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Papers by Charles Amjad-Ali
Palgrave Macmillan US eBooks, 2014
Islam is often viewed in the West as monolithic, when in fact it is a highly diverse global relig... more Islam is often viewed in the West as monolithic, when in fact it is a highly diverse global religion. Muslims constitute about 23 percent of the world’s population. According to a 2009 Pew Report, “there are 1.57 billion Muslims living in the world today” and they are “found on all five inhabited continents.”1 Fifty-seven states throughout the world are full members of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).2 While for many the term “Muslim” is synonymous with Arab, actually the 23 or so Arabic Islamic countries (including Sudan, despite its huge Christian Dinka population) constitute only around 20 percent of all Muslims. The largest Islamic country, Indonesia, has a Muslim population larger than that of the whole Arabian Peninsula.3 Further, there is also a contentious divide between Sunnis and Shi’as (roughly 86–14%), which has deep religious, historical, and ethnic roots.
New Blackfriars, Feb 1, 1990
Dialog-a Journal of Theology, Sep 1, 2009
The Christian tradition of just war does not have a New Testament foundation but is a tradition t... more The Christian tradition of just war does not have a New Testament foundation but is a tradition that developed after the conversion of Constantine and Christianity's emergence as the state religion of the empire. In Islam, however, just war has been an issue since its foundational period, because while Christianity did not get involved in statecraft until Constantine, Islam dates its calendar literally from the establishment of the first statecraft in Medina. However, distortion of this tradition has occurred in both religions: we have a distorted justification of just war tradition in Christianity, and a distorted understanding of jihad as simply a holy war in Islam. This paper tries to deconstruct both these traditions and create a new hermeneutics for contemporary times.
International Review of Mission, Jul 1, 1990
Lynne Rienner Publishers eBooks, Nov 1, 1993
Tikkun, 2017
charles amjadali was the inaugural Martin Luther King, Jr., Professor of Justice and Christian Co... more charles amjadali was the inaugural Martin Luther King, Jr., Professor of Justice and Christian Community, and the Director of Islamic Studies (Emeritus) at Luther Seminary, St. Paul, Minnesota. He was also the first Archbishop Desmond Tutu Professor of Ecumenical Theology and Social Transformation in Africa at the University of Western Cape in South Africa in 2013. AmjadAli has a PhD in Theology and Political Philosophy from Princeton Theological Seminary, a postdoctoral certificate in Islamic Law and History from Columbia University, and received an honorary doctorate in Theology from the University of Uppsala, Sweden. Introduction
Muslim World, Oct 1, 2009
A s I look at David Kerr's life and my connection with him during his various phases, I see some ... more A s I look at David Kerr's life and my connection with him during his various phases, I see some large themes. This article attempts to cover my reflections on some of those themes: primarily, a concern for dialogue, mutual understanding and peace, the continuing role of mission and da'wa (especially as it was set up by the WCC and in which David participated enthusiastically), and his role at Hartford Seminary and later at Edinburgh University. It is hard to follow the coherence of one life which runs as a thread through all these diverse issues in this medium. I have, however, tried to thread them as well as I can, so that they hang together in some theological and philosophical way, with an ultimate commitment to faith, peace, justice, ethics and aesthetics. Developing Theology in the Context of Islam Historically, of all the religions of the world, it is Islam that has most thrust itself onto the consciousness of Christianity as "the other." This otherness has broad ecumenical character and support because even when we have disagreed on some of the foundational theological, ecclesiological, sacramental, ministerial and missiological elements of our respective Some Critical Issues for Muslim-Christian Relations and Challenges
Routledge eBooks, Mar 30, 2021
Building Peace in the Middle East
Reformation in the Context of World Christianity, 2019
Journal of World Christianity, 2021
Hagia Sophia appeals to the long memories and emotions of both Christianity and Islam. One of the... more Hagia Sophia appeals to the long memories and emotions of both Christianity and Islam. One of the greatest churches and architectural wonders of Christianity for almost 1,100 years, it was converted into a mosque after the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople in 1453, and 481 years later Atatürk converted it into a museum. Hagia Sophia has faced yet another vicissitude in its almost 1,500-year history as Turkey’s highest court annulled its status as a museum, and President Erdogan declared it once more a mosque in July 2020, thus challenging Turkey’s secular history and nature. This article challenges President Erdogan’s decision not on the basis of western secularity, but rather on the basis of a critical reading of the treatment of minorities, especially Christians, in the sources of Islamic jurisprudence, namely the Quran, the hadith and sunnah of the Prophet, and in the practices of the Rightly Guided Caliphs (al-Khulafa’ ar-Rashidun).
Palgrave Macmillan US eBooks, 2014
Islam is often viewed in the West as monolithic, when in fact it is a highly diverse global relig... more Islam is often viewed in the West as monolithic, when in fact it is a highly diverse global religion. Muslims constitute about 23 percent of the world’s population. According to a 2009 Pew Report, “there are 1.57 billion Muslims living in the world today” and they are “found on all five inhabited continents.”1 Fifty-seven states throughout the world are full members of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).2 While for many the term “Muslim” is synonymous with Arab, actually the 23 or so Arabic Islamic countries (including Sudan, despite its huge Christian Dinka population) constitute only around 20 percent of all Muslims. The largest Islamic country, Indonesia, has a Muslim population larger than that of the whole Arabian Peninsula.3 Further, there is also a contentious divide between Sunnis and Shi’as (roughly 86–14%), which has deep religious, historical, and ethnic roots.
New Blackfriars, Feb 1, 1990
Dialog-a Journal of Theology, Sep 1, 2009
The Christian tradition of just war does not have a New Testament foundation but is a tradition t... more The Christian tradition of just war does not have a New Testament foundation but is a tradition that developed after the conversion of Constantine and Christianity's emergence as the state religion of the empire. In Islam, however, just war has been an issue since its foundational period, because while Christianity did not get involved in statecraft until Constantine, Islam dates its calendar literally from the establishment of the first statecraft in Medina. However, distortion of this tradition has occurred in both religions: we have a distorted justification of just war tradition in Christianity, and a distorted understanding of jihad as simply a holy war in Islam. This paper tries to deconstruct both these traditions and create a new hermeneutics for contemporary times.
International Review of Mission, Jul 1, 1990
Lynne Rienner Publishers eBooks, Nov 1, 1993
Tikkun, 2017
charles amjadali was the inaugural Martin Luther King, Jr., Professor of Justice and Christian Co... more charles amjadali was the inaugural Martin Luther King, Jr., Professor of Justice and Christian Community, and the Director of Islamic Studies (Emeritus) at Luther Seminary, St. Paul, Minnesota. He was also the first Archbishop Desmond Tutu Professor of Ecumenical Theology and Social Transformation in Africa at the University of Western Cape in South Africa in 2013. AmjadAli has a PhD in Theology and Political Philosophy from Princeton Theological Seminary, a postdoctoral certificate in Islamic Law and History from Columbia University, and received an honorary doctorate in Theology from the University of Uppsala, Sweden. Introduction
Muslim World, Oct 1, 2009
A s I look at David Kerr's life and my connection with him during his various phases, I see some ... more A s I look at David Kerr's life and my connection with him during his various phases, I see some large themes. This article attempts to cover my reflections on some of those themes: primarily, a concern for dialogue, mutual understanding and peace, the continuing role of mission and da'wa (especially as it was set up by the WCC and in which David participated enthusiastically), and his role at Hartford Seminary and later at Edinburgh University. It is hard to follow the coherence of one life which runs as a thread through all these diverse issues in this medium. I have, however, tried to thread them as well as I can, so that they hang together in some theological and philosophical way, with an ultimate commitment to faith, peace, justice, ethics and aesthetics. Developing Theology in the Context of Islam Historically, of all the religions of the world, it is Islam that has most thrust itself onto the consciousness of Christianity as "the other." This otherness has broad ecumenical character and support because even when we have disagreed on some of the foundational theological, ecclesiological, sacramental, ministerial and missiological elements of our respective Some Critical Issues for Muslim-Christian Relations and Challenges
Routledge eBooks, Mar 30, 2021
Building Peace in the Middle East
Reformation in the Context of World Christianity, 2019
Journal of World Christianity, 2021
Hagia Sophia appeals to the long memories and emotions of both Christianity and Islam. One of the... more Hagia Sophia appeals to the long memories and emotions of both Christianity and Islam. One of the greatest churches and architectural wonders of Christianity for almost 1,100 years, it was converted into a mosque after the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople in 1453, and 481 years later Atatürk converted it into a museum. Hagia Sophia has faced yet another vicissitude in its almost 1,500-year history as Turkey’s highest court annulled its status as a museum, and President Erdogan declared it once more a mosque in July 2020, thus challenging Turkey’s secular history and nature. This article challenges President Erdogan’s decision not on the basis of western secularity, but rather on the basis of a critical reading of the treatment of minorities, especially Christians, in the sources of Islamic jurisprudence, namely the Quran, the hadith and sunnah of the Prophet, and in the practices of the Rightly Guided Caliphs (al-Khulafa’ ar-Rashidun).