Arafat Razzaque

Arafat Razzaque is a Researcher at the University of Cambridge, affiliated with the Centre for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences, and Humanities (CRASSH). He specializes in classical Islamic thought and the social/cultural history of the medieval Middle East, with a focus on piety, asceticism, religious ethics, and family dynamics. His work bridges Islamic and European historical narratives, particularly through textual cultures and cross-cultural exchanges.

• Harvard PhD in History and Middle Eastern Studies
• Yale BA in Humanities
• Harvard MTS in Islamic Studies
• Harvard MA in History

His research explores Islamic speech ethics (adab al-lisān) and the reception history of the Thousand and One Nights, analyzing textual transmission and cultural interactions between medieval Europe and the Middle East. Recent outreach includes the Fostering Ethics project, addressing Islamic adoption perspectives.

Key contributions include analyzing print culture’s role in shaping the Nights, critiquing cross-cultural perceptions in medieval Islamic scholarship, and examining historical narratives of Islamic Spain. His work emphasizes the interplay between textual analysis, ethical discourse, and socio-cultural contexts.