Prof Muhammad Legenhausen

A Distinguished Researcher of Islamic Studies for the 23rd World Award for the Book of the Year of the I.R.I

Gary Carl (Muhammad) Legenhausen was born in 1953, New York. He is an American full professor of philosophy whose research interests lie primarily in western philosophy, philosophy of religion, and Islamic philosophy. To date He has taught various courses at many Iranian academic centres such as the Imam Khomeini Education and Research Institute, Qum University, Tarbiat Modarres University, etc. Moreover, He is currently teaching at Paderborn University, Germany.

He holds a PhD in philosophy from Rice University (1983). In 1983, after he was acquainted with Shi&rsquoa Islam, he decided to convert his Catholic faith to Islam. As an advocate of what he call &ldquonon-reductive religious pluralism&rdquo, he has written a book entitled Islam and Religious Pluralism. He has been a sympathizer of inter-faith/inter-religious dialogue, and has performed duties on the advisory board of the Society for Religious Studies in Qom.

He is also member of founding board of the Shi`ite Studies Center in Qom, and serves on the scientific board of the Human Rights Center of Mofid University, Qom. In 2010, he was officially recognised as a perpetual figure (Chehriyi Māndigār) in Islamic studies.

For more information on his biography and works, please visit the websites given below:

http://iiis.ir/faculty/dr-legenhausen/

and

http://qom.academia.edu/MuhammadLegenhausen