Akbar S. Ahmed

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Akbar S. Ahmed

Born 1943
Allahabad, British India
Residence Washington DC, USA
Nationality Pakistani
Institution American University
Notable prizes Tamgha-e-Imtiaz, Sitara-e-Imtiaz

Akbar S. Ahmed is an anthropologist and renowned scholar on contemporary Islam from Pakistan. He holds the Ibn Khaldun Chair of Islamic Studies and is a Professor of International Relations at the American University. According to the BBC, Ahmed is "probably the world’s best-known scholar on contemporary Islam." He has advised Prince Charles and met with United States President George W. Bush on Islam. He has M.A. from Cambridge University (awarded as a fellow) and Ph.D. from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) of the University of London.

He wrote the screenplay for Jinnah, a critically acclaimed biopic which chronicled the life of the founder of Pakistan, Muhammad Ali Jinnah. He is a familiar face on electronic media and appeared on Oprah a number of times, and on the BBC's Living Islam (1993). He is also a recipient of the highest civil awards in Pakistan.

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[edit] Biography

Ahmed was born in Allahabad, British India. In 1966, he joined the Civil Service of Pakistan, the elite cadre of the Central Superior Services of Pakistan. He held important posts in Pakistan and Bangladesh including Commissioner, Quetta; Political Agent, South Waziristan Agency; Founder-Director General of the National Center for Rural Development, Islamabad. From 1982 to 1988, Ahmed was the Commissioner of three divisions in Balochistan; from 1988 to 1999, he was a fellow of the Selwyn College, Cambridge; and from 1999 to 2000, he was the High Commissioner of Pakistan to the United Kingdom. He resigned from service in the summer of 2000. Parallel to his civil service career, Dr. Ahmed was visiting professor at Harvard University, the University of Cambridge, and the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton.

He has been actively involved in interfaith dialogue and the study of global Islam and its impact on contemporary society for many years. His numerous books, films and documentaries have won awards. His books have been translated into many languages including Chinese and Indonesian. His book Journey into Islam: The Crisis of Globalization is under publication with Brookings Press and he is working on a play called Noor. His book with Amineh Hoti, Knowledge: Why Civilizations Rise and Fall, is with Polity Press, Cambridge.

[edit] Media coverage

Ahmed is regularly interviewed on CNN, CBC, the BBC, Fox News, MSNBC, ARY TV and has appeared several times on the Oprah Winfrey Show and Nightline. He presented and narrated “The Glories of Islamic Art”, the three-part television series for Channel 5, UK, broadcast in 2006. He has written for many publications including Newsweek, The Guardian, The Independent, The Washington Post, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, and The Philadelphia Inquirer.

[edit] Scholarly activities

Ahmed has delivered a number of keynote addresses to prestigious organizations. He addressed members of Congress at the bipartisan Congressional retreat in Greenbrier. He has lectured at the National Defense University, Foreign Service Training Institute, and the State Department. He has conducted courses on Islam as Chief Moderator for the Society of Fellows Seminar and the Socrates Society at the Aspen Institute, the Young President’s Organization, and the World Bank. He was the featured speaker in the Summer Speakers Series of the Aspen Institute in 2003. With Dr. Judea Pearl, father of slain Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, Ahmed has been engaged in public dialogues across the country and abroad. Ahmed spoke with Dr. Judea Pearl at the House of Lords in London, where they were welcomed by a Jewish, a Muslim, and a Christian Lord. They also spoke at the residence of the U.S. Ambassador in London. They spoke at the launch of the Jewish-Muslim Alliance at the reception hosted by the British Foreign Minister. They also met with U.K.'s Chief Rabbi and visited a Muslim and a Jewish school as part of the Chief Rabbi's annual address to the nation recorded by BBC television.


[edit] Awards and honours

  • Ahmed was invited to join the legendary figures in Anthropology’s Hall of Fame as part of the "Anthropological Ancestors" audio-visual interview series at the University of Cambridge in July 2004.
  • Recipient of Tamgha-e-Imtiaz (Medal of Excellence, 1982) and Sitara-e-Imtiaz, (Star of Excellence, 1992) in Pakistan
  • Recipient of the Sir Percy Sykes Memorial Medal given by the Royal Society of Asian Affairs in London.
  • Recipient of “Free Speech Award” given by the Muslim Public Affairs Council, 2002
  • The Gandhi Center Fellowship of Peace Award, 2002
  • The Safeer Pakistan Award
  • The Coudert Institute Award.
  • Scholar of the Year Award (2004) by the Pakistani-American Congress
  • Nominated by American University for the national level Professor of the Year Award.
  • Appointed Trustee of the World Faiths Development Dialogue by the Archbishop of Canterbury.
  • Appointed Charter Member of a national-level interfaith initiative based at the National Cathedral by the Bishop of Washington, D.C. (2003).
  • Appointed to the World Wisdom Council and as Co-Chair of the "Hope Not Hate" Town Hall meetings in the U.S. organized by the Americans for Informed Democracy in 2004.
  • Winner of the Inaugural Purpose Prize with Judea Pearl, 2006.
  • Member of the Oxford and Cambridge Club in London
  • Member of the Cosmos Club in Washington, D.C.

[edit] Works

Ahmed is the author of over 30 books including' Islam Under Siege: Living Dangerously in a Post-Honor World. The book was the subject of the award-winning "Dialogue" series at the Woodrow Wilson Center. Discovering Islam: Making Sense of Muslim History and Society'', was the basis of the BBC six-part TV series called “Living Islam”. His Postmodernism and Islam: Predicament and Promise was nominated for the Amalfi Award, and his "Jinnah Quartet," a four-part project on Pakistan’s founding father, M.A. Jinnah, has won numerous international awards. His Islam Today: A Short Introduction to the Muslim World was rated among the best non-fiction books of the year by the Los Angeles Times. Ahmed's most recent book is His books have been translated into many languages, including Chinese and Indonesian.

Ahmed's books Resistance and Control in Pakistan and Postmodernism and Islam have been revised and republished and were launched at the British House of Commons in July by Lords, Members of Parliament, scholars and the media. They were also launched at the Politics and Prose bookstore, Washington, D.C., on September 1, 2004. He also wrote the foreword to Tamara Sonn's recently published book A Brief History of Islam. He co- edited After Terror with Dr. Brian Forst, published by Polity Press in spring 2005.

[edit] Publications

[edit] See also

[edit] External links



Persondata
NAME Ahmed, Akbar S.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION Anthropologist, Islamic scholar
DATE OF BIRTH 1966
PLACE OF BIRTH Allahabad, British India
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH
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