Dr. Zeyneb Sayilgan
Zeyneb Sayilgan, Ph.D., is the Muslim Scholar at the Institute for Islamic, Christian, and Jewish Studies in Baltimore. Her research focuses on Islamic theology, ethics, and spirituality, with particular attention to the writings of the Muslim scholar Bediüzzaman Said Nursi (1876–1960). Her broader areas of scholarship include Christian-Muslim relations, Islam in Europe, and the intersection of religion and migration.
Her personal experience of growing up in Germany as the daughter of Muslim immigrants from Türkiye deeply informs her academic work, public scholarship, and engagement in Christian-Muslim dialogue. She is also affiliated faculty at Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria and has taught at The Catholic University of America and the Washington Theological Consortium. From 2010 to 2014, she served as a Muslim Chaplain-in-Residence at Georgetown University, where she supported students from all faith traditions as well as those with no religious affiliation.
Dr. Sayilgan earned her Ph.D. in Theological and Religious Studies from Georgetown University, a master’s degree in Islamic Studies and Christian-Muslim Relations from Hartford Seminary, and B.A./M.A. degrees in Islamic Studies and Public Law from Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, Germany.
She is the co-editor of The Companion to Said Nursi Studies and Faithful Neighbors: Christian-Muslim Vision & Practice. In 2019, she received the First Book Grant for Scholars of Color from the Louisville Institute. She is also the host of the podcast On Being Muslim: Wisdom from the Risale-i Nur.
Expertise
Islamic Theology and Spirituality
Islamic Ethics
Islam in Europe
Christian-Muslim Relations
Religion and Migration
Bediüzzaman Said Nursi and the Risale-i Nur
Interreligious Dialogue
Muslim Chaplaincy and Public Scholarship
Selected Publications
Work in Progress
Maryam, the Muslim Mary: A Muslim Woman’s Commentary on a Qur’anic Figure
“A Christian King and Muslim Refugees”
Covenant / The Living Church, January 26, 2026
“I grew up Muslim in a Catholic community—and Mary represented common ground”
The Guardian, December 24, 2024
“What Catholics Can Learn from Muhammad About Grief”
U.S. Catholic, October 23, 2024
“What the Dead Teach Us About Life: A View from Islam’s Last Rites”
Religion News Service / New Orleans Times, 2024
“The Hijra: Lessons From the First Muslim Migration for Today”
MuslimMatters, August 23, 2024
“3 Quranic Concepts to Guide Interfaith Dialogue”
U.S. Catholic, August 8, 2024
“The Hajj: A Muslim Vision for the Interreligious Life”
Covenant / The Living Church, June 14, 2024
“The Muslim Mary: A Symbol of Devotion, Virtue, and Hope”
Covenant / The Living Church, March 12, 2024
“Islamic Creation Theology and the Human Being as Migrant”
In The Meaning of My Neighbor’s Faith: Interreligious Reflections on Immigration, Lexington Books / Fortress Academic, 2019
The Companion to Said Nursi Studies
Co-edited with Ian S. Markham, Pickwick Publications, 2017
Faithful Neighbors: Christian-Muslim Vision & Practice
Co-edited volume, 2016
