Category: Dr. Ahmad’s blog

Asma Afsaruddin, Jihad: What Everyone Needs to Know (New York: Oxford University Press 2022). Asma Afsaruddin’s scholarly 370 page book Striving in the Path of God: Jihad and Martyrdom in Islamic Thought was published in 2013. Her most recent 208 page book, Jihad: What Everyone Needs to Know is aimed at a more general audience. […]

[On March 30, 2023, Radwan Masmoudi moderated a Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy panel discussion on “The Independence of the Judiciary, and the Prosecution of Opposition Leaders in Tunisia.” This is my summary of highlights of the program, not a transcript. Use of the first person is for convenience only. For a […]

Former Minaret of Freedom Institute’s board member Ali Memon passed away yesterday, leaving behind his wife Razia and two sons Kamran and Nauman. Today, I joined them and other members of his family and many friends at his burial where we prayed for him and put the earth over his grave. Ali is remembered by […]

The following article by Imad-ad-Dean Ahmad “The Moral and Ethical Role of Taqwa in the Personal, Social, Economic, and Political Spheres of Life in the 21st Century” was first published in the Discussion and Debate section of the Journal of Islamic and Muslim Studies (JIMS), Vol 7 No 1 May 2022. “This article was published […]

[On September 24, 2022, the Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy hosted a panel discussion on “Blasphemy Laws in Islam and in Muslim-majority Countries” moderated by Sahar Aziz. This our summary of highlights of the discussion and is not a transcript.  The use of the first person is for convenience only. The event […]

[On October 27 the Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy and the Center for Christian-Muslim Understanding co-hosted a book launch for the English translation of Rached Ghannouchi’s book Public Freedoms in the Islamic State, co-moderated by Radwan Masmoudi and John  Esposito.  This is a summery of highlights of and is not intended to […]

[On October 21, 2022, the Middle East Policy Council held a panel discussion on Iran moderated by retired Ambassador Richard J. Schmierer. The following is a summary of highlights and not intended as a transcript of the event]: Ms. Barbara Slavin, Director, Future of Iran Initiative, Atlantic Council. When she first went to Iran, shortly […]

When Ebrahim Raisi came to the United Nations last week to address the General Assembly, he also revived the traditional annual meeting between Iran’s president and American religious leaders of the Abrahamic faiths. The meeting this year was entitled “The Role of Religious Leaders in the World Crisis.” Three invited speakers were given eight minutes […]

[On August 10, 2022 the International Institute of Islamic Thought presented a book forum featuring Dr. Maha Hilal on her book Innocent Until Proven Muslim: Islamophobia, the War on Terror, and the Muslim Experience Since 9/11. The panel was Moderated by Mohammed Abu-Nimer (American University). Here follows our summary of highlights from that presentation. It […]

[On July 19, 2022, the Cato Institute held a panel discussion on Tunisia’s Authoritarian Turn, moderated by Mustafa Akyol, Senior Fellow at Cato’s Center for Global Liberty and Prosperity. These notes are a summary of the highlights of the discussion and are not intended to be a transcript of the event. Radwan A. Masmoudi (Founder […]