, 10. February 2021, via Zoom

11/2018          revised version: “Dhimma Space: The Protection Relationship Between Imam Yaḥyā Ḥamīd al-Dīn
​​​​​​​                         (1869-1948) and the Jews of Sanaa as a Socio-political ‘Field’,” annual meeting of the Middle East
​​​​​​​                         Studies Association (MESA), 15-18 November 2018, San Antonio, Texas

7/2018            “Dhimma Space: The Protection Relationship Between Imam Yaḥyā Ḥamīd al-Dīn (1869-1948) and the
​​​​​​​                         Jews of Sanaa as a Socio-political ‘Field’,” The Yemenite Conference, organisiert von E’elah Be Tamar,
​​​​​​​                         der American Sephardi Federation und dem Institute of Semitic Studies, Center for Jewish History, 3.-5.
​​​​​​​                         Juli 2018, New York City/USA

10/2017          “Juggling Sharia Law: An Analytical Insight into the Pseudo-Epigraphic Letters of Protection from Yemen
​​​​​​​                         and their Jewish Authors’ Strategies of Empowerment,“ international conference: „Jews in Muslim
​​​​​​​                         Majority Countries: History and Prospects“, Jewish-Islamic forum at the Academy of the Jewish Museum
​​​​​​​                         in Berlin

 

Teaching

The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Department of Arabic Language and Literature

An Introduction to Dhimma, scheduled for summer 2022 (in English)

Conceptualizing Dhimma law as part of the Islamic law of Nations (siyar): The Yemeni-Zaydi Example (in Hebrew)

Freie Universität Berlin, Institute of Islamic Studies (taught in German)

Theory and method in Islamic studies

The concept of ‘sainthood’ (wilaya) in Sufism

Job prospects and expectations for Islamic studies graduates

Introduction to the Islamic law of nations (siyar) and the treatment of non-Muslims under Islamic jurisdiction

The prophet Muḥammad and the development of a specific Islamic self-perception

Introduction to methodology in Islamic Studies

State Islamic University Sunnan Kalijaga (UIN), Faculty of Theology, Yogyakarta/Indonesia

Modern Hebrew for beginners

Freie Universität Berlin, Institute of Jewish Studies (in German)

The Jews of the Islamic world in modern and recent times

Jews as ‘protected people’ (Dhimmis) under Islamic rule

University of Potsdam, Institute of Jewish and Religious Studies (in German)

The Jews of the Islamic world from its beginning until modern times: History, Status, Relation

 

Other Courses and Initiatives

since 2021       „Unit 2 Lesson 3: Imam Yahya and his Contract of Protection,” for The Yemenite Experience, American
​​​​​​​                         Sephardi Federation, New York City (in English and Hebrew) Courses.InstituteofJewishExperience.org

2015                Yemenite Queen Salon, a cultural initiative to promote Jewish and Muslim Yemeni art, music, and
​​​​​​​                         ​​​​​​​culture, with Ibi Ibrahim (visual artist and singer) Media coverage by DW عربية