9 October, 2024
We are deeply honoured to welcome Professor Salih Sayilgan, Georgetown University, USA, to present his book God, Evil, and Suffering in Islam.
About the book: Professor Salih Sayilgan explores the problem of evil and suffering in Islamic theology along with the questions that both religious and non-religious people alike perennially ask:
Why is there evil and suffering?
What is God’s role in both natural and moral evil?
If God is loving, just, powerful, why is there innocent suffering?
Do humans have free will or are they predestined to act in a certain way?
Examining both theoretical and practical theodicy in Islam, Prof Sayilgan provides Muslim perspectives on natural and moral evil in light of Islamic theological concepts. He interrogates several specific topics related to evil and suffering, including death, sickness, ageing, disability, climate change, and pandemics. These topics are explored through case studies from the lives of Muslims, with particular attention given to the American context. A comparative and dialogical study, Sayilgan’s volume also engages with Zoroastrian, Hindu, Buddhist, Jewish, and Christian approaches, as well as non-religious perspectives.
Here are more details about this fascinating event:
About the author: Professor Salih Sayilgan is an Assistant Teaching Professor in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at Georgetown University, USA. His research concentrates on Islamic theology, spirituality, ethics, Qur’anic studies, Islam in America, and Christian-Muslim relations. He is the author of several books, including An Islamic Jihad of Nonviolence: Said Nursi’s Perspective (Cascade Books, 2019), Exploring Islam: Theology and Spiritual Practice in America (Fortress Press, 2021), and most recently, God, Evil, and Suffering in Islam (Cambridge University Press, 2023).
Contributor: Dr Peter Admirand, Deputy Head of School, Associate Professor of Theology, and Director of the Centre for Interreligious Dialogue at Dublin City University, Ireland.
Chair: Professor Syed Atif Rizwan, Senior Fellow, Oxford Interfaith Forum, and Assistant Professor of Islamic and Interreligious Studies, and Director of the Catholic-Muslim Studies Program at the Catholic Theological Union, USA.
Date: 9 October, 2024
Time: 18:00-19:00 BST | 19:00-20:00 CEST | 10:00-11:00 PDT | 13:00-14:00 EDT
Venue: Online
Professor Sayilgan’s Publications:
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