On Monday, March 31 at 5:30 p.m. in Lewis Hall Classroom C. Eido’s lecture will be about the role played by traditionally trained Muslim scholars, called 'ulama in Arabic, in the recent conflict in Syria. Religion, law and the state have been intertwined in complicated ways in the context of the Syrian uprising. Eido's talk will offer a map to the complex geography of the 'ulama and their changing relationship to the state. Professor Joel Blecher, W&L assistant professor of religion, said, “Issam’s doctoral work, ‘Early Hadith Scholars and their Methodology of Hadith Criticism,’ broke new ground in understanding the criteria used by Muslim scholars in accepting or rejecting traditions attributed to Muhammad, the transformations of that criteria from the classical to the modern period. His research has helped change the way both historians and Muslim scholars alike think about the authenticity of traditions attributed to Muhammad, as well their application in Islamic Law.“