On October 26, Professor Aisha Yousuf Al-Mannai, from Qatar University, will deliver the lecture “Islam’s View of Other Religions” at 4 p.m. at the Pyle Center’s AT&T Lounge. The lecture will be in Arabic, with English translation.
Professor Al-Mannai is the current dean of the College of Sharia and Islamic Studies at Qatar University. She is the first woman to assume such a title, which is considered as a religious position by many people in the Gulf and the Arab countries.
Professor Al-Mannai began her career in Islamic theology and philosophy at Qatar University, earning a Bachelor of Islamic Sharia and Bachelor of Education. She earned her master’s degree in Islamic theology and her doctorate in philosophy from Al-Aazhar University. Professor Al-Mannai’s interests include teaching Islamic philosophy, religions, Islamic mysticism, modern Islamic thought and reasoning, interfaith dialogue, and peaceful coexistence.
She is a founding member of the Doha International Centre for Interfaith Dialogue and supervises many conferences organized by the center. She has played an influential role in the approximation between the Islamic faiths, and she is an adviser for the Forum for Proximity of Islamic Schools of Thought in Iran. Professor Al-Mannai has been actively involved in public service. She is a member of the Qatar Red Crescent (similar to the Red Cross), a member of the National Human Rights Committee, and a supervisor of the Cultural Forum of Her Highness Sheikha Mozah.
Al-Mannai is also a member of the Arab Parliament. She was awarded the Culture and Science Medial of the First Class from the President of Eygpt, Hosni Mubarak, for her active role in interfaith and humanitarian dialogue.
This lecture is co-sponsored by the Lubar Institute for the Study of the Abrahamic Religions and the Division of International Studies.