Sami Suhwail is a recipient of Foreign Languages and Area Studies (FLAS) fellowship. His research interests include early Islamic intellectualism, the influence of Islam on regional dynamics, and the Levant with a focus on Palestine. Sami is pursuing advanced training in Arabic and here, he shares how it has shaped his work.
FLAS has been essential in my experience as a graduate student! It has allowed me to pursue both my personal and academic goals this year. It has been a personal goal of mine to learn and master the Arabic language, and because of FLAS, I can pursue that goal. As a Muslim, it is difficult to pursue higher education due to the high cost of education. I am not able to use student loans because of the interest system that they use, which is prohibited in Islam. The FLAS eliminates this barrier and allows me to continue with higher education without having to compromise my religious values.
As mentioned earlier, it allows me to pursue many professional and academic goals. One area that I am interested in researching is Islamic Fiqh (jurisprudence) in the Middle East. These laws are best understood in the Arabic language, so it is essential to understand and translate Arabic. This means that I will have to understand Classical Arabic as well. The Arabic classes that I am currently taking will allow me to transition into understanding Classical Arabic. This will open opportunities for me to understand other fields of Islamic sciences as well, such as the Quran, Hadith, Tafsir (Exegesis), etc.
Lastly, the financial support has been extremely beneficial in allowing me to focus more time on developing as a student and researcher than on finding other means of employment that may not relate to my studies. Many students sometimes rely on finding multiple jobs to help pay for their higher education, but the FLAS has removed this obstacle of concern for me.
I can certainly say that if it were not for the FLAS fellowship, I would not be enrolled at UIUC or any other university, for that matter. As geopolitical issues increase around the world, the Middle East has been the center of global talks. Scholars are needed in universities all over the world to assist in generating productive discourse around these influential regions. FLAS is a great means of allowing students to study foreign languages and pursue research and development in these regions.