Dr. Ashoor Yousif

Assistant Professor of Christian History

 Email: ayousif [at] tyndale.ca

Academic Credentials

PhD, University of Toronto, 2019
MA, University of Toronto, 2012
MTS, Tyndale Seminary, 2008
BEng, McMaster University, 2005

Areas of Specialization

Middle Eastern Christianity, Syriac Studies, Historiography, Islamic Studies, Christian-Muslim Relations

Biography

Dr. Yousif’s interdisciplinary research focuses on the history of Middle Eastern Christianity, Christian–Muslim relations, and Islamic religion and culture during the early ‘Abbasid caliphate' (750-950 AD). His doctoral thesis “God’s Deputy and Christ’s Apostle: The Abbasid Caliph and the Christian Patriarch in Syriac and Arabic Christian Historiography” examines the interaction of Muslim rulers and Christian clergies, and the religious and political impact of Islam on the presence and status of Christian communities within the caliphate. The value of his research has been recognized numerous times by scholarly granting agencies, including the prestigious Joseph-Armand Bombardier Canada Graduate Scholarship (CGSD-SSHRC) and the Ontario Graduate Scholarship (OGS).

He has taught and lectured on various topics including the history of Middle Eastern and North African Christianity, the history of Christian-Muslim relations, Middle Eastern religions and cultures, and Islam. His teaching portfolio includes multiple universities and seminaries in Canada and the Middle East, including University of Toronto, Tyndale Seminary, and Arabic Baptist Theological Seminary in Lebanon. He is part of a leading committee of a multidisciplinary project initiated by Middle East Association for Theological Education (MEATE) which seeks to develop academic resources in Arabic for the seminaries in a Middle Eastern and North African context.

Dr. Yousif is a member in various academic societies, including the Canadian Society for Syriac Studies (CSSS) in which he serves on its Board of Directors. He is an Assyrian-Iraqi Christian, who is fluent in Arabic and Assyrian in addition to his knowledge of Aramaic, Hebrew, and Syriac. Previously, he was a practicing biomedical-electrical engineer before shifting his focus to his doctoral work in History.

Dr. Yousif is teaching a course on Church in the Making: Patristic Christianity in Spring & Summer 2024.