Teachers for CIMCD course
February 22nd - April 14th 2021
Course Leaders
Motaz Al-Thaher
Motaz is currently a visiting scholar in the Philosophy Department at Baylor University, Waco, Texas. He is working on a Ph.D. in the philosophy of Islamic law from the International Islamic University of Malaysia.
He is a mechanical engineer, entrepreneur, co-founder of SOLVillion, which is a startup, specialized in water solutions in Jordan, and A Business Development Manager of Fatabyyano fact-checking platform in the MENA region. Recently he joined the Maqasid Institute as the Manager of the “Maqasid Scholars Training Program “.
Dr Ida Glaser
Dr Glaser is the Director of CMCS Houston and one of the Founding Fellows of the Centre for Muslim-Christian Studies, Oxford, where she directs the 'Reading the Bible in the Context of Islam' research project. She holds an M.Phil in Theoretical Physics from Imperial College, London and a Ph.D. in comparative theology from the University of Durham. Her publications include The Bible and Other Faiths (2005), Thinking Biblically about Islam (2016), and Reading the Bible in Islamic Context (2018).
Course Teachers
Dr David Coffey
Dr Coffey is Senior Fellow at the Center for Muslim & Christian Studies, Houston, and Founding Fellow of the Centre for Muslim-Christian Studies, Oxford.
He will be lecturing on some of our theological issues from a historical perspective. He will be using material from his research into the use of truths admitted in the Qur'an and the Bible in discussions between Muslims and Christians.
Dr Richard McCallum
Dr McCallum is a senior fellow of the Centre for Muslim-Christian Studies, Oxford, where he runs the 'Christians and Muslims in Public Life' program and directs an annual summer school for Christian and Muslim leaders-in-training.
He will be helping to resource the 'issue groups'.
Dr Mun’im Sirry
Mun’im Sirry is assistant professor of theology with additional responsibilities for the Contending Modernities research project. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago Divinity School (2012). His academic interest includes Qur’anic studies, interreligious relations, political theology, modern Islamic thought, and Southeast Asian religions and cultures. Along with Professor Gabriel Said Reynolds, he is the editor of journal Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations.
Sirry is the author of Scriptural Polemics: The Qur’an and Other Religions (Oxford, 2014). He is now finishing up his monograph dealing with both traditional and critical scholarship on Islamic origins. He is also coordinating the Contending Modernities working group on Indonesia exploring and analyzing the complex relationships between various contending forces that have shaped, and been shaped by, religious life at both the societal and state levels.
Dr Martin Whittingham
Director of the Centre for Muslim-Christian Studies and supernumery research fellow at Regents Park College, Oxford, Dr. Whittingham is an associate member of the Faculty of Theology and Religion in the University of Oxford' where he teaches Islamic Studies and co-convenes seminars on Abrahamic Religions.
His research area is the history of Muslim thought about Christianity, and he is currently working on a history of Muslim views of the Bible. He holds master's degrees from the University of Cambridge and London School of Theology, and his Ph.D. from the University of Edinburgh was published as Al-Ghazālī and the Qur’ān: One Book, Many Meanings (2007).
Dr Rana Abu-Mounes
Dr. Abu-Mounes is a research fellow at the Centre for Muslim-Christian Studies. She holds master's degrees from the Universities of Jordan And Aberdeen, and her Ph.D. on the history of Christian-Muslim interaction in 19th century Damascus was awarded by the University of Aberdeen. Before moving to Oxford, she was Humanitarian Integration Service Manager at Scottish Refugee Council in Dundee. Her current research project is a study of Christian and Muslim responses to the water crisis in Jordan.
Dr Charles Ramsey
Dr. Ramsey holds a Ph.D. in Islamic Studies from the University of Birmingham (UK), a MA in the History of Religion From Baylor University. He was Assistant Professor of Religion and Public Policy at Forman Christian College (Lahore, Pakistan) and then returned to Baylor, where he joined the History Faculty and teaches Indian History. He is editor, South Asia Section of the Brill Encyclopedia of Christian-Muslim Relations (CMR 1500-1900) and his doctoral research is published as Sir Sayyid’s Commentary of the Gospel: Tabyīn al-kalām, Part 3, (2017). His ongoing research interests are in 19th Century South Asia, Sufism, Kashmir, and conflict transformation
Dr Georgina Jardim
Dr. Jardim is responsible for international partnership development at the Centre for Muslim-Christian Studies, Oxford. She gained her master's in Islamic Studies from the University of Potchefstroom, South Africa, and her Ph.D. from the University of Gloucestershire, UK. Her doctoral work is published as Recovering the Female Voice in Islamic Scripture: Women and Silence (2014). She has taught in the areas of Islam, Christian-Muslim relations, and scriptural engagement in South Africa and the UK, is active in facilitating engagement between ‘everyday’ Christians and Muslims. Her academic research interests are in scriptural reasoning and the intersection of religion and women’s studies
Dr Ghulam Zarquani Qadri
Dr. Zarquani obtained his Ph.D. in Arabic Language and Literature in 2004 from J.M.I University, Delhi, India. He is the esteemed author and compiler of more than 70 books in Arabic, English, and Urdu, and a thought-provoking orator. Since 2011, He is also a columnist for Inquilab, the leading Urdu newspaper in India. He is the founder and chairman of Hijaz Foundation of America, Inc., a non-profit organization located in Houston, TX, and is currently the dean of Hijaz Muslim College
Sam Nwokoro
Sam is a PhD candidate at the University of Edinburgh, and a faculty member at the Theological College of Northern Nigeria. His research focusses on Christian-Muslim relations in the 8th century CE.
Dr Basma Abdelgafar
Basma Abdelgafar is a Professor of Public Policy. She consults and provides training internationally on policy, governance and Muslim affairs. Prof. Abdelgafar has worked in the Canadian federal government, academia and the third sector. She has contributed to the development of graduate studies in public policy at the American University in Cairo, Qatar Foundation and the International Peace College of South Africa. She was founding head of the Public Policy in Islam Masters Program at the Qatar Faculty of Islamic Studies, Hamad Bin Khalifa University. She has a keen interest in research and teaching in public policy and governance in Islam as well as in Muslim history, thought, institutions and communities. She obtained her Ph.D. in Public Policy from Carleton University, Ottawa, in 2003. Her book publications include: Public Policy Beyond Traditional Jurisprudence (London: IIIT), Thriving in a Plural World (Singapore: MUIS), M.A. Draz’s Morality in the Quran and the Greater Good of Humanity (Wales: Claritas), and The Illusive Tradeoff (Toronto: University of Toronto Press). Prof. Basma is currently authoring a book on the Quranic Theory of Invention and Innovation.
Imam Monawar Hussain
Monawar studied Theology at the University of Oxford and holds a Master of Arts degree in Abrahamic Religions from the University of London. He also trained as an Imam under the tutelage of the late Sheikh Dr. Zaki Badawi KBE at the Muslim College, Ealing, UK. Monawar is the Founder of the Oxford Foundation, a charity organisation to empower young people through education in the promotion of religious and racial harmony, and good relations between persons of different faiths and racial groups. He presently serves as an advisor to a number of national charities including the World Congress of Faiths, The Oxford Trust, Three Faiths Forum, , Dalai Lama Centre for Compassion, Prison Phoenix Trust, and NSPCC National Advisory Group on Safeguarding and Muslim Children. Additionally, he is an Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Birmingham. He was made the Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in Her Majesty The Queen’s Birthday Honours list in 2017
Dr Ferry Y. Mamahit
Dr. Mamahit is a senior lecturer at South East Asia Bible Seminary, Indonesia. He has written and speaks on the Bible, theology, and social justice. For the past few years, he extended his interests and involvements in the interface of biblical and qur’anic studies, Muslim-Christian relations, and peacebuilding in Indonesia. He is currently a visiting scholar at the Centre for Muslim and Christian Studies (CMCS), Oxford.
Resource Persons
Diane Lamberson
Diane is the director of the Gideon Institute Counseling Center. A Licensed Clinical Social Worker – Supervisor (LCSW-S) with a Master of Social Work degree from the University of Houston and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Texas at Austin, she has worked with adults and children in a variety of mental health and education settings for 29 years. Her areas of clinical expertise include Christ-centered psychotherapy with people who struggle with grief/loss, trauma, past/current abuse, major life transitions, relationship issues, addiction, anxiety, depression and forms of mental illness.
Anar Amin
Anar Amin is a graduate of the University of Oklahoma with a degree in Elementary Education. She also received a double Master's from the University College London’s Institute of Education in conjunction with the Institute of Ismaili Studies in Muslim Societies and Civilizations and Education in 2011. Anar has been an educator for over thirteen years, and she has taught around the globe from Essen, Germany, and London, UK to Norman, Chicago, Los Angeles, Little Rock, Dallas, and Austin, USA. Anar’s areas of expertise include curriculum development, mentorship, instructional coaching, and cultivating leadership in others. Prior to becoming a multi-faith educator, Anar was a middle school math teacher. She now resides in Dallas, TX, and is the Secondary Regional Academic Lead for the Shia Ismaili Muslim Community in the West Coast and Central USA regions. In addition to being passionate about her work, she hopes to one day write a children’s book on coping with loss and open her own school for low socio-economic status students. When Anar is not working, she enjoys spending time with her mother, brother, and close friends.