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A Life At The Intersection Of Love And Justice, Meet Omid Safi

WUNC | By Anita Rao,
Frank Stasio
Published February 22, 2016 at 12:14 PM EST

In the past decade, Omid Safi has become one of the country’s leading voices in discourse around Islam and Islamophobia. 

His public commitments range from writing a weekly column for the public radio program “On Being” to being a go-to expert for national networks like NPR and Al Jazeera.

But at the core of both his public persona and his personal philosophy is a dual commitment to love and justice that started at a very young age. Safi grew up in war-torn Iran, spent the entirety of his third-grade year marching on the streets as part of the revolution.Meet Omid Safi, director of Duke University's Islamic Studies Center

He later turned to literature and poetry to make sense of his changing surroundings. When things in Iran took a particularly bad turn in themid-80s, his family moved back to the U.S., andSafieventually went to college and graduate school at Duke University.

Safi spent the early part of his career studying medieval Islamic history and politics, but after 9/11, he turned his attention toward issues in modern Islam. He has taught at Colgate University and UNC-Chapel Hill, and now serves as the director of Duke University’s Islamic Studies Center. He leads tours to Turkey each summer for both students and community members.

Host Frank Stasio talks with Safi about his life and work.

Resources on Islam From Omid Safi

Omid Safi is the director of Duke University's Islamic Studies Center. His scholarship focuses on an understanding of Islam rooted in social justice, gender equality, and religious and ethnic pluralism.
Omid Safi /
Omid Safi is the director of Duke University's Islamic Studies Center. His scholarship focuses on an understanding of Islam rooted in social justice, gender equality, and religious and ethnic pluralism.
Scholar and writer Omid Safi (middle) with his children.
Omid Safi /
Scholar and writer Omid Safi (middle) with his children.
Omid Safi (R) with his wife Holly Frigon Safi, a lawyer.
Omid Safi /
Omid Safi (R) with his wife Holly Frigon Safi, a lawyer.
Islamic Studies scholar Omid Safi (R) with his Iranian parents.
Omid Safi /
Islamic Studies scholar Omid Safi (R) with his Iranian parents.
Omid Safi (R) with his father, one of his lifelong mentors who shaped his understanding of Islam.
Omid Safi /
Omid Safi (R) with his father, one of his lifelong mentors who shaped his understanding of Islam.
Scholar Omid Safi with his siblings and parents.
Omid Safi /
Scholar Omid Safi with his siblings and parents.
Scholar Omid Safi leads trips to Turkey every year for students and community members. Tours are through the group he founded 'Illuminated Tours.'
Omid Safi /
Scholar Omid Safi leads trips to Turkey every year for students and community members. Tours are through the group he founded 'Illuminated Tours.'

Copyright 2016 North Carolina Public Radio
Anita Rao
Anita Rao is the host and creator of "Embodied," a live, weekly radio show and seasonal podcast about sex, relationships & health. She's also the managing editor of WUNC's on-demand content. She has traveled the country recording interviews for the Peabody Award-winning StoryCorps production department, founded and launched a podcast about millennial feminism in the South, and served as the managing editor and regular host of "The State of Things," North Carolina Public Radio's flagship daily, live talk show. Anita was born in a small coal-mining town in Northeast England but spent most of her life growing up in Iowa and has a fond affection for the Midwest.
See stories by Anita Rao
Frank Stasio
Longtime NPR correspondent Frank Stasio was named permanent host of The State of Things in June 2006. A native of Buffalo, Frank has been in radio since the age of 19. He began his public radio career at WOI in Ames, Iowa, where he was a magazine show anchor and the station's News Director.
See stories by Frank Stasio