On Friday, April 20^th, IIIT held its monthly seminar at its headquarters in Herndon, Virginia. The panel discussion, entitled “Jewish Muslim Dialogue: Challenges and Prospects” attracted more than forty interfaith and community leaders, scholars and university students. The panelists were: Rabbi Gerry Serotta, Executive Director of Clergy Beyond Borders, Imam Yahya Hendi, President, Clergy Beyond Borders, and Joseph Montville, Senior Research Scholar at IIIT. Guests from Eastern Mennonite University included Dr. Ed Martin, Director of the Center of Interfaith Engagement, and Dr. John Fairfield, Professor at Eastern Mennonite University. Also present were students from the American University and their supervisor, Dr. Mohammad Nimer.

Professor Abdulaziz Sachedina has been appointed to take the IIIT Chair in Islamic Studies at the Ali Vural Ak Center for Global Islamic Studies, George Mason University. Prof. Sachedina has done extensive research on classical Islamic sources and has written on contemporary issues such as human rights (Human Rights and the Conflicts of Culture, Islam and the Challenge of Human Rights), democracy (The Islamic Roots of Democratic Pluralism), biomedical ethics (Islamic Biomedical Ethics).

In a press release on April 25th, Ali Vural Ak Center for Global Islamic Studies said: "Mason is proud to attract scholars of this caliber, a testament to the university's commitment to become a global center of excellence for teaching, research, and outreach in Islamic studies."

IIIT welcomed the appointment as a major contribution to the enhancement of Islamic Studies in general, and IIIT's cooperation with GMU in the study of the global presence of Islam.

Prof. Sachedina has studied in India, Iraq, Iran, and Canada, and obtained his Ph.D. from the University of Toronto. He will arrive at GMU in January 2013 from the University of Virginia, Charolttesville, VA where he is currently professor of Religious Studies.

The AMSS (UK) Building Bridges Award 2012 was presented to Professor Nabil Matar by Dr Anas. S. Al-Shaikh-Ali, at the “Acknowledging a Shared Past to Build a Shared Future: Rethinking Muslim/Non-Muslim Relations” which took place at Cambridge University on 28 – 30th March 2012. The conference was organized by the British Council and HRH Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Centre of Islamic Studies (University of Cambridge) in cooperation with the AMSS UK, the Carnegie Corporation, the Woolf Institute (University of Cambridge), and the HRH Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Centre for the Study of Islam in the Contemporary World ...