Nihal Khan
Graduate Student
I was born and raised in New Jersey. After completing a B.A. in Psychology, I traveled throughout India for three years learning about how literary and political trends in the Arab world interacted with Muslim educational institutions in South Asia in the 1950s. Upon returning, I completed a M.A. in Religious Studies at the Hartford Seminary in Connecticut, in conjunction with Harvard Divinity School. I examined various theological and legal conceptions of mental capacity (ahliyya) and legal capacity (taklīf), as imagined by Hanafī jurists over variegated eras and regions. Afterwards, a deep yearning to connect with a world outside of the United States brought me to Istanbul, where I spent a better part of the last three years learning Turkish and traversing the Muslim world. Be it Granada, Fes, Cairo, Jerusalem, Isfahan, Samarkand, Lahore, or Lucknow, my intellectual curiosities landed me in twenty or so countries. My fascination with Islamicate languages preceded my decision to enroll into a doctorate program. My reading of Iqbal’s Urdu poetry during my high school days consequently ignited a passion for learning and teaching classical Arabic. Though I learned to speak Arabic in Dallas, I became comfortable with it in Lucknow, and developed fluency in Istanbul through Syrian and Turkish teachers. At UCLA, I look forward to furthering my research interests, as well as attaining proficiency in Persian and French. In my free time, I enjoy traveling, reading, and spending time at the beach. Feel free to check out my podcast: Faith in Fine Print.
