Shahzar Raza Khan

Shahzar Raza Khan is a PhD student in Critical Studies in Islamic, Jewish and Asian Traditions with plans to earn a minor in Philosophy. He holds a B.A (Hons) Political Science with Economics as subsidiary from Jamia Millia Islamia, and M.A in Political Science from University of Hyderabad where he submitted dissertation on Akbar Allahabadi’s Critique of Modernity. For his PhD research, Shahzar is interested in the reasons of, and conditions under which a “foreign” philosophy acculturates in the Islamic thought and becomes Islamic- the historical field chosen for this exercise being the colonial subcontinent. His penchant for this topic is due to some dominant trends in modern thinking styles of non-Muslims and Muslims alike that Islam cannot or ought not to acculturate “foreign” philosophy because it corrupts Islam.

Personal experiences and strong background in Political Science, particularly in political thought and philosophy, have further invested Shahzar into thinking and imagining prospects of a post-state political framework where different communities govern and discipline themselves according to their own morals, customs, traditions and laws with a loose and not-absolute superior authority to ease out conflicts between them. Apart from this grand thinking and imagining, he is expediently into ruminating how a numerically-thin community can negotiate political power with an authoritarian State backed by a numerically-thick community? In moments of leisure, one can find him thinking or discussing these over cups of chai/tea probably with Urdu ghazals playing in the background. Frequently, Shahzar plays Badminton, Basketball, and Volleyball too well and cricket too averagely. In Carrom and Marbles, he has his days.