Simon Wolfgang Fuchs is a lecturer in Islamic and Middle East Studies at the University of Freiburg, Germany. His research revolves around the travel of ideas between West, Central, and South Asia. Simon focuses on religious authority, the global history of the Iranian Revolution of 1978-79, and transnational Shi‘ism. Fieldwork over the last couple of years has led him to Egypt, Pakistan, India, Iran, Iraq, Tunisia, and Lebanon. His work draws on materials in Arabic, Persian, and Urdu.
Before coming to Freiburg in October 2017, Simon was a Research Fellow in Islamic Studies at Gonville & Caius College, University of Cambridge. He completed his PhD in September 2015 at Princeton University's Department of Near Eastern Studies. In May 2019, Simon was elected a member of the Junge Akademie.
In addition to In a Pure Muslim Land, Simon has co-edited a special issue of South Asia on religious minorities in Pakistan. He has also published peer-reviewed articles in Modern Asian Studies, Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, Welt des Islams, Islamic Law and Society, and Global Discourse.
