Mohammad Sagha

Mohammad Sagha is a Lecturer in the Modern Middle East at Harvard University's Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations. He also holds roles as Co-Director of the Shi’i Studies Group at the University of Chicago, Iran Project Coordinator at Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center, and Editor for SHARIAsource. His research bridges early Islamic sectarian formations with modern Middle Eastern geopolitics, focusing on Shi’a networks, revolutionary movements, and transregional power dynamics between Iran and Arab states.

Education: PhD in Islamic History and Civilization from the University of Chicago (2021), MA in Middle Eastern Studies (University of Chicago). He has conducted research at the University of Tehran and Harvard’s Center for Middle Eastern Studies under Prof. Roy Mottahedeh. Fluent in Persian with advanced Arabic and proficiency in German/French.

Research Interests: Sectarianism, factional politics, network theory applied to both early Islamic and modern contexts; Shi’a religious nationalism, underground revolutionary networks, apocalyptic movements, and the intersection of sacred spaces with political authority. Current projects include co-authored books on Shi’a revivalism and a monograph on early Shi’i revolutionary networks under Abbasid rule.

Engagements: Editor of Legacies of Islamic Ecumenicism (2021), organizer of international symposia on intra-Shi’a dialogue, and frequent speaker on topics like sectarian de-escalation and Middle East geopolitics. Affiliated with Harvard Divinity School’s Project on Shi'ism and Global Affairs as Faculty Affiliate and Research Director.

Teaching: Courses on Islam, Middle East history, and contemporary politics at Harvard. Conducted youth workshops on sectarianism at major Islamic institutions in the U.S., including the Islamic Center of America in Dearborn, MI.