Ayoub Appointed as Faculty Associate
At Hartford Seminary
For Immediate Release
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HARTFORD (March 7, 2008) – Mahmoud Ayoub, a pre-eminent scholar in Islam and interfaith dialogue in the United States and around the world, has been named Faculty Associate in Shi‘ite Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations at Hartford Seminary, starting July 1.
Dr. Ayoub comes to Hartford Seminary from Temple University in Philadelphia where he was a professor and Director of Islamic Studies in the Department of Religion. Heidi Hadsell, President of Hartford Seminary, announced the appointment.
“It will be a pleasure and a privilege to welcome Mahmoud Ayoub, with his dedication and skill in classroom teaching and interfaith programming,” said Professor Jane Smith, co-director of Hartford Seminary’s Macdonald Center for the Study of Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations. “A long-time participant in Abrahamic dialogue in the United States as well as in interfaith conversations in many parts of the world, Dr. Ayoub brings experience and understanding consonant with the work done at the Macdonald Center and at Hartford Seminary."
“Mahmoud Ayoub has researched, written and spoken on a wide range of subjects related to the faith, including Christian-Muslim relations, Islamic theology, interpretation of the Qur’an, and understanding sectarian distinctions. A Lebanese Shi‘ite educated in Quaker schools, Dr. Ayoub has been involved in interfaith dialogue, what he calls ‘the dialogue of life,’ since early childhood. He has written poignantly on the concept of suffering in Shi‘ite Islam, helping explain the doctrines that characterize this important school of thought from both historical and theological perspectives,” Smith said.
At the Seminary’s Macdonald Center, Dr. Ayoub will teach, advise students in the international Ph.D. program, and continue his research projects. In the fall semester, he will teach a course on Shi‘ite Islam.
Ayoub said that he regards his appointment at Hartford Seminary “as a wonderful reward for me after my retirement from fulltime academic work. I will do my best to honor this association and will do all that I can to live up to the challenge of an opportunity to serve the Macdonald Center and its students and to realize my hope of using my free time to complete the research projects I already am engaged in and embark on new ones.”
He remembered that his association with the Macdonald Center goes back to the 1970s, when he was a beginning scholar. He served as an adjunct faculty, and remains a
2 member of the editorial board of the Muslim World journal, which is edited by Seminary faculty.
Dr. Ayoub was born in South Lebanon. He received his education at the American University of Beirut (BA, Philosophy, 1964), the University of Pennsylvania (M.A., Religious Thought, 1966), and Harvard University (Ph.D., History of Religions, 1975).
Since 1988, he has taught at Temple University. That year, Dr. Ayoub helped devise and launch a graduate M.A. level program in Christian-Muslim relations and comparative religion for the Centre for Christian-Muslim Studies, University of Balamand, Lebanon, and, since the spring of 1999, has been its visiting professor.
Throughout his academic career, Dr. Ayoub has received distinguished awards and scholarships, for his achievements and his research. Among others, he was a recipient of the Kent Doctoral Fellowship and the Canada Council Fellowship. In 1994-1995, he participated in the Fulbright Exchange of Scholars program for Malaysia. In the Spring-Summer of 2000, he undertook a research project on Christian-Muslim relations in Egypt and Lebanon, also on a Fulbright scholarship.
Dr. Ayoub is the author of a number of books including Redemptive Suffering in Islam and The Qur’an and Its Interpreters (vol. 1 & 2). The summer of 2000 saw the release of his two-volume publication, Dirasat fi al-‘Alaqat al-Masihiyyah al-Islamiyyah, in Arabic (Studies in Christian-Muslim Relations). Islam: Faith and History appeared in 2004. Currently he is working on the third volume of The Qur’an and Its Interpreters.
In addition, his articles have appeared in books and journals such as The Muslim World, Journal of the American Oriental Society, Bulletin of the Institute of Middle Eastern Studies (Tokyo, Japan) and Islamochristiana (Rome, Italy).
Dr. Ayoub’s authority in both the scholarship and comparative study of Islam and Christian-Muslim relations, as well as interreligious dialogue, is demonstrated by the national and international recognition he has received. This is reflected by his numerous local and overseas scholarly engagements. Since 1999, Dr. Ayoub has participated in the U.S. Department of State’s program, serving as one of its ambassadors to various parts of the Middle East and S.E. Asia, commenting on American society and institutions, interreligious dialogue and Islam in America.
For further information or a photograph of Mahmoud Ayoub, please contact David S. Barrett, Director of Public and Institutional Affairs, at (860) 509-9519 or dbarrett@hartsem.edu. Mahmoud Ayoub is available for interviews.
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