“Choosing Our Ancestors: A Jewish-Muslim Connection”

Modern tools can help us research genealogy and shed new light on our biological history. Hamza Zafer’s recent discovery that he has a Jewish ancestor led him to think about ancestry as a choice. Building from his research on ancestry among ancient Jews and Muslims, he explores the question of genealogy among these two communities as immigrants to the United States.

Find out about the other fascinating short lectures from JewDub Talks 2015, a program of the UW Stroum Center for Jewish Studies.

Hamza Mahmood Zafer is Assistant Professor in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilization at UW. His research areas include late antique Judaism and early Islam; Jewish-Muslim encounters in the Quran and early Muslim works; and Judeo-Arabic and Judeo-Persian writings. Prof. Zafer’s forthcoming book examines the emergence and expression of communalism in early Muslim sources.

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