Uriya Shavit (Hebrew: אוריה שביט; born June 1975) is an Israeli author and Full Professor at Tel Aviv University (TAU). He specializes in research on Islamic law, theology, and politics in modern Islam, Muslim minorities in the West, processes of liberalization and democratization in the world, and the Haredi society in Israel.
Between 2016 and 2021, he headed the Department of Arabic and Islamic Studies and concurrently led the Religious Studies program at Tel Aviv University. Since 2021, he has been the head of the SDU-TAU Joint Institute for Jewish and Israel Studies. In 2022, he also became the Head of the Center for the Study of Contemporary European Jewry and the Irwin Cotler Institute for Democracy, Justice, and Human Rights.
Since 2022, Shavit has served as the editor-in-chief of the annual report on the state of antisemitism worldwide, published by the Center for Research on Contemporary European Jewryand the Irwin Cotler Institute for Democracy, Justice, and Human Rights at Tel Aviv University. The report has received extensive coverage in global media outlets.
In 2021, Shavit initiated an online course for basic Arabic language learning, made freely available to the entire Tel Aviv University community. Hundreds of faculty members and students participated in the course.
The book "Zionism in Arab Discourses" (co-authored with Dr. Ofir Winter) about approaches to Zionism in Arab thought was the first Hebrew book to be published in Arabic translation in the United Arab Emirates after the signing of the Abraham Accords.
Four of Shavit's children's books were selected for the Ministry of Education's "Book Parade."
Between 1997 and 2008, Shavit held various senior journalistic positions. He served as a foreign news editor and commentator at Haaretz newspaper, authored the columns "Atlas" and "Kaduri" in Haaretz's Friday edition, worked as an investigative journalist for Haaretz's magazine, and was the editor of the weekend supplements for Maariv and Makor Rishon. He also contributed book reviews for Yedioth Ahronoth.
Biography Uriya Shavit was born and raised in Tel Aviv. He served in an elite IDF intelligence unit and completed his undergraduate degree in Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies at Tel Aviv University, where he pursued a direct course of doctoral studies. His Ph.D. thesis, “Arab Regimes between the End of History and the Clash of Civilizations”, advised by Prof. Yosef Kostiner and Prof. Eyal Zisser of Tel Aviv University, was approved in 2005.
Research
Islam and Democracy Shavit studies the development of Islamic approaches to Western democracy and liberalism from the mid-19th century to the present. He explored the argument of Muslim theologians – especially those affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood – that the origins of Western democracy trace back to the Quran and Western encounters with Islam, and that there is no contradiction between the “positive” elements of liberal democracy and Islamic norms. His studies emphasize that Islamist thinkers intentionally shy away from determining whether the ultimate authority in an Islamist democracy will be non-elected religious scholars or elected representatives of the people. Thus, according to Shavit, Islamist ideologists paved the way for a theocratic system that pretends to be democratic.
The Religious Law of Muslim Minorities Shavit is one of the pioneers in the study of the religious law of Muslim minorities (fiqh al-aqalliyyat al-Muslima). His research in this field is based on the analysis of thousands of religio-legal decisions (fatwas), as well as on field studies conducted in dozens of mosques across Europe and the United States.
Shavit suggested that Arab-Sunni jurists have developed since the 1990s two main religio-juristic doctrines for Muslim minorities: The pragmatic wasati, led by the Egyptian Yusuf al-Qaradawi and advanced by the European Council for Fatwa and Research, and the dogmatic salafi, led by members of the Saudi religious establishment and their disciples. Both doctrines legitimize Muslim presence in Europe based on the hope that the Muslim migrants will Islamize the continent. Ironically, wasati missionary triumphalism legitimizes the suspension of prohibitions and promoted integration to European societies as a means of Islamizing the West.
Shavit’s studies in this field emphasize the centrality of the religio-legal mechanism of maslaha (safeguarding the primary objectives of the Lawgiver) in modern jurisprudence.
Shavit conducted field studies in dozens of European mosques, mainly in Germany, England, Sweden, France, and Iceland. He demonstrated the flexible ways in which Muslims, including salafis, negotiate fatwas, and the limited social impact the European Council for Fatwa and Research has had.
The Muslim Brotherhood's Historiography Shavit’s studies on this topic stress the centrality of three historiographical concepts in the writings of Muslim Brotherhood affiliates, and their affinity to the worldview of the modernist-apologetic approach that developed mainly in Egypt in the late 19th and early 20th century:
The perception that the origin of Western Renaissance traces back to Western encounters with Islam. The perception that since the 19th century, the West has been leading a “cultural attack” against the Arab World with the aim of eliminating Muslims’ faith so that Western Powers can dominate the Middle East without resorting to military force. The perception that the West is undergoing a continuous decline and that Islam will soon take over its hegemony.
Zionism in Arab Discourses Shavit argued that a two-dimensional approach to Zionism has developed in Arab thought since the late 19th century: On the one hand, Zionism has been seen as an enemy, and its legitimacy has been rejected. On the other hand, Zionism has been viewed as a role-model. Shavit’s studies emphasized that Arab Islamists contextualized Zionist achievements to prove the need for an Islamic-based political order in Arab societies. Arab liberals, on the other hand, contextualized those achievements as a demonstration of the need for a liberal revolution.
Shavit also studied Islamic writings that draw comparisons between the past and present of Jews in Europe to that of Muslims.
Evolution Theory Shavit studied approaches to Darwinism as a case study for the broader theme of scientific freedom in modern Islamic thought. He demonstrated that while in the late 19th century, early modernist-apologist authors did not see a contradiction between evolutionary theory and the Quran, the influence of American fundamentalists has led late 20th-century modernist-apologists to firmly reject Darwinism and describe it as a form of heresy and Western exceptionalism.
Generational Changes in the Leadership of the Arab World Shavit studied the notions that generational changes in the leaderships of Syria, Bahrain, Jordan, Qatar, and Morocco in the late 20th century were the “dawn of a new era”. Based on an analysis of interviews and speeches, he argued that despite its reformist rhetoric, the new generation of leaders prioritized maintaining the status quo.
Theology of Migration Together with Prof. Galia Sabar, Shavit comparatively analyzed theological writings legitimizing migration in religious terms. He pointed to similarities between Chabad’s justifications for the migration and the continued presence of its leadership in New York and the justifications given by contemporary Muslim theologians for the migration and continued presence of Muslims in Europe and the United States.
Violence and Political Legitimacy in Radical Islam Several of Shavit’s studies examine attitudes to political violence in the doctrines of the Muslim Brotherhood and al-Qaeda. Shavit demonstrated the tremendous influence mainstream Saudi thought had on the development of Bin Laden’s ideology and operational modes. Shavit also demonstrated that the Muslim Brotherhood embraced throughout the 20th-century medieval juristic notions according to which it is permissible to use violence against an Islamic political authority only as a last resort and only if its overthrow is a-priori guaranteed.
Typologies of Migration Shavit studied the influence of advanced media technologies on migrants in general and on Muslim migrants in particular. He argued that the internet and satellite television allow for the first time in history a separation between the territorial community and the imagined community and create new typologies of relations between migrants and their countries of origin. Shavit introduced the typology “passive trans-nationals”: people who intensely engage with the homeland through advanced media technologies without maintaining any physical transnational contacts. Shavit’s studies pointed to Islamic satellite TV channels and websites’ relative failure to create a “global imagined Islamic nation”.
Shari‘a and Sports Shavit analyzed Islamic religio-legal approaches to sports and their reception by Muslim athletes in the West. He pointed out the opposing wasati and salafi views on the legitimacy of modern sports and demonstrated how, in many instances, Islamic law proves more flexible than sporting associations’ regulations. His studies on Germany’s first Islamic women-only gym and Muslim soccer teams in Germany informed that ethnic rather than religious affiliations are an important motivation for establishing seeming shari‘a-based enclaves.
The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Shavit studied the common notion according to which the Palestinians’ approach to the conflict has been consistently irrational and that they “did not miss any opportunity to miss an opportunity”. He suggested that this is not the case and argued that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is particularly hard to resolve because of its “double-imbalanced” nature.
Islam in Iceland Shavit studied the development of Islam in Iceland since the 1970s. He analyzed the rivalry between Reykjavik’s three mosques as a case-study for the dynamics that lead Muslim communities in the West to divide and split.
Journalism In 1997-2008, Shavit worked as a senior journalist for several Israeli newspapers. He was editor and international affairs analyst for “Haaretz”, a columnist for the Friday edition of “Haaretz”, senior staff writer for the weekend supplement of “Haaretz”, and chief editor of the weekend magazines of “Maariv” and “Makor Rishon”, where he was also a political columnist. He also contributed literary reviews for “Yediot Aharonot”.
Public Engagements Shavit is frequently interviewed in Israeli and international media about Middle Eastern and Islamic affairs. Since 2011, Shavit has organized the Winter Lecture Series at Tel Aviv University in cooperation with the “Friends of TAU” association. The revenues of these series are allocated to scholarships as well as Jewish-Arab social activities.
Academic Books in English