Stewart graduated magna cum laude with an A.B. in Near Eastern studies from Princeton University in 1984 after completing a 143-page long senior thesis titled "Three Wise Men: The Safawi Religious Institution 1576 - 1629."[6] He completed the Center for Arabic Study Abroad's program at the American University in Cairo, and then earned his PhD with distinction in Arabic and Islamic studies at the University of Pennsylvania six years later.[2][7]
Much of Stewart's work has focused on the reconstruction of early Muslim legal theory based on ancient texts. He has also called attention to infrequently studied genres of Arabic literature such as Maqama.[10]
Impoliteness Formulae: The Cognate Curse in Egyptian Arabic. Journal of Semitic Studies, 1997. Vol. 42, pgs. 327-360.[7]
Stewart, Devin (2007). "The Structure of the Fihrist: Ibn al-Nadim as Historian of Islamic Legal and Theological Schools". International Journal of Middle East Studies. 39 (3): 369–387. doi:10.1017/S0020743807070511. JSTOR30069526. S2CID161910065.
^Syllabus for "The Sephardi Experience 1492-present," delivered by Dr. Shifra Epstein. Taken from the Jewish Folklore and Ethnology Review, vol. 15, #2, pg. 162. 1993. Issued by the American Folklore Society in conjunction with the Judaic and Near Eastern studies program at Oberlin College.
^Menocal, María Rosa; Scheindlin, Raymond P.; Sells, Michael (2 November 2006). Ibn Zaydún. ISBN9780521030236. Archived from the original on 29 May 2016. Retrieved 15 November 2014.