Ali S. Asani

Ali Sultaan Asani (; born 1954 in Nairobi, Kenya) is Professor of Indo-Muslim Religion and Cultures and the Director of Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Islamic Studies Program at Harvard University.
Background.
Asani was born in Kenya and was brought up there. He is of Sindhi heritage.
Academic career.
After completing his high-school education in Kenya, he attended Harvard College, graduating in 1977. He continued his graduate work at Harvard in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations (NELC), receiving his Ph.D. in 1984. Asani was then a lecturer in the Departments of Sanskrit and Indian Studies and African and African-American Studies. He has taught at Harvard since 1983, serving as a language preceptor in Hindustani, Sindhi, Gujarati, Kachchi and Swahili as well as courses on various aspects of the Islamic tradition. He has since been given tenure and directs NELC's doctoral program in Indo-Muslim Culture.
A scholar of Islam in South Asia, Asani's research focuses on Shii and Sufi devotional traditions in the region. In addition, he is interested in popular or folk forms of Muslim devotional life, and Muslim communities in the West.