Khaleel Mohammed

Khaleel Mohammed is a Guyanese-born professor of Religion at San Diego State University (SDSU), in San Diego, California, and a core faculty member of SDSU's Center for Islamic and Arabic Studies. In 2004, he was one of the founders of the Center for Islamic Pluralism.[1]

Biography

Khaleel Mohammed was born in Guyana, South America. He studied classical Islamic theology at Imam Muhammad ibn Saud Islamic University in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. After completing an MA in Judaisma and Islam, he pursued a Ph.D. in Islamic law at McGill University in Montreal.[2]

Academic career

Mohammed's specialties are Islam, Islamic Law, and Comparative Religion. His research interests include Islamic and Arabic studies, Islamic law (classical and modern), comparative religion, Jewish/Christian/Islamic encounter, Qur'anic exegesis (classical and modern), hadith, gender/sex issues and sexuality in Islam, terrorism, antisemitism in Islam, Arab-Israeli relations, and reform in Islam. He is a proponent of inter-faith marriage without the traditionally required conversion of the non-Muslim spouse, and is a registered marriage-officiant.

Mohammed teaches courses on World Religions, The Qur'an, Religious Violence and Non-Violence, Sex and Gender in Islam, and Abrahamic Religions.

Mohammed has testified as an "expert witness" for the prosecution in cases involving allegations of terrorism-related activities.[3][4]

Qur'an teachings on Israel

Mohammed attracted attention for a 2004 interview in which he stated that Sura 5 verse 21 of the Qur'an, and the medieval exegetes of the Qur'an, say that Israel belongs to the Jews. He translates it thus:

"[Moses said]: O my people! Enter the Holy Land which God has written for you, and do not turn tail, otherwise you will be losers."

Mohammed said that the Quran never mentions Jerusalem as a holy city, and added, "It's in the Muslim consciousness that the land first belonged to the Jews. It doesn't matter if the Jews were exiled 500 years or 2000 years, the Holy Land, as mentioned in Quran belongs to Moses and his people, the Jews." [5]

Mohammed says he has convinced many of his Muslim students to see things his way, but they tell him they are afraid of speaking up at their mosque.[5]

He states that he was once accused of being racist, for having stated that "95% of contemporary Muslims are exposed to anti-Semitic teachings".[6] He has received hate mail for his statements.[7]

Published works

"David in the Muslim Tradition: A study of the Bathsheba Affair" Lexington Press, 2014. "Introduction to World Religions," Polymath Learning, 2014. "Coming to Terms with the Qur'an," IPI, 2008. Co-edited with Andrew Rippin

Translations

Book reviews and encyclopedia entries

References

  1. "About Us". Center for Islamic Pluralism. Retrieved 2014-12-27.
  2. Misfit in the mosque, Haaretz
  3. Glenn Greenwald. "The FBI's anticipatory prosecution of Muslims to criminalize speech". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 December 2014.
  4. 1 2 Handler, Judd. "The dissenting Muslim". San Diego Jewish Journal, August 2004.
  5. "FrontPage Magazine - The Koran and the Jews". Retrieved 1 December 2014.

External links

Audio/Video

Debates

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