Khan Asfandyar Shairani will permanently serve as the Muslim Chaplain, the Tufts University Chaplaincy announced on Jan. 16. Previously serving as the Muslim Chaplain ad interim, Shairani will continue supporting and educating students interested in the Islamic tradition.
“A lot of the work that I’m really excited to do is, along with the other chaplains, creating spaces for interfaith dialogue for students and other community members who are interested in religion in general,” Shairani said.
Shairani holds a bachelor’s degree from Williams College, a master of theological studies degree from Harvard Divinity School and a Ph.D. in international peace studies and history from the University of Notre Dame.
“Most of my work has been thinking about that intersection between religion and peace. A lot of the peace studies field is really interested in community building,” Shairani said. “The last couple of years have been training in how [to] bring all of those different interests together — languages, different geographical regions, religious studies (Islam in particular) community building and peace building.”
Shairani was about to join the Peace Corps in Indonesia for two years to continue peace building work when found out about the Tufts University Chaplaincy position.
“This kind of work, interfaith peace building, … can happen at home,” Shairani said.
Shairani has only served as chaplain ad interim for a semester, but he has already made a positive impression. Junior Shahadah Manzer, an interfaith ambassador and vice president of the Tufts Muslim Students Association, praised Shairani.
“He’s always putting [in] 110% and learning about Tufts, the students that we have here, talking to almost everyone and anyone, which is really nice,” Manzer said.
According to Manzer, Shairani offers a nuanced perspective on cultural diversity and provides valuable insight on the historical significance of different campus events.
“Last semester, he came to talk to us as interfaith ambassadors about the Qawwali concert that happened in the fall,” Manzer said.
Both Shairani and Manzer said that Ramadan is an opportunity to connect with the community and to work with students who choose to participate.
“I’m looking forward to the month of fasting — Ramadan. It is a really wonderful spiritual opportunity for Muslims,” Shairani said. “It’s a time of community building where people see other people fasting … and you connect with people in almost an unspoken way.”
“Ramadan is where a lot of effort is put to the test, because it requires a lot of teamwork between both the students [and] the chaplain in terms of maintaining the spaces and hosting a bunch of events back to back,” Manzer said.
Stepping into the position, Shairani noted that he wanted to get to know the Tufts community and identify areas where he can provide support.
“One of my goals is to be flexible and make sure that whatever kind of thing comes up for students or for the community more broadly, that I am available and there to provide my expertise, but also just my presence,” Shairani said.
