In strong afternoon winds off the Atlantic, a colorful fabric wrapping the grave of a 17th-century Sufi saint whipped and danced before me. It was surprising, to see, even though much of the heather on the surrounding mountain slope swayed and shook with equal verve. I guess I was expecting more stillness at a grave. Conducting research on Islam, colonial history, and coffee in Cape Town, South Africa, I had hiked out to the shrine because of its remarkable story, one connecting the port of Mocha, Yemen to its itinerant scholar, a man who made his way to Sumatra before being swept up in a series of battles against invading Portuguese and then Dutch armies bent on seizing fertile indigenous lands. Here, before me, were the remains of Sheik Abdurachman Matebe Shah. He had been a warrior, too. Although captured and ultimately banished to the remote shores of Southern Africa, he inspired countless others to follow his path of `Alawiyya Sufism.
An elderly farmer appeared. He was the shrine’s custodian, I came to discover. We struck up a conversation. Curious about the effects of the shimmering fabrics on Shah’s and other similar graves I’d seen, I asked him whether he had any thoughts on their rationale. “These are much-revered men,” he noted. “Absolutely,” I replied. Insisting that such a custom was common across the Middle East and South Asia, he ventured a further comment: “What we say is that they form a chain.” “A chain?” I asked. He moved his hands in a circular motion. “A great chain, linking all of them together.” I had heard the metaphor before, in histories of The Cape of Good Hope. A “circle” or “chain” of Muslim saints had been buried over the centuries, a veritable amulet designed to protect South Africa’s people from the effects of colonial predation. For those who could remember the saints and pay homage to their legacy, the bonds of oppression, slavery and ignorance might prove a little bit lighter. As light, even, as the fluttering of woven cloth on a breeze.
It has been my absolute delight, as department chair, to oversee the production of our newsletter this year! Whether you are an alum, a student, a faculty or staff member, you compose an important part of the “chain” that keeps us going, whether in dark times or in light. Fortunately, we have much to celebrate! I am pleased to report that two of our faculty members won the university’s top prizes for teaching: Dr. Meaghan O’Keefe, this year’s winner of the Academic Senate 2025 Distinguished Teaching Award for Undergraduate Teaching, and Dr. Wendy Terry, the Academic Federation’s top teaching award in the same category. Ignorance be gone! And another one of our faculty members Dr. Lynna Dhanani won a prestigious Fulbright Senior US Scholar Fellowship (the Nehru Academic and Professional Excellence Fellowship) to conduct research in India for a nine-month period. She was one of two faculty at UC Davis to win this fellowship for the 24-25 academic year. As a collective, we succeeded in delivering more than fifty courses of instruction to hundreds of students across campus, engaging an ever-growing assembly of science, medicine and engineering majors through two Interdepartmental Minors that we have spearheaded: Medical Humanities and Human Rights Studies. Our graduate program continues to expand, as we are set to matriculate the largest cohort of incoming students we’ve had in years this Fall, and we’ve been cleared to launch a Masters degree in the Study of Religion in 2026. Finally, after years of consultation, assisted by alumni and student surveys, we have a new name: The Department of Religion, Culture and Society! For those of you committed to “Religious Studies”, fear not: our courses, as well as our major and minor, all continue to bear this name, and we collectively, as scholars, continue to identify Religious Studies as our primary disciplinary home. The new name is a reflection of our efforts to reach out to wider audiences on campus, particularly those lost souls who plow through the endless options on Schedule Builder and get concerned about taking a course that might test their faith, or worse, commit them to a new one!
We hope that this newsletter helps remind you of what we’re about. Please stay in touch! We remain, as ever, a circle that shines brighter through your continued attention and support.
Flagg Miller, Ph.D.
Chair, Department of Religion, Culture and Society
College of Letters and Science, UC Davis