Prof. Dr. Roman Loimeier

Prof. Dr. Roman Loimeier (b. 1957 in Passau) was the specialist for the 'anthropology of Islam' at our Institute. Since 1981, he had done fieldwork in Senegal, Nigeria, Tanzania and Tunisia, and had built an impressive expertise on Muslim societies in Africa. His work on Muslim societies in Africa had a strong focus on the historical development of these societies. At the same time, Professor Loimeier worked on contemporary dynamics of social change, in particular, the development of Muslim movements of reform. This focus of research was also the theme of an ERC Advanced Grant ('Private Pieties', 2016-2021) that covered new forms of piety among Muslims in Senegal, Tunisia, Egypt, Lebanon, Iran and Pakistan. Apart from this focus of research, Professor Loimeier worked on concepts of time and space as well as 'catastrophe' as an anthropological theme. Since October 2025, Roman Loimeier has been in academic retirement, but continues to pursue his research (see publications).