Tayeb El-Hibri

Tayeb El-Hibri is Professor of Arabic and Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He specializes in classical Arabic historiography, medieval and modern Arabic literature, with expertise in early Islamic historical narratives.

He is the author of 'Reinterpreting Islamic Historiography: Harun al-Rashid and the Narrative of the ‘Abbasid Caliphate' (Cambridge University Press, 1999), which received the Albert Hourani Award Honorable Mention, and 'Parable and Politics in Early Islamic History: The Rashidun Caliphs' (Columbia University Press, 2010). His scholarship explores narrative structures in historical texts and their political implications.

Professor El-Hibri has consulted for the Metropolitan Museum of Art's 'al-Andalus: The Arts of Islamic Spain' exhibition. He teaches all levels of Arabic language and Islamic history courses.