In this episode of History Speaks, Dr. Roshan Iqbal speaks with Dr.
Elliot Bazzano, Associate Professor at Le Moyne College, about
Islamophobia, the election of Zohran Mamdani, and what his success
means for U.S. Muslims. Together, they unpack the roots and impact of
Islamophobia, tracing how it shapes both public perception and
everyday Muslim life. Their conversation situates Mamdani’s rise
within a broader history, one shaped by the quiet labor of parents,
elders, and countless famous and not-famous Muslim figures who have
sustained their communities with resilience and care. They end by
reflecting on why Mamdani’s achievement holds such symbolic and
personal significance for Muslims across the United States.


Elliott Bazzano is an Associate Professor in the Department of
Religious Studies at Le Moyne College, where he teaches courses on
Islam and comparative religion. Professor Bazzano’s research focuses
on the interplay of Qur’anic interpretation, polemics, and mysticism
as well as identity and pedagogy in religious studies scholarship. He
co-edited Varieties of American Sufism (SUNY Press, 2020) with Marcia
Hermansen. His article “Normative Readings of the Qur’an: From the
Premodern Middle East to the Modern West,” appears in The Journal of
the American Academy of Religion (2016) and “Muslim in the Classroom:
Pedagogical Reflections on Disclosing Religious Identity” in Teaching
Theology in Religion (2016). Bazzano published two articles in
Religion Compass (2015) on Syrian polymath Ibn Taymiyya, “Ibn Taymiyya
Radical Polymath, Part I: Scholarly Perceptions” and “Ibn Taymiyya,
Radical Polymath, Part II: Intellectual Contributions.” He has
authored a book chapter, “Research Methods and Problems,” in The
Bloomsbury Companion to Islamic Studies (2013, 2015), and has
forthcoming chapters on Qur’an interpretation, dating, and Islamic
dietary guidelines Islam in Five Minutes (Bloomsbury, 2024). Bazzano
serves at co-chair on the Steering Committee for the Study of Islam
Section in the American Academy of Religion. In addition to finding
inspiration in the mystical percolations of the Sufis, including
coffee (pun intended), he finds his deepest wonder and joy in the
miracle of his two daughters who offer him limitless possibilities for
contemplating the mysteries of the universe.