I read Islamic Studies, Political Science and Religious Studies at Hamburg University, specializing in early Islamic history, heresiography and thought. While pursuing my first degree, I spent a year at Oxford University as a Visiting Student, focusing on the study of Arabic, Hebrew, and Arabic literature. I graduated from Hamburg University with an M.A. in 2010. In January 2011, I began my doctoral studies at the University of Edinburgh under the supervision of Dr Andrew Marsham and Dr Andreas Görke. In my PhD project, I analyzed the narrative function of Khārijites in the early Islamic historical tradition from the Battle of Ṣiffīn until the end of ʿAbd al-Malik’s caliphate in 705 CE. I successfully defended my thesis in February 2015 and am now working on its publication as a monograph. In May 2014, I commenced my position as a research associate with the “Early Islamic Empire” project led by Prof. Dr. Heidemann; I work on the province of the Jazīra and am responsible for all matters historiographic.
My research focuses on questions of early Islamic history and historiography; it is based on the conviction that historiography is just another genre of literature and thus needs to be analyzed accordingly. I am particularly interested in the portrayal of rebellion as well as the formation and development of the early Islamic literary tradition. On my ventures into positivist realms, I am primarily invested in the study of two connected subjects: the socio-political workings of empires, and the relationship between figures or institutions of authority and so-called rebels and revolutionaries. My geographical area of specialization encompasses early Islamic Iraq and Upper Mesopotamia.
