Scott C. Lucas

Short Biography

Scott Lucas’ research explores the writings of Sunni hadith scholars and jurists, especially those who lived in the ninth and tenth centuries under the ‘Abbasid caliphate. In his first monograph, Constructive Critics, Hadith Literature, and the Articulation of Sunni Islam, he argued that hadith critics played a far greater role in the ninth-century formation of Sunni Islam than that which most scholars had assigned to them. He is currently investigating questions concerning the legal methodologies and opinions of scholars, such as Ibn Abi Shayba, al-Bukhari, Ibn al-Mundhir, and al-Tahawi; some of his findings have been published in Islamic Law and Society and the International Journal of Middle East Studies. Lucas has been an assistant professor in the Near Eastern Studies Department and Religions Studies Program at the University of Arizona since 2004, and, prior to this appointment, taught at Mount Holyoke College and the American University of Beirut. He holds a BA from Yale University in Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations and Political Science, and a PhD from the University of Chicago in Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations.