Guest speaker, March, 22, 7:30 p.m. – Professor AbdolKarim Soroush (Berkley Center for Religion, Peace & World Affairs Georgetown University)

Sharjah Chair in Global Islam Annual Lecture

This week the Department of Religious Studies welcomes Professor Abdolkarim Soroush from t

he University Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs Georgetown University who will be giving the annual Sharjah Chair in Global Islam Annual Lecture. Soroush’s lecture is entitled “Is an Islamic Reform Necessary?”

Soroush is considered to be one of the Muslim world’s most influential thinkers for his analysis of the relationship between religious and secular knowledge and authority. Soroush has been a Visiting Professor at Harvard, Princeton, and Yale Universities and the Wissenschaftskolleg in Berlin. He also taught Philosophy of Science and Islamic Theology and Mysticism in Tehran University.

In 2005, Time listed him as one of the world’s 100 most influential individuals. He is a prolific speaker and writer. Professor Soroush’s ideas, founded on Relativism, prompted both supporters and critics to compare his role in reforming Islam to t

hat of Martin Luther in reforming Christianity. Among his many publications are Reason, Freedom, and Democracy in Islam: Essential Writing of Abdolkarim Soroush and The Expansion of Prophetic Experience.

The Sharjah Chair in Global Islam Annual Lecture along with the Chair in Global Islam was established by the Amir of Sharjah, His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan Bin Mohammed Al-Qasimi, in 2008 to help to make Islam known to both 

the academic and non-academic community and to foster links with the Hamilton and Toronto communities.

Free and open to the public – All are welcome!
Date: Thursday, March 22, 2018, 7:30 p.m.
Location: Health Sciences Center 1A1

Refreshments to follow lecture