Mohsen Kadivar
Research Professor in the Department of Religious Studies
Mohsen Kadivar is a leading public intellectual, a theologian, and a research professor of Islamic studies at the Department of Religious Studies (Duke University). His interests span both classical and modern Islamic thought as well as comparative medieval philosophy and philosophy of religion with a special focus on Islamic philosophy, ethics, theology, jurisprudence, Qur'anic studies, Shi'i political thought, Islam and modernity (especially democracy and human rights), religion and politics, religion and science, the problem of evil, and comparative religious studies. Author of thirty books in Persian, six books were translated into Arabic, his recent books are /Human Rights and Reformist Islam/ and /Blasphemy and Apostasy in Islam (both Edinburgh U. Press, 2021). His forthcoming books are /Governance by Guardianship: Rule and Government in the Islamic Republic of Iran (Cambridge University Press) and /The illusion of Islamic Theocracy: The Transformation of Shi’ite Political Thought in the Islamic Republic of Iran (UNC Press). You can find more information about Kadivar’s recent works on his website: https://english.kadivar.com/
Office Hours
Current Appointments & Affiliations
- Research Professor in the Department of Religious Studies, Religious Studies, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences 2015
Contact Information
- 403 Chapel Drive, 118 Gray Bldg., Box 90964, Durham, NC 27708
- Room 216 Gray Building, Durham, NC 27708
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mohsen.kadivar@duke.edu
(919) 660-3521
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Mohsen Kadivar Official Website
- Background
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Education, Training, & Certifications
- Ph.D., Tarbiat Modares University (Iran) 1999
- Certification of Ijtihad, Qom Seminary (Iran) 1980 - 1997
- M.A., University of Qom (Iran) 1993
- B.A., University of Qom (Iran) 1989
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Previous Appointments & Affiliations
- Visiting Research Scholar in the Department of Religious Studies, Religious Studies, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences 2010 - 2015
- Visiting Instructor in Religion, Religious Studies, Trinity College of Arts & Sciences 2009 - 2010
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Academic Positions Outside Duke
- Visiting Associate Professor, Department of Religious Studies, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, US. 2008 - 2009
- Tenure position, Associate Professor, Department of Islamic Philosophy, Iranian Institute of Philosophy, Tehran, Iran. 2008 - 2011
- Tenure position, Assistant Professor, Department of Islamic Philosophy, Iranian Institute of Philosophy, Tehran, Iran. 2007 - 2008
- Tenure position, Assistant Professor, Department of Philosophy, Tarbiat Modarres University, Tehran, Iran. 2005 - 2007
- Tenure Track position, Assistant Professor, Department of Philosophy, Tarbiat Modarres University, Tehran, Iran. 2002 - 2005
- Assistant Professor, Department of Philosophy, Tarbiat Modarres University, Tehran, Iran. 2000 - 2002
- Instructor, Department of Philosophy, Mufid University, Qom, Iran. 1993 - 1997
- Visiting Lecturer, Imam Sadeq University, Beheshti University, & Tarbiat Modarres University, Tehran, Iran. 1992 - 1999
- Instructor of Islamic Law and its methodology, Ayatollah Golpayegani Madrasa, Qom Seminary, Iran. 1986 - 1995
- Instructor of Islamic Philosophy, Theology and Ethics, Feyziyeh School & Qom Seminary, Iran. 1985 - 1998
- Instructor of Arabic Literature, Razawiyeh Madrasa, Qom Seminary, Iran. 1982 - 1986
- Recognition
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In the News
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SEP 29, 2022 -
FEB 24, 2016 The Guardian -
FEB 24, 2016 The Guardian -
NOV 14, 2014 Al-Monitor -
AUG 25, 2014 -
AUG 25, 2014 Duke Today -
JUL 16, 2014 Al-Monitor -
NOV 20, 2013 Duke Today -
NOV 20, 2013 -
NOV 8, 2013 -
NOV 8, 2013 Duke Today -
AUG 14, 2013 Australian Broadcastings The World -
AUG 5, 2013 Bloomberg News -
JUN 21, 2013 Informed Comment -
MAY 30, 2013
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Awards & Honors
- Expertise
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Subject Headings
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Global Scholarship
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Teaching
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- Research
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Selected Grants
- Islamic Theocracy in the Secular Age awarded by National Humanities Center 2019 - 2020
- Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin awarded by Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin 2017
- A Human Rights and Islamic Law Program awarded by Open Society Institute, New York 2013 - 2014
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Fellowships, Supported Research, & Other Grants
- Fellowship of National Humanities Center awarded by Research Triangle Park, North Carolina 2019 - 2020
- Fellow of Wissenschaftskolleg: awarded by Institute for Advanced Study, Berlin, Germany 2017
- Nannerl O.Keohane Distinguished Visiting Professor, awarded by Department of Religious Studies: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Duke University at Durham, NC 2014
- Global Ethics Fellow awarded by Carnegie Council: The Voice of Ethics in International Affairs, New York, NY 2012 - 2014
- Visiting Scholar awarded by Islamic Legal Studies Program, Harvard Law School, Cambridge, MA, US 2002
- Hellman-Hammett Grant awarded by Human Rights Watch "to recognize the courage of writers around the world who have been targets of political persecution" 2000
- Publications & Artistic Works
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Selected Publications
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Books
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Kadivar, Mohsen. The Era of Cooperation and Assistance. Vol. II. Essen, Germany: New Thought PRESS, 2021.Link to Item
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Kadivar, Mohsen. Blasphemy and Apostasy in Islam. Translated by Hamid Mavani. Edinburgh, UK: Edinburgh University Press, 2021.Link to Item
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Kadivar, Mohsen. Human Rights and Reformist Islam. Translated by Nikky Akhavan. Edinburgh, UK: Edinburgh University Press, 2021.Link to Item
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Kadivar, Mohsen. ANIMOSITY TOWARDS WISDOM AND MORALITY. Essen, Germany: New Thought Press, 2020.Link to Item
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Kadivar, Mohsen. Shedding Light on the Covert Assembly of Experts. Vol. I. Essen, Germany: New Thought PRESS, 2020.Link to Item
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Kadivar, M. A Tribute to the Virtuous Theologian Ayatollah Montazeri. Vol. 2. The official website of Mohsen Kadivar, 2015.Link to Item
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Kadivar, M. In the Presence of a Noble Theologian Ayatollah Montazeri. Vol. 1. The official website of Mohsen Kadivar, 2015.Link to Item
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Kadivar, M. Impeaching Iran’s Supreme Leader’s Claim to Religious Authority. Vol. 2. Mohsen Kadivar Official Website, 2015.Open Access Copy Link to Item
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Kadivar, M. Examining the last years of Ayatollah S. Kazim Shari’atmadari’s life. Vol. 1. Mohsen Kadivar’s official website, 2015.Link to Item
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Kadivar, M. Testing the Revolution and Regime with Ethical Criticism. Vol. 3. Official Website of Mohsen Kadivar, 2015.Link to Item
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Kadivar, M. Al-Hukumat al-Wila’iyyah. Translated by Al-Sayyid Muhammad Hassan Al-Amin. Beirut: Arab Diffusion Company, 2015.Link to Item
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Kadivar, M. The Green Call. Vol. 1. Mohsen Kadivar Official website, 2014.Link to Item
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Kadivar, M. Apostasy, Blasphemy, & Religious Freedom in Islam. Vol. 2. Mohsen Kadivar’s official website, 2014.Open Access Copy
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Kadivar, M. Appointive /Non-Elective State. Vol. 3. Mohsen Kadivar’s official website, 2014.
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Kadivar, M. Impeaching Iran’s Supreme Leader on his Political Authority. Vol. 1. The official website of Mohsen Kadivar, 2014.Link to Item
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Kadivar, M. The Rise and Fall of Azari Qomi. Vol. 2. Official Website of Mohsen Kadivar, 2014.Link to Item
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Kadivar, M. Forgotten Interpretation of Leadership in Shi'i Islam. Translated by Sa’d Rustam. Beirut: Arab Diffusion Company, 2011.Link to Item
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Kadivar, M. The State of the Guardian Jurist. Vol. 2. Tehran, Iran: Nashr-e Ney, 2008.
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Kadivar, M. The Theories of State in Shi’ite Fiqh. Vol. 1. Tehran, Iran: Nashr-e Ney, 2008.
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Kadivar, M. Shari’a and Politics: Religion in Public Sphere. Vol. 2. Mohsen Kadivar’s official website, 2008.
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Kadivar, M. The Rights of Mankind in Islam. Vol. 1. Tehran, Iran: Kavir, 2008.
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Kadivar, M. The Book of Intellect. Tehran, Iran: Ettella’at Publications, 2008.
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Khurasani, Muhammad Kazim. Khurasani's Political Philosophy. Edited by M. Kadivar. Tehran, Iran: Kavir, 2008.
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Kadivar, M. Nazariat al-Dawlah fi al-Fiqh al-Shi’i (The Theories of State in Shi’ite Law). Beirut: Dar al-Hadi, 2004.
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Kadivar, M. The Concerns of a Religious State. Vol. 1. Tehran, Iran: Nashr-e Ney, 2000.
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Kadivar, M. The Theories of State in Shi’ite Law. Beirut: Dar al-Jadid, 2000.
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Kadivar, M., and Mohammad Nouri. A Bibliography of Rational Sciences in Iran since the beginning of modern publication in the 19th century until 1996. Vol. 1–3. Tehran: Entesharat-e Ettella’at, 2000.
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Kadivar, M. The Price of Freedom. Edited by Zahra Roodi. Tehran, Iran: Nashr-e Ney, 1999.
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Mudarris Tehrani, Agha Ali. The Compilation of the Works of the Sage & Originator Agha Ali Mudarris Tehrani, volume 1. Edited by M. Kadivar. Vol. 1. Tehran, Iran: Ettela’at Publications, 1999.
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Mudarris Tehrani, Agha Ali. The Compilation of the Works of the Sage & Originator Agha Ali Mudarris Tehrani, volume 2. Edited by M. Kadivar. Vol. 2. Tehran, Iran: Ettela’at Publications, 1999.
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Muddaris Tehrani, Agha Ali. The Compilation of the Works of the Sage & Originator Agha Ali Muddaris Tehrani, volume 3. Edited by M. Kadivar. Vol. 3. Tehran, Iran: Ettela’at Publications, 1999.
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Kadivar, Mohsen. The illusion of Islamic Theocracy: The Transformation of Shi’ite Political Thought in the Islamic Republic of Iran (Unpublished). Chapel Hill, NC: The University of North Carolina Press, n.d.
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Kadivar, Mohsen. Governance by Guardianship. Edited by Mahmoud Sadri. Translated by Roy Mottahedeh, Ahmad Kazemi Moussavi, and Banafsheh Madaninejad. UK: Cambridge University Press, n.d.
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Academic Articles
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Kadivar, M. “Democracy and ethical values from Islamic perspective.” Philosophy and Social Criticism 46, no. 5 (May 1, 2020): 563–75. https://doi.org/10.1177/0191453720909583.Full Text
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Kadivar, M. “Ijtihad in Usul al-Fiqh: Reforming Islamic Thought through Structural Ijtihad.” Iran Nameh 30, no. 3 (November 2015): XX–XXVII.Link to Item
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Kadivar, M. “La naissance du «souverain juriste». Généalogie de la théorie de l’État shi’ite.” Edited and translated by Anoush Ganjipour. Les Temps Modernes 70, no. 683 (June 2015): 110–28.
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Kadivar, M. “The birth of the "Sovereign Jurist". Genealogical theory of the Shi'ite state.” Temps Modernes 70, no. 683 (April 1, 2015): 110–28.
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Kadivar, M. “From traditional Islam to Islam as an end in itself.” Welt Des Islams 51, no. 3–4 (December 1, 2011): 459–84. https://doi.org/10.1163/157006011X611632.Full Text
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Kadivar, M. “Avicenna & The classification of Philosophy.” Edited by M. Kadivar. The Journal of Sapiential Wisdom and Philosophy (Sophia Perennis) 5, no. 9 (February 2009): 35–106.Link to Item
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Kadivar, M. “Avicenna & The classification of Philosophy.” Edited by M. Kadivar. The Journal of Sapiential Wisdom and Philosophy (Sophia Perennis) 5, no. 9 (February 2009): 35–106.Link to Item
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Kadivar, M. “The Forgotten Interpretation.” Madrese (Quarterly) 1, no. 3 (May 2006): 92–102.
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Kadivar, M. “Freedom of thought and religion.” Current History 104, no. 678 (December 1, 2005): 43–44.
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Kadivar, M. “Political Innovative Ideas and Influences of Mulla Muhammad Kazim Khorasani.” Annals of Japan Association for Middle East Studies (Ajames) 21, no. 1 (September 2005): 59–73.Link to Item
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Kadivar, M. “God and his guardians.” Index on Censorship 33, no. 4 (January 1, 2004): 64–71. https://doi.org/10.1080/03064220408537409.Full Text
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Kadivar, Mohsen. “An Introduction to the Public and Private Debate in Islam.” Social Research 70 (2003): 659–80.
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Book Sections
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Kadivar, Mohsen. “Islam and the State from a Shi'ite Perspective.” In Secularism in Comparative Perspective — Religion across Political Contexts, edited by Jonathan Laurence, 23:57–80. Switzerland: Springer, 2023.Link to Item
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Kadivar, Mohsen. “Rethinking Muslim Marriage Rulings through Structural Ijtihad.” In Justice and Beauty in Muslim Marriages: Towards Egalitarian Ethics and Laws, edited by Ziba Mir-Hosseini, Mulki Al-Sharmani, Jana Rumminger, and Sarah Marsso, 213–31. London: Oneworld, 2022.
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Kadivar, Mohsen. “Dignity (Human)/ Karamah.” In Oxford Encyclopedia of the Islamic World: Digital Collection, edited by John L. Esposito. Oxford, U.K.: Oxford University Press, 2022. https://doi.org/10.1093/acref/9780197669419.001.0001.Full Text Link to Item
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Kadivar, Mohsen. “Free Speech and Critique of Religion in Contemporary Islam.” In Free Speech, Scholarly Critique, and the Limits of Expression in Islam, edited by Liakat Takim, 3:131–51. Birmingham, U.K.: AMI Press, 2022.
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Kadivar, Mohsen. “Rational Perception in Ibn Sina and Mulla Sadra.” In Ibn Sina and Mulla Sadra: On the Rediscovery of Aristotle and the School of Isfahan, edited by Reza Hajatpour and Maha Elkaisy-Friemuth, 3:85–99. Freiburg; München: Verlag Karl Alber, 2021.
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Kadviar, Mohsen. “Toward Removing the Punishment of Apostasy in Islam.” In Freedom of Expression in Islam: Challenging Apostasy and Blasphemy Laws, edited by Muhammad Khalid Masud, Kari Vogt, Lena Larsen, and Christian Moe, 207–36. London, UK: I.B. Tauris, 2021.
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Kadviar, Mohsen. “Genealogies of Pluralism in Islamic Thought: Shi'a Perspective.” In Pluralism in Islamic Contexts: Ethics, Politics and Modern Challenges, edited by Mohammad Hashas, 75–97. Switzerland: Springer, 2021.Link to Item
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Kadivar, Mohsen. “Āqā 'Alī Mudarris Tihrānī.” In Philosophy in Qajar Iran, edited by Reza Pourjavady, 127:231–58. Leiden: Brill, 2019. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004387843_007.Full Text Link to Item
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Kadivar, Mohsen. “Islam and Democracy: Perspectives from Reformist and Traditional Islam.” In The Politics of Islamism: Diverging Visions and Trajectories, edited by John L. Esposito, Lily Zubaidah Rahim, and Naser Ghobadzadeh, 23–45. Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan, Springer, 2018.Link to Item
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Kadivar, M. “Human action within divine creation: A Muslim perspective.” In God’s Creativity and Human Action: Christian and Muslim Perspectives, edited by Lucinda Mosher and David Marshal, 14:7–22. Washington: Georgetown University Press, 2017.
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Kadivar, Mohsen. “Marvels of Wisdom (Badayi’ al-Hikam) of Agha Ali Mudarris Tihrani (Zunuzi).” In An Anthology of Philosophy in Persia, Vol. 5: From School of Shiraz to Twentieth Century, edited by S. H. Nasr and M. Aminrazavi, translated by M. Kadivar and Nicolas Boylston, 5:471–88. London, New York: I.B.Tauris, 2015.
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Kadivar, M. “Routinizing the Iranian Revolution.” In Islam in the Modern World, edited by Jeffrey T. Kenney and Ebrahim Moosa, 351–68. London and New York: Routledge, 2014.
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Kadivar, M. “Revisiting Women's Rights in Islam: 'Egalitarian Justice' in lie of 'Meritocratic Justice'.” In Justice Through Equality: New Approaches to Muslim Family Law, edited by Z. Mir-Hosseini, L. Larsen, C. Moe, and K. Vogt, 213–34. London: I.B. Tauris, 2013.
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Kadivar, M. “Routinizing the Iranian Revolution.” In Islam in the Modern World, 351–68, 2013. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203736340-28.Full Text
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Kadivar, M. “Wilayat al-faqih and Democracy.” In Islam, the State and Political Authority, Medieval Issues and Modern Concerns, edited by A. Afsaruddin, 207–24. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2011.
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Kadivar, M. “Human Rights and Intellectual Islam.” In New Directions in Islamic Thought: Exploring Reform and Muslim Tradition, edited by K. Vogt, L. Larsen, and C. Moe, 47–74. London: I.B.Tauris, 2011.
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Kadivar, M. “Theories of Government in Shi’i Fiqh.” In Shi’ism, Critical Concepts in Islamic Studies Vol. 3: Law, Rite & Rituals, edited by P. Luft and C. Turner, 267–82. New York: Routledge, 2008.
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Kadivar, M. “Freedom of Religion and Belief in Islam.” In The New Voices of Islam: Reforming Politics and Modernity – A Reader, edited by M. Kamrava, 119–42. London: I.B.Tauris, 2006.
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Kadivar, M., and G. H. Ebrahimi Dinani. “The Ontological Initiations of the Inventive Philosopher Agha Ali Mudarres Tehrani: A Case Study of the Principality of Existence.” In An Anthology of Iranian Studies, 184–213. Tehran: Center for Cultural and International Studies, 2002.
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Kadivar, M. “Political Rights of People in Islam.” In Islamic Views on Human Rights: The Viewpoints of Iranian Scholars, edited by E. Salami, 107–24. Tehran: Al-hoda International Publications, 2001.
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- Teaching & Mentoring
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Recent Courses
- HISTORY 265S: Religion and Politics in Post-Revolutionary Iran 2023
- MEDREN 374S: Islam & the Meaning of Life 2023
- POLSCI 379S: Religion and Politics in Post-Revolutionary Iran 2023
- RELIGION 374S: Islam & the Meaning of Life 2023
- RELIGION 377S: Religion and Politics in Post-Revolutionary Iran 2023
- AMES 160: Islam 2022
- CULANTH 402: The Problem of Evil: God, Evil, Suffering, Sin, Meaning of Life, and Philosophy of Religion 2022
- ETHICS 287: Religion and Science 2022
- ETHICS 402: The Problem of Evil: God, Evil, Suffering, Sin, Meaning of Life, and Philosophy of Religion 2022
- ICS 160: Islam 2022
- NEUROSCI 237: Religion and Science 2022
- RELIGION 160: Islam 2022
- RELIGION 287: Religion and Science 2022
- RELIGION 401: The Problem of Evil: God, Evil, Suffering, Sin, Meaning of Life, and Philosophy of Religion 2022
- RELIGION 946S: Comparative Medieval Philosophy (Al-Farabi, Avicenna, Al-Ghazali, Averroes, Maimonides, Aquinas) 2022
- AMES 126S: Understanding the Qur'an 2021
- MEDREN 374S: Islam & the Meaning of Life 2021
- RELIGION 370S: Understanding the Qur'an 2021
- RELIGION 374S: Islam & the Meaning of Life 2021
- RELIGION 388S: Muslim Ethics and Islamic Law: Issues and Debates 2021
- RELIGION 663: Islam and Modernism 2021
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Advising & Mentoring
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Arpan Bhandari, MA, Duke University, Fall 2018.
Matthew Lynch, Dissertation Committee Member: “Rumi’s Masnavi and the Molding of the Religious Present. ”UNC at Chapel Hill, PhD, December 2018.
Abdul Rahman Abdul Latif, Undergrad Honors Theses: “Muslim Perspectives of Evolution”, Duke University, anticipated April 2016.
Daniel Spisak, MA, Duke University, Spring 2015.
Lauren Wall, MA, Duke University, Spring 2014.Rose Aslan, Dissertation Committee Member: “From Body to Shrine: The Construction of Sacred Space at the Grave of `Ali ibn Abi Talib in Najaf.” UNC at Chapel Hill, PhD, May 2014
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Teaching Activities
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RELIGION 377S / AMES 288S / POLSCI 379S / HISTORY 265 S: Religion and Politics in Post-Revolutionary Iran
REL 527S / RIGHTS 527S: Islam and Human Rights
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