Islam expert to speak on campus

Submitted

A prominent Islam expert will speak on campus in October.

Tariq Ramadan will speak at 7 p.m. Oct. 11 in Petree Recital Hall in Kirkpatrick Fine Arts Center. The presentation, which is free and open to the public, will be titled “A Radical Reform of Muslim Minds.”

Ramadan has been called one of the top 100 most influential thinkers in the 21st century by Time magazine. He often is interviewed by national media outlets for his expertise on Middle East relations with the west and is the author of more than 20 books including “What I Believe,” “Radical Reform, Islamic Ethics and Liberation” and his forthcoming book “A Quest for Meaning: Developing a Philosophy of Pluralism.”

Ramadan’s topic carries particular significance in light of recent developments concerning Quran burning threats and the controversy surrounding the building of an Islamic community center near Ground Zero in New York City, said Mohamed Daadaoui, political science professor.

“Tariq Ramadan’s visit is well timed with society’s renewed strained relations over matters of faith,” Daadaoui said. “As with any public figure who speaks about Islam and Islam in the west, not everyone will agree with his views. But he is considered a primary expert on this topic, so it will be interesting to hear his insight.”

Ramadan is a professor of contemporary Islamic studies at the University of Oxford and is teaching at the Faculty of Theology at Oxford. He is also a senior research fellow at Doshisha University in Kyoto, Japan.

Through his writings and lectures he is one of the foremost contributors to the debate on the issues of Muslims in the west and Islamic revival in the Muslim world. He is active both at the academic and grassroots levels lecturing extensively throughout the world on social justice and dialogue between civilizations. He is president of the European Muslim Network think tank in Brussels, Belgium.