Dr. Iqbal Akhtar is a dual-appointment in the Department of Politics & International Relations as well as Religious Studies at Florida International University. He completed his doctoral studies at the University of Edinburgh’s New College School of Divinity on the history of The Khōjā of Tanzania, an Indic Muslim merchant caste in East Africa. Some of his publications can be found on Academia. Currently, his research is focused on reconstructing the 18th century religious cosmology of the Sindhi Khōjā. Through the ongoing interdisciplinary programme being pursued at FIU towards a Muslim Studies programme, Khōjā Studies is emerging as an important component for international interdisciplinary scholarly cooperation.