World Religions Journal
Editor-in-Chief
(Updated January 1, 2020)
Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Scott Douglas Jacobsen founded In-Sight: Independent Interview-Based Journal and In-Sight Publishing. He authored/co-authored some e-books, free or low-cost. If you want to contact Scott: Scott.D.Jacobsen@Gmail.com.
World Religions Theology Journal Advisory Board
(Updated September 13, 2018)
*Interview views do not equate to positions of Advisory Board members.*
*Advisory Board listing alphabetized by first name and relevant hyperlinks active.*
Prof. Imam Syed B. Soharwardy
Founder, Islamic Supreme Council of Canada; Founder, Muslims Against Terrorism
Prof. Imam Syed B. Soharwardy is the first Muslim Canadian who walked across Canada, more than 6,500 km, leading the Multifaith Walk Against Violence. (April 14 to October 27, 2008).
Imam Syed Soharwardy was born in a highly respected religious family in Karachi, Pakistan. His father, Allama Syed Muhammad Riazuddin Soharwardy (May Allah shower His blessings upon him) was a famous Islamic scholar and the Imam of Jamia Bughdadi Masjid, Martin Road, Karachi where he established Dar-ul-Aloom Soharwardia. Imam Soharwardy’s grandfather, Allama Syed Muhammad Jalaluddin Chishty (May Allah shower His blessings upon him) was the Grand Mufti of Kashmir (Baramula). Allama JalaluddinChishty later migrated to Amritser (India) where he served as the head of Dar-ul-Aloom Nizamiah Sirajiah and the Imam of a Mosque.
Imam Syed Soharwardy is one of the direct descendents of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). Through Imam Ja’far us-Sadiq (May Allah’s peace upon him), Imam Soharwardy’s lineage reaches Sayyidatunnisa (leader of all women) Hazrat Fatimah Binte Muhammad Ibn Abdullah (Peace be upon him), the wife of Ameer ul Mo’mineen SayyidnaImam Ali (May Allah’s peace upon him). His ancestors migrated from Syria to Iran where they settled in Zarrin OR Zarrindasht area in Asfahan province. During 1200s A.H. famous sufi scholar Hazrat Syed Bahauddin Ziryani (May Allah be pleased with him) was born in this family. Later, Hazrat Syed Bahauddin Ziryani migrated to Kashmir (India) and settled, where in his fifth generation, Allama Mufti Syed Muhammad Jalaluddin Chishty (May Allah be pleased with him) was born.
Imam Soharwardy received his early Islamic education from his father, teacher and Murshad (spiritual guide) in the traditional Islamic Madrasah at Bughdadi Masjid, Martin Road, Karachi, Pakistan. Later, he graduated from Dar-ul-AloomSoharwardia, Karachi. Mr. Soharwardy also earned Bachelor of Arts degree in Islamic Studies from University of Karachi.
Beside his Islamic education, Mr. Soharwardy earned Bachelor of Engineering (Electrical) from N.E.D. University of Engineering & Technology, Karachi, Master of Science in Management Engineering from New Jersey Institute of Technology,Newark, NJ, USA and Master of Engineering in Project Management from University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada.
Imam Syed Soharwardy was appointed as a teacher at Dar-ul-Aloom Soharwardia where he taught various subjects of Islamic studies. Later, he also served as the assistant Imam and Khateeb at Jamia Bughdadi Masjid, Martin Road (1971- 1979). Imam Soharwardy has lectured in Pakistan, USA and Saudi Arabia at various universities and institutes for over 12 years.
Prof. Soharwardy is the founder of Muslims Against Terrorism (MAT). He founded MAT in Calgary in January 1998. He is also the founder of Islamic Supreme Council of Canada (ISCC). He has authored several papers on various topics such as, challenges for Muslims in the western world, conflicts within the Muslim community, Intra and Inter religion conflicts, terrorism, political Islam, etc. Mr. Soharwardy has addressed hundreds of gatherings in Pakistan, USA, UK and Canada on various topics of Islamic faith.
Prof. Soharwardy is the Executive Imam at the Al Madinah Calgary Islamic Assembly, Jamia Masjid Noor-e-Madinah, Montreal, Jamia Riyadhul Jannah, Mississauga, Jamia Riyadhul Jannah, Edmonton and Jamia Masjid Aulia Allah, Surrey, B.C. He lectures in Montreal, Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Calgary and Vancouver on monthly basis. Imam Soharwardy is the spiritual leader of Jama’at Ahle Sunnat Canada and the World Sufi Mission Canada. He is also the founder of Multifaith Club of Calgary.
Imam Soharwardy has the “Ijazah” in Soharwardy, Qadri and Chishty sufi orders from his Murshad (spiritual guide), Allama Syed Muhammad Riazuddin Soharwardy, Qadri, Chishty (May Allah’s blessings upon him). He is the Khalifah of hisMurshad. His students and Murideen (disciples) have spread out all over the world.
Imam Soharwardy is a strong advocate of Islamic Tasawuf (Sufism) and believes that the world will be a better place for everyone, if we follow what Prophet of Islam, Muhammad (Peace be upon him) has said, ” You will not have faith unless you like for others what you like for yourself.” He believes that the spiritual weakness in human causes all kinds of problems. Mr. Soharwardy can be contacted at Soharwardy@shaw.ca OR Phone (403)-831-6330 OR 416-994-5467.
Farouk A. Peru
Founder, Quranology Blog; Administrator, Quranist Network
Farouk A. Peru is a Ph.D. Candidate at King’s College London in Theology and Religious Studies with a focus on Islam and Postmodernity. He earned an M.A. in 2009 in Islamic Societies and Cultures in the School of Oriental and African Studies from the University of London.
He published Introduction to Quran – An Existential Reading, and was an editor and contributor to Critical Thinkers for Islamic Reform. He has research interests in fiction, human development, movies, philosophy, and religion.
He has a personal statement repeated over the Internet: “I am a human being in the world. This fact is where my discourse begins and ends. This means that all my thought systems feed into this facticity of existence – that I am first and last a human being in the world. Being human in the world is an inescapable fact to us all and in order to develop our thinking to be in accordance with the Truth, we need to keep this fact in mind.”
Image Credit: University of Lethbridge.
Professor Mir Faizal
Adjunct Professor, Physics and Astronomy, University of Lethbridge; Sessional Instructor, Physics, University of British Columbia-Okanagan
He is also involved with inclusive mosque initiative. He has also been involved in the interreligious dialogue between Judaism, Christianity and Islam, and modernist and scientific interpretations of Quran. He has been developing arguments for the existence of God based on modern science.
His research interests or topic areas are Elementary Particle Physics, Mathematical Physics, Newtonian Physics, Quantum Physics, and Theoretical Physics, as well as “information theory and complexity, numerical analysis and dynamical systems, topological defects, quantum mechanics and its application to condensed matter systems, string theory, loop quantum gravity, astrophysics, cosmology, supersymmetry.”
Shaykh Uthman Khan
Academic Dean, Critical Loyalty
Uthman Khan completed his ʻĀlimiyyah degree from Madrasah Taleemul Islam from the United Kingdom. He received a traditional Master’s Degree in Arabic and Islamic Sciences and Specialized in traditionalism and the traditional sciences. He also received an Academic Master’s Degree from the Hartford Seminary in Muslim and Christian Relations and specialized in Theology, Philosophy, Religious Scripture, Historiography, and Textual Criticism and Analysis.
His other academic achievements include certificates in Adult Psychology, Accounting, Phonetics, Phonics, and Phonology.
Uthman Khan has the honor of being connected to the shortest chains of transmission for al-‘Ashr al-Sughrā and al-‘Ashr al-Kubrā, as well as the texts of the science of tajwīd and qirā-āt (Tuḥfah, Jazariyyah, Shāṭibiyyah, Durrah, and Ṭayyibah).
Abdullah Siraaj, who is a contemporary of Abdul Fattah Qaadhi (Author of Budūr al-Zāhirah and al-Wāfī Sharaḥ Shāṭibiyyah) says, “We only know of good from Uthman. He is Shaykh al-Qurrā (Teacher of all the readers) of North America. I was impressed with his knowledge and was ready to give him ijāzah, and he had only read 10 pages to me.”
Uthman Khan memorized the Qur’an verbatim at the age of 13 and has been leading prayers ever since. He has had the honor of leading in numerous mosques in North America and Europe, some of which include Wichita (KS), Jacksonville (FL), Phoenix (AZ), Montreal (CA), and the UK. He has also had the honor of working with world renowned scholars and academics such as Dr. Yahya Michot, Dr. Mahmoud M. Ayoub, Dr. Iqbal Nadvi, Dr. Zulfiqar Ali Shah, and Dr. Talat Sultan.
Uthman is also well known across the world to the scholars and researchers of Tajwīd and Qirā-āt.
He has worked a lot with youth and also counseled youth in their issues and problems. Over 80 students memorized the Qur’an under his tutelage, the youngest of which was nine years old. Hundreds of students across North America know Uthman’s very traditional, yet academic, critical and philosophical approach in teaching the traditional sciences, which include ḥadīth, tafsīr, fiqh, tajwīd, qirā-āt, etc.-his approach is usually apparent in his lectures as well.
As an advocate of research, Uthman requires all his students to research and present opinions that have been properly established in a scholarly way. He always says, “We must perform unbiased, objective, critical and comprehensive research – and that is the only proper way to truly understand what we claim to know.”
He encourages his students, “I want you all to become the critical thinkers of our time. There is a reason why there is so much controversy and religion is not tangible anymore. Prove your point in such a way that you become distinguished in the scholarly world. The purpose of your research is not to prove what you are saying is right, but to build within yourself a critical mindset.”
In-Sight Publishing 