CICW Team
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Ermin Sinanović
Executive Director
Ermin Sinanović is a scholar, educator, and thought leader in contemporary Islamic studies whose work bridges academic research, policy analysis, and community engagement. He serves as the Executive Director of the Center for Islam in the Contemporary World (CICW), where he leads initiatives that advance research on Muslims in global contexts, cultivate American Muslim leadership, and deepen intellectual engagement between Islamic tradition and modern challenges. Under his leadership, CICW has expanded its scholarly programming, built international partnerships, and established new platforms for research on Muslim futures, American Muslim institutions, and global Islam. He also holds an appointment as a faculty associate in research, Southeast Asia Program, Einaudi Center for International Studies at Cornell University.
Born in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sinanović experienced firsthand the tumultuous transformations of the Balkans in the 1990s, an experience that shaped his scholarly interest in religion, conflict, identity, and global politics. He earned his Bachelor’s and Master's degrees from the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) before completing graduate studies in political science at Syracuse University’s Maxwell School, specializing in comparative politics, Islamic political thought, and Southeast Asian politics. Sinanović’s research spans Islamic governance, transnational religious networks, decolonial thought, and the evolving role of Muslim intellectual traditions in the 21st century. His scholarship has appeared in leading journals and edited volumes, and he is frequently invited to speak at universities, policy institutes, and international conferences. He has contributed to public debates on topics including Southeast Asian Islam, Muslim political parties, Islamic revivalism, and the relationship between Islam and modernity. Prior to leading CICW, Sinanović served as the Director of Research at the International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT), where he oversaw global research programs, academic convenings, and publication initiatives. He has also taught at the U.S. Naval Academy and other institutions, where his courses covered Islamic civilization, religion and politics, comparative politics, and global affairs. His pedagogical approach integrates rigorous scholarship with lived experience, preparing students to understand Islam as a dynamic, intellectually rich, and globally embedded tradition. A committed mentor and community educator, Sinanović regularly engages imams, Muslim community leaders, and emerging scholars through programs that combine classical Islamic scholarship with contemporary social-science perspectives. His current work includes developing frameworks for Muslim futures, Islamic thought in the digital age, and institutional renewal among American Muslim communities. Dr. Ermin Sinanović continues to shape conversations on Islam’s global trajectories with intellectual clarity, moral commitment, and a deep belief in the transformative power of knowledge. He speaks Bosnian, English, Arabic, and Malay. He maintains a personal website, Islam on the Edges. His email address is [email protected]. |
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Younus Y. Mirza
Younus Y. Mirza, Ph.D., is an executive board member of CICW, a visiting researcher at Georgetown University and Director of the Barzinji Institute for Global Virtual Learning at Shenandoah University. He defended his dissertation in Arabic and Islamic Studies at Georgetown University in 2012 and has taught at Millsaps and Allegheny Colleges.
His current research focuses on the relationship between the Bible and the Qur’an and the shared stories between them. He is a co-author of the book The Bible and the Qur’an: Biblical Figures in the Islamic Tradition and has published in various journals such as the Journal of the American Academy of Religion (JAAR), the Journal of Qur’anic Studies (JQS) and Islam Christian-Muslim Relations. He teaches courses on the Qur’an, Islamic movements, Biblical and Qur’anic prophets, marriage and sexuality in Islam, and Islam and other religions. He is a regular instructor in CICW's Winter and Summer Institutes and contributes to CICW's Hajj Virtual Reality Project. His writings can be accessed here. His Twitter handle is @ymirza3131. |
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Rehenuma Asmi
Director of Education Rehenuma Asmi, PhD, is an executive board member and instructor at the Center for Islam in the Contemporary World at Shenandoah University. Dr. Asmi received her bachelor’s from Georgetown University with double majors in Arabic and Government and completed her Masters in Teaching from American University and her PhD in Anthropology and Education from Columbia University Teachers College. In 2013–2017, she served as Assistant Professor of Religion and Education at Allegheny College. She currently lives in Northern Virginia with her husband and three kids, a proud volunteer with the local PTA and Girl Scouts.
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Amaarah DeCuir
Amaarah DeCuir, Ed.D., is an executive board member of CICW, and a convener of teacher training program. She is a professorial lecturer in the School of Education at American University in Washington, DC. Dr. DeCuir is an Education Leadership scholar whose work, broadly speaking, focuses on the intersections of leadership, gender, and diverse cultural contexts to advance social justice. She has a bachelor's degree from the University of California at Berkeley, an M.Ed. from Howard University and an Ed.D. from George Washington University. With over 20 years of P-20 teaching and leadership experiences, she uses her work to impact praxis and scholarship.
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Ahmed ElHattab
Ahmed ElHattab has been an active participant in the Islamic Philanthropy and Nonprofit sector in the United States since 1978. He joined the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) full time in 1983 for 37 years, where he served as the Executive Director of ISNA Development Foundation (IDF) for 26 years, as well as ISNA Interim Secretary General for several years. He was the President of the Muslim Arab Youth Association (MAYA) for two terms (86-87). He also has been a board member of the American Islamic College in Chicago (AIC) since 2013. Currently, he is the Director of Development at Sterling Charitable Gift Fund (SCGF) and the Center for Islam in the Contemporary World (CICW) as well as member of its Executive Board. He is also member of the Advisory Committee of the North American Imams Federation (NAIF), member of the Advisory Council of the Council of Islamic Schools in North America (CISNA), and member of the Board of Trustees of FAITH (Foundation for Appropriate and Immediate Temporary Help).
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