M. A. Muqtedar Khan
Encyclopedia
Dr. M. A. Muqtedar Khan [محمد عبد المقتدر خان] is an associate professor in the Department of Political Science, a Sufi and International Relations at the University of Delaware
. He is also the founding Director of the Islamic Studies Program at the University of Delaware. Prior to that he was Chair of the Department of Political Science and the Director of International Studies at Adrian College
. He was a Non-resident Fellow at the Brookings Institution
from 2003-2008. He earned his Ph.D. in international relations
, political philosophy
, and Islamic political thought, from Georgetown University
in May 2000.
He is a well known Muslim
intellectual, whose articles and columns are widely published. He is a proponent of social change regarding treatment of women in some Islamic societies, but identifies himself as both traditional as well as liberal. In a sense he is a traditional scholar when it comes to issues of faith, but a liberal on topics such as democracy in the Islamic world, the place of women in society and on pluralism.
He advocates freedom of thought and independent thinking, and he states that it is the inability of Muslims to sustain a dialogue with time and text that sometimes makes Islamic teachings look anachronistic or even intolerant.
Khan is an important voice on US foreign policy in the Muslim World. He has testified at hearings hosted by the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the US House Armed Forces Committee.
Khan is also a Fellow of the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding
. He has been the President, Vice President and General Secretary of the Association of Muslim Social Scientists.
In October 2008 he was awarded the Sir Syed Ahmed Khan Award for service to Islam by the Aligarh University Alumni.
Khan maintains two websites that archive his short articles. They are "Ijtihad" and "Glocaleye". He also writes for the "On Faith Forum of Washington Post and Newsweek".
Khan frequently comments on BBC
, CNN
, FOX, VOA TV, NPR
and other radio and TV networks. His political commentaries appear regularly in newspapers in over 20 countries. He has also lectured in North America, East Asia, Middle East and Europe .
Khan is from Hyderabad, India. He is married to Reshma and has a son Rumi, and a daughter Ruhi.
Islamic thought and also critical of Western foreign policies, racism
and Islamophobia
in the U.S. and the West. He is considered a rising star among Muslim intellectuals by some.
Khan has also evoked considerable controversy as a result of some of his statements. Several years ago some Shi'a Muslims took strong exception to his comments regarding Ayatollah Sistani, where he compared him to Saddam Hussein, and suggested that Sistani was a dictator.
He is however widely respected in the Shia community and has frequently given keynote addresses at various Shia annual conventions in New York and Washington DC.
Khan raised the ire of some when he said in an email that he was unsure if he would be comfortable sitting on a panel about anti-Americanism in the Middle East with the last minute addition to the lineup, Asaf Romirowsky
, an Israeli Defense Force veteran and a fellow at the Middle East Forum
. He later claimed that this was written in jest. While the event was taking place at the University of Delaware, it was being run by College Republicans and College Democrats. The College Republicans encouraged Romirowsky to be the main speaker at a later venue. Romirowsky declined this opportunity. Interestingly Khan has participated on another panel that included an Israeli Defense Force Veteran at the Wilmington Friends School.
Critical Muslims, a blog that seeks to introduce alternate voices from the Muslim World describes Khan as a thinker in the mold of Fazlur Rahman. "Combining an intimate familiarity of the Islamic heritage with a equal solid knowledge of Western scholarship in the human sciences, these newly emerging thinkers neverthless present a variety of viewpoints. Representative of this strand of thought are the jurist Khaled Abou el Fadl, who teaches at the UCLA Law School. the political scientist Muqtedar Khan, and Hamza Yusuf Hanson, who founded the Zaytuna Institute in California."
"When I look at Islamic sources, I find in them unprecedented examples of religious tolerance and inclusiveness. They make me want to become a better person. I think the capacity to seek good and do good inheres in all of us. When we subdue this predisposition towards the good, we deny our fundamental humanity".
In an article published in the Washington Post Khan told Bin Laden to "Go to Hell". In the same article he also wrote "Before we rush to condemn America we must remember that even today millions of poor and miserable people all across the world are lining up outside US embassies eager to come to America, not just to live here but to become an American. No Muslim country today, can claim that people of other nations and other faiths see it as a promise of hope, equality, dignity and prosperity."
Khan recounted, "I remember telling my wife; maybe I will be our Henry Kissinger
, the first Muslim to become the Secretary of State. Then came Bin Laden and his bloody men and along with the World Trade Center, American Muslim dreams and aspirations came crashing down."
"Unlike the present day Islamists, Prophet Muhammad, when he established the first Islamic state in Medina – actually a Jewish-Muslim federation extended to religious minorities the rights that are guaranteed to them in the Quran. Prophet Muhammad’s Medina was based on the covenant of Medina, a real and actual social contract agreed upon by Muslims, Jews and others that treated them as equal citizens of Medina. They enjoyed the freedom to choose the legal system they wished to live under. Jews could live under Islamic law, or Jewish law or pre-Islamic Arab tribal traditions. There was no compulsion in religion even though Medina was an Islamic state. The difference between Medina and today’s Islamic states is profound. The state of Medina was based on a real social contract that applied divine law but only in consultation and with consent of all citizens regardless of their faith. But contemporary Islamic states apply Islamic law without consent or consultation and often through coercion. It is a sad commentary on contemporary Islamists that while democracy is a challenge to contemporary Islamic states, it was constitutive to the first Islamic state in Medina established by the Prophet of Islam."
University of Delaware
The university is organized into seven colleges:* College of Agriculture and Natural Resources* College of Arts and Sciences* Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics* College of Earth, Ocean and Environment* College of Education and Human Development...
. He is also the founding Director of the Islamic Studies Program at the University of Delaware. Prior to that he was Chair of the Department of Political Science and the Director of International Studies at Adrian College
Adrian College
Adrian College is a private, co-educational liberal arts college related to the United Methodist Church in the city of Adrian, Michigan.-Campus:The school is approximately a 45-minute drive from Ann Arbor and Toledo, Ohio, and 90 minutes from Detroit...
. He was a Non-resident Fellow at the Brookings Institution
Brookings Institution
The Brookings Institution is a nonprofit public policy organization based in Washington, D.C., in the United States. One of Washington's oldest think tanks, Brookings conducts research and education in the social sciences, primarily in economics, metropolitan policy, governance, foreign policy, and...
from 2003-2008. He earned his Ph.D. in international relations
International relations
International relations is the study of relationships between countries, including the roles of states, inter-governmental organizations , international nongovernmental organizations , non-governmental organizations and multinational corporations...
, political philosophy
Political philosophy
Political philosophy is the study of such topics as liberty, justice, property, rights, law, and the enforcement of a legal code by authority: what they are, why they are needed, what, if anything, makes a government legitimate, what rights and freedoms it should protect and why, what form it...
, and Islamic political thought, from Georgetown University
Georgetown University
Georgetown University is a private, Jesuit, research university whose main campus is in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic university in the United States...
in May 2000.
He is a well known Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
intellectual, whose articles and columns are widely published. He is a proponent of social change regarding treatment of women in some Islamic societies, but identifies himself as both traditional as well as liberal. In a sense he is a traditional scholar when it comes to issues of faith, but a liberal on topics such as democracy in the Islamic world, the place of women in society and on pluralism.
He advocates freedom of thought and independent thinking, and he states that it is the inability of Muslims to sustain a dialogue with time and text that sometimes makes Islamic teachings look anachronistic or even intolerant.
Khan is an important voice on US foreign policy in the Muslim World. He has testified at hearings hosted by the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the US House Armed Forces Committee.
Khan is also a Fellow of the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding
Institute for Social Policy and Understanding
The Institute for Social Policy and Understanding is an independent, nonpartisan think tank and research organization committed to conducting objective, empirical research and offering expert policy analysis on some of the most pressing issues facing the United States. These issues include U.S....
. He has been the President, Vice President and General Secretary of the Association of Muslim Social Scientists.
In October 2008 he was awarded the Sir Syed Ahmed Khan Award for service to Islam by the Aligarh University Alumni.
Khan maintains two websites that archive his short articles. They are "Ijtihad" and "Glocaleye". He also writes for the "On Faith Forum of Washington Post and Newsweek".
Khan frequently comments on BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
, CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
, FOX, VOA TV, NPR
NPR
NPR, formerly National Public Radio, is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting...
and other radio and TV networks. His political commentaries appear regularly in newspapers in over 20 countries. He has also lectured in North America, East Asia, Middle East and Europe .
Khan is from Hyderabad, India. He is married to Reshma and has a son Rumi, and a daughter Ruhi.
Praise and controversy
Khan is admired by some for his critical thinking and for advancing a more moderate and liberal vision of Islam. He claims to be critical of radicalism and narrow conservatism withinIslamic thought and also critical of Western foreign policies, racism
Racism
Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
and Islamophobia
Islamophobia
Islamophobia describes prejudice against, hatred or irrational fear of Islam or MuslimsThe term dates back to the late 1980s or early 1990s, but came into common usage after the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States....
in the U.S. and the West. He is considered a rising star among Muslim intellectuals by some.
Khan has also evoked considerable controversy as a result of some of his statements. Several years ago some Shi'a Muslims took strong exception to his comments regarding Ayatollah Sistani, where he compared him to Saddam Hussein, and suggested that Sistani was a dictator.
He is however widely respected in the Shia community and has frequently given keynote addresses at various Shia annual conventions in New York and Washington DC.
Khan raised the ire of some when he said in an email that he was unsure if he would be comfortable sitting on a panel about anti-Americanism in the Middle East with the last minute addition to the lineup, Asaf Romirowsky
Asaf Romirowsky
Asaf Romirowsky is a scholar of Middle Eastern studies and a fellow at the Middle East Forum. Romirowsky, an Israeli, did his military service for the Israel Defense Forces as an international relations liaison officer in the West Bank. He currently serves in the IDF reserves as an liaison...
, an Israeli Defense Force veteran and a fellow at the Middle East Forum
Middle East Forum
The Middle East Forum is an American conservative think tank founded in 1990 by Daniel Pipes, who also serves as its director. MEF became a 5013 non-profit organization in 1994...
. He later claimed that this was written in jest. While the event was taking place at the University of Delaware, it was being run by College Republicans and College Democrats. The College Republicans encouraged Romirowsky to be the main speaker at a later venue. Romirowsky declined this opportunity. Interestingly Khan has participated on another panel that included an Israeli Defense Force Veteran at the Wilmington Friends School.
Critical Muslims, a blog that seeks to introduce alternate voices from the Muslim World describes Khan as a thinker in the mold of Fazlur Rahman. "Combining an intimate familiarity of the Islamic heritage with a equal solid knowledge of Western scholarship in the human sciences, these newly emerging thinkers neverthless present a variety of viewpoints. Representative of this strand of thought are the jurist Khaled Abou el Fadl, who teaches at the UCLA Law School. the political scientist Muqtedar Khan, and Hamza Yusuf Hanson, who founded the Zaytuna Institute in California."
Quotes
"America is without doubt one of the greatest countries in the World. Because it assumes we are moral beings and capable of doing good -- we are free. And because America assumes we are mature and capable of self governance -- we have democracy.""When I look at Islamic sources, I find in them unprecedented examples of religious tolerance and inclusiveness. They make me want to become a better person. I think the capacity to seek good and do good inheres in all of us. When we subdue this predisposition towards the good, we deny our fundamental humanity".
In an article published in the Washington Post Khan told Bin Laden to "Go to Hell". In the same article he also wrote "Before we rush to condemn America we must remember that even today millions of poor and miserable people all across the world are lining up outside US embassies eager to come to America, not just to live here but to become an American. No Muslim country today, can claim that people of other nations and other faiths see it as a promise of hope, equality, dignity and prosperity."
Khan recounted, "I remember telling my wife; maybe I will be our Henry Kissinger
Henry Kissinger
Heinz Alfred "Henry" Kissinger is a German-born American academic, political scientist, diplomat, and businessman. He is a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. He served as National Security Advisor and later concurrently as Secretary of State in the administrations of Presidents Richard Nixon and...
, the first Muslim to become the Secretary of State. Then came Bin Laden and his bloody men and along with the World Trade Center, American Muslim dreams and aspirations came crashing down."
"Unlike the present day Islamists, Prophet Muhammad, when he established the first Islamic state in Medina – actually a Jewish-Muslim federation extended to religious minorities the rights that are guaranteed to them in the Quran. Prophet Muhammad’s Medina was based on the covenant of Medina, a real and actual social contract agreed upon by Muslims, Jews and others that treated them as equal citizens of Medina. They enjoyed the freedom to choose the legal system they wished to live under. Jews could live under Islamic law, or Jewish law or pre-Islamic Arab tribal traditions. There was no compulsion in religion even though Medina was an Islamic state. The difference between Medina and today’s Islamic states is profound. The state of Medina was based on a real social contract that applied divine law but only in consultation and with consent of all citizens regardless of their faith. But contemporary Islamic states apply Islamic law without consent or consultation and often through coercion. It is a sad commentary on contemporary Islamists that while democracy is a challenge to contemporary Islamic states, it was constitutive to the first Islamic state in Medina established by the Prophet of Islam."
External links
- Muqtedar Khan's website
- Profile at the University of DelawareUniversity of DelawareThe university is organized into seven colleges:* College of Agriculture and Natural Resources* College of Arts and Sciences* Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics* College of Earth, Ocean and Environment* College of Education and Human Development...
- Muqtedar Khan's column on Global Affairs
- Soft Voice, Strong Message
- A Liberal Muslim Goes to America
- An Imam and a Rabbi
- America's Gift; A New Tradition in Islamic Thinking
- Khaleej Times (.com) - Opinion piece:"Gibbon was right. Islam is present and thriving in Oxford" (October 2006)