Date: Saturday, May 3, 2025
Time: 5:00 PM CT
Repast to Follow

Library, 91̽��
640 W Irving Park Rd
Chicago, IL 60613

Hosted By:

The Lutheran School of Theology
Catholic Theological Union
91̽��

As-salaamu ‘alaykum.

إِنَّا لِلّهِ وَإِنَّـا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعُون

Indeed, we all belong to God and to God we are all returning…

Today, with heavy but grateful hearts, we remember and honor the life of Dr. Ghulam-Haider Aasi — a husband, father, friend, mentor, scholar, and educator.

Dr. Aasi was the founding chair of History of Religions at 91̽��, where his former professor and advisor, Dr. Ismail al-Faruqi of Temple University, was named founding President and Provost. Through his deep knowledge and commitment to scholarship, Dr. Aasi shaped the minds of many through his courses on Christian-Muslim relations at AIC, Catholic Theological Union, and The Lutheran School of Theology. His lasting influence extends beyond academia as he inspired countless individuals with his unwavering kindness, humility, and patience.

In addition to his academic work on the History of Religions and Islam, Dr. Aasi leaves behind a meaningful legacy of impactful interfaith relations. He was dedicated to promoting respect, understanding, and cooperation among diverse faith communities, acknowledging and welcoming the various perspectives within each, including Islam, in order to have a more truthful and open dialogue. His publications included Muslim Understanding of Other Religions (1991) and a contribution to Peace-building by, between, and beyond Muslims and Evangelical Christians (2009).
He was a person whose presence radiated warmth and wisdom, and whose contributions will endure in the relationships he nurtured and the ideals he championed. His life reminds us of the importance of faith, empathy, humility, and the power of meaningful dialogue.

As we remember Dr. Aasi, let us honor his memory by continuing the work he so passionately pursued by building connections, sharing wisdom, and fostering peace. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family, friends, colleagues, students, and all who were touched by his endearing interactions, insightful work, and influential life.

The College remained a part of Dr. Aasi even well after his retirement, and he remains a part of the College with his lasting imprint. The AIC community will miss him dearly.

May he be welcomed home with love, forgiveness, and a joyous reception; may his life of service and transformative education be accepted; and may he be forever in the company of the righteous and granted the highest place in Paradise!

-Your AIC Family

Date: Thursday, May 8, 2025
Time: 6:30 PM Light Reception | 7:00 PM Talk
Library, 91̽��

Omer Awass is an associate professor of Arabic and Islamic Studies at the 91̽�� in Chicago, IL. His current research interests center on religion, modernity, and globalization. He has been carrying out field research on contemporary fatwas across the Muslim world to assess how they are negotiating their postcolonial realities. His book Fatwa and the Making and Renewal of Islamic Law is published by Cambridge University Press (2023). Read More >

Kholoud al-Ajarma is Alwaleed Lecturer in the Globalised Muslim World and Deputy Director of the Alwaleed Centre, University of Edinburgh.

Kholoud holds a Ph.D. in Anthropology and Comparative Study of Religion from the University of Groningen (Netherlands). Her PhD thesis focused on the socio-cultural embeddedness of Muslim pilgrimage (Hajj) in Moroccan everyday life. During her Ph.D. studies, she worked as a lecturer at the University of Groningen and delivered several courses including ‘Anthropology of Muslim Societies’, ‘Islam: History, Sources, and Practices’, and ‘Minorities in Contemporary Europe’. Her current research focuses on water resource management and contemporary environmental concerns in the Muslim World.

Kholoud received her MA in Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution from Coventry University (UK) and her Mphil in Anthropology and Development from the University of Bergen (Norway). In addition to her academic experience in anthropology and religion, Kholoud has worked in the fields of refugee studies, gender, youth development, migration, human rights, and environmental justice in several countries of the Mediterranean region including Palestine, Jordan, Egypt, and Morocco. She was a Chevening visiting fellow at Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies (OCIS) and peace fellow of the MENA cohort fellowship programme of the United Nations Allience of Civilizations (UNAOC).

Kholoud is also an award-winning photographer and film-maker who has extensive experience developing and leading programs and projects among refugee communities, including innovative platforms for human rights research and media production among young refugee youth. .

Alia J. Bilal serves as Chief Executive Director at the Inner-City Muslim Action Network (IMAN), a nonprofit community organization based in Chicago that fosters health, wellness, and healing in the inner-city by organizing for social change, cultivating the arts, and operating a holistic health center. Alia co-leads and oversees the administration, strategic development, communications, and program implementation of the organization.

In her 15 years at IMAN, Alia has helped the organization grow from a small nonprofit with an operational budget under $1 million to an organization with over 100 full-time staff members, a federally qualified health center, multiple campuses in Chicago and Atlanta, and an operational budget of over $20 million.

Date: Sunday, April 6, 2025
Time: 1:00 PM – 4:00 PM CT
4:00 – 5:30 pm Reception “Faith, Flavor, and Friendship”

Boarding: 12:45 PM / Depart: 1:00 PM from 91̽��

Limited parking at 613 W. Bittersweet Place (rear of College)
Additional parking at Recreation Drive

Stops:

Return: 4:00 pm to 91̽��

Join us on our 4th Chicago Interfaith Trolley Tour. This experiential learning opportunity presents the chance to learn about faith in practice, prayer and communal religious space, and some history of the neighborhood and its religious communities. You will get to meet people from other faith traditions and cultures and make connections with religious leaders. You will also learn about the various interfaith initiatives that these religious institutions host. This is a great way to learn more about your city and celebrate its vibrant diversity.

The Hassan Institute for Interfaith Encounter at 91̽��, The Interreligious Institute at Chicago Theological Seminary, and A Center for Christian-Muslim Engagement for Peace and Justice at The Lutheran School of Theology will be your hosts on April 6th.

We will explore four sacred spaces in the northside neighborhoods of Chicago. The day will end with a reception, “Faith, Flavor, and Friendship” at 4 – 5 pm at 91̽��.

A Center of Christian-Muslim Engagement for Peace and Justice at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago fosters and deepens relations between Christians and Muslims and builds bridges of mutual understanding, respect and cooperation among people of all faiths. To learn more visit www.lstc.edu

The Hassan Institute for Interfaith Encounter at 91̽�� is commited to thoughtful, respectful, and socially impactful inter-religious engagement. It is inspired by a shared belief in the value of transformative, relational, and experiential learning. www.aicusa.edu

At Chicago Theological Seminary, our mission is to educate and inspire the next generation of religious leadership. As a historically Protestant and now multifaith seminary, we are commited to racial and social justice, to gender equality and to deep interreligious engagement. www.ctschicago.edu

Date: Sunday, June 1, 2025
Time: 5:00 PM – 7:00 PM CT

Roosevelt University Schaumburg Campus – Atrium / Licht Student Center (south side of main courtyard)
1400 Roosevelt Blvd
Schaumburg, IL 60173

Book Signing from 7:00 – 7:30 PM | Copies of the book will be available for purchase.
RSVP Required

Join us for an exciting book launch celebrating India by Audrey Truschke, a magisterial history spanning five millennia of the Indian subcontinent—from the Indus Valley Civilization to the complexities of the twenty-first century. This richly textured narrative explores the region’s political, social, religious, and cultural evolution, spotlighting its astonishing diversity and the voices of women, religious minorities, and marginalized groups. The evening will feature a wide-ranging, historically informed theological conversation on contemporary Hindu-Muslim relations, with Truschke joined by two leading scholars, delving into how India’s contested past continues to shape its present and future.

Audrey Truschke��is Professor of South Asian History at Rutgers University in Newark, New Jersey. Trained in Sanskrit and Persian, her research focuses on the cultural, imperial, and intellectual history of medieval and early modern India as well as the politics of history in modern times. She is the author of three books:��Culture of Encounters: Sanskrit at the Mughal Court��(Columbia University Press, 2016),��Aurangzeb: The Life and Legacy of India’s Most Controversial King��(Stanford University Press, 2017), and��The Language of History: Sanskrit Narratives of Indo-Muslim Rule��(Columbia University Press, 2021). Her most recent book,��India: 5,000 Years of History on the Subcontinent, will be published by Princeton University Press in June 2025.

Anantanand Rambachan��is Professor Emeritus of Religion at Saint Olaf College, Minnesota, USA (1985-2021). He was also Forum Humanum Visiting Professor at the Academy for the Study of World Religions at the University of Hamburg in Germany (2013-2017). His books include��Accomplishing the Accomplished: The Vedas as a Source of Valid Knowledge in Ṡaṅkara; The Limits of Scripture: Vivekananda’s Reinterpretation of the Authority of the Vedas, The Advaita Worldview: God, World and Humanity, A Hindu Theology of Liberation: Not-Two is Not-One; Essays in Hindu Theology��and��Pathways to Hindu-Christian Dialogue.��Prof. Rambachan has been involved in interreligious relations and dialogue for over 40 years, as a Hindu contributor and analyst. He is a Co-President of Religions for Peace.

R. David Coolidge��is Research Faculty at Bayan Islamic Graduate School. He was previously the Associate University Chaplain for the Muslim Community at Brown University, the Muslim Advisor at Dartmouth College, and Adjunct Assistant Professor of Public Service at New York University. He received a PhD from the Graduate Theological Union in 2023, and an MA in Religion from Princeton University in 2008. He has served on the boards of various American Muslim nonprofit organizations, including Zaytuna College, Taleef Collective, and Al-Kisa Foundation. As a preacher, he has given hundreds of sermons/talks and led prayers in dozens of Sunnī and Shīʿī masjids around the country. R. David Coolidge has produced numerous academic publications, as well as books and articles of relevance to the wider American Muslim community.

Mahan Mirza��is the visiting Vice President for Academic Affairs at 91̽�� for the 2024 – 2025 year. He is also the Executive Director of the Ansari Institute for Global Engagement with Religion at the University of Notre Dame and a teaching Professor of Islam & Science in the Keough School of Global Affairs. Mirza holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from University of Texas Austin, MA from Hartford Seminary in Islamic Studies and Christian-Muslim Relations, and PhD in Religious Studies from Yale University. Dr. Mirza has edited two special issues of The Muslim World and served as assistant editor of the Princeton Encyclopaedia of Islamic Political Thought.

Timothy J. Gianotti��is the President of 91̽�� and a scholar of classical Islamic theology, philosophy, and spirituality with strong interests in Islamic Psychology, Moral Theology, Ethics, Political Thought, comparative religion and spirituality, and interfaith relations; more specifically, he is a scholar of Abu Hamid al-Ghazali (d.1111), one of the most important religious thinkers of the classical period. Dr. Gianotti is also recognized as a Muslim theologian, pastoral leader, and committed interfaith advocate with extensive experience promoting interfaith engagement around the globe. Dr.Gianotti is the author of Al-Ghazali’s Unspeakable Doctrine of the Soul (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 2001) and In the Light of a Blessed Tree: Illuminations of Islamic Belief, Practice, and History (Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock Publishers, 2011).

Sponsors:

91̽��
Roosevelt University

Thank you to all the organizations that welcomed the delegation to learn more about your important work.

Mayor Brandon Johnson and The City of Chicago
The Illinois Muslim Civic Coalition
Interfaith America
Catholic Theological Union
World Council of Muslims for Interfaith Relations
Masjid al-Taqwa
Mosque Maryam
Salaam Community Center
Sajida House
Turkish American Society of Chicago
Mosque Foundation
Universal School
Viator House
The University of Notre Dame, Ansari Institute
The Lutheran School of Theology, CCME
The University of Chicago, Middle East Studies & Divinity School
Seldon Institute
CAIR-Chicago
Ta’Leef Collective
Darussalaam
MECCA Center
Bahai Temple
Indonesia Consulate General
The Zoroastrian Center of Chicago
Chicago Dawoodi Bohra Community – Masjid Anjuman-e-Saifee
Macedonian Orthodox Church Sv Kiril i Metodij

This Spring at 91̽��, he is teaching Introduction to the Science of Hadith, Islamic History & Civilization 1800-Present, and a graduate course on Hadith Sciences. The history course parallels his forthcoming book, due out in 2026, Imposing Modernity in the Global South: Studies in the Coloniality and Decoloniality of Muslim Societies, a series of studies over the past two centuries concerning issues of coloniality and decoloniality. When talking about hadith sciences, he gets animated. “It’s really a uniquely developed way of doing historiography unlike other civilizations. The methodology is a distinct way of preserving history and historical reasoning. Here at AIC we get to teach our students these different ways of thinking. Hadith science wouldn’t be taught this way at other institutions,” he says. Beyond looking at it theoretically, he trains students to investigate hadith and practice the methodology. With so much focus on the breadth of history, when asked what he thinks about the future of Islamic law in light of the massive changes in technology and the impact of AI, he remarks, “Rationality is one of the characteristics that defines us as humans. How much of our own rationality are we going to surrender, instead of developing that which defines us? How can we purposefully use AI to enhance our humanity and not diminish it?”

Walking helps clear his mind, and he is drawn to doing his research by the water – whether that’s Lake Michigan in Chicago or Lake Erhai in Dali, Yunnan Province, China.

Dr. Omer Awass is Associate Professor of Arabic & Islamic Studies and the Director of the MA program in Islamic Studies at 91̽��.

By Stephanie Mirza, Staff Writer

Professor Casewit is a Qur’anic studies scholar. His research interests include��intellectual history of North Africa and al-Andalus, Muslim perceptions of the Bible, and medieval commentaries on the ninety nine divine names.

He has several publications, most recently����(Cambridge University Press, 2017), a study on Ibn Barrajan’s life and teachings. He is also the author of a����(Brill, TSQ Series, 2016).

Prior to joining the Divinity School, Professor Casewit was a Humanities Research Fellow at New York University Abu Dhabi, and an Assistant Professor of Arabic Intellectual Heritage and Culture at the American University of Sharjah. He completed his M.A., M.Phil., and Ph.D.��in Islamic Studies at Yale University’s Religious Studies Department.

Current projects include a translation and critical edition of a Sufi-Philosophical commentary on the divine names by the Algerian scholar ‘Afif al-Din al-Tilimsani (d. 1291) for the Library of Arabic Literature, NYU Press.

Born in Egypt and raised in Morocco, he is fluent in Arabic, French and Spanish. Yousef has traveled throughout the Islamic world, and has studied with Muslim scholars in Morocco, Syria, and Mauritania.

Her spring courses at AIC couldn’t be more timely in the light of current events in the United States. They include, Introduction to Political Science, Islam in America, and, at the graduate level, Special Topics: Islam in World Cinema. The film course focuses on the representation of Islam and Muslims in popular media. While we are well aware of overt Islamophobic patterns in Hollywood, Dr. Mir points out that seemingly benign Islamophilic films can be subversive as well. She gives the example of Victoria and Abdul (2017), the British biographical historical film in which Abdul, a Muslim from India, piques Queen Victoria’s interest. As Dr. Mir points out, however fondly the Queen regards Abdul, his place is always that of a servant. In addition to the lineup of movies on the Muslim experience she selects for the class, Dr. Mir solicits suggestions from the students at the beginning of the term for possible inclusion in the syllabus. When it comes to teaching political science and Islam in America, she goes beyond the textbook approach to bring in critical readings to understand not just the theory, but the reality on the ground. She invites leaders of non-profit organizations , such as Muslims for Just Futures and CAIR, to talk to the class about their grassroots work to combat Islamophobia.

One of the first things you learn about Dr. Shabana Mir is her care and concern for students. Her keen observation picks up when a student is struggling, or when they’re having that lightbulb moment. When asked what activity makes her lose track of time, she replies instantly, “Gardening. I can work 10 hours in the garden and still feel energized.” She loves the coneflowers and cupped roses, yet when she describes them you get the sense she could be talking about her students. “When you’re a gardener, you notice, ‘that plant has a new leaf today’ – it’s so exciting.”