1. Career
     Civil service and academia    Research interests and literary works    Interfaith dialogue    Media appearances and advisory roles 

2. Books

3. Plays

4. Films

5. See also

6. References

7. External links

Ahmed received the Tamgha-i-Imtiaz (Medal of Excellence) and Sitara-i-Imtiaz (Star of Excellence) from the Pakistani government for academic distinction and the Sir Percy Sykes Memorial Medal by the Royal Society for Asian Affairs in London.^[19][3] He was also awarded the inaugural Purpose Prize in 2006 alongside Judea Pearl^[7] and is frequently named in the annual book, The Muslim 500: The World's 500 Most Influential Muslims,^[5] and was named a 2015 Global Thought Leader by The World Post and the Gottlieb Duttweiler Institute.

Career

Civil service and academia

Ahmed entered the Pakistani civil service in 1966.^[19][8] He graduated from Punjab and Birmingham Universities and later attended Cambridge University doing an MA.^[8][2] In 1978 Ahmed graduated with a Ph.D. in Anthropology at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.^[2][8] At certain points in his life Ahmed held important government positions such as Political Agent for the South Waziristan Agency/North West Frontier Province (1978-1980) and in Baluchistan was Commissioner for the three districts (1982-1988) and Commissioner of the Sibi Division (1989).^[7][19][8] Ahmed was the founder and served as Director of the National Centre for Rural Development in Islamabad and also a Director of the Centre for Social Sciences and Humanities, University Grants Commission in Pakistan.^[32][8][6] In 1988 Ahmed became the Allama Iqbal Fellow at Selywn College, Cambridge for five years and by 1993 he was appointed as the first Muslim Fellow.^[8][3] He also was the first Pakistani to serve on the Council of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland.^[8] Ahmed has held professorships at several North American educational institutions.^[8] At Princeton University he taught there and served as a Visiting Professor at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton.^[2][8][3] He also taught at Harvard University and was a Visiting Scholar at the Department of Anthropology.^[8][32][44] Ahmed was the First Chair of Middle East and Islamic Studies at the US Naval Academy, Annapolis, and a Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution.^[2][8] In 2004 Ahmed was named District of Columbia Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education.^[3] He also taught at the Quaid-i-Azam University in Pakistan.^[8]

In 1999-2000 Ahmed served as Pakistani High Commissioner (ambassador) to the United Kingdom, however was recalled back to Islamabad after 8 months of service and thought it had to do with his comments about the views of Muhammad Ali Jinnah on Islam.^[8][3] During this time he finished four projects called the Jinnah Quartet which were a scholarly study, graphic novel, feature film and a documentary film all named after the first Pakistani Governor General Muhammad Jinnah in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of Pakistan's founding.^[2][8] Ahmed's four part project series on Jinnah has won many international awards.^[3]

Research interests and literary works

Ahmed's research interests focus on Pashtuns and others including tribal groups, Muslim society and development anthropology.^[7] He has conducted anthropological fieldwork with Pashtuns in Afghanistan, undertaken comparative studies of Islamic social customs in Morocco, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia and researching global Islam alongside its impacts on contemporary society.^[8][9][3] Among his works on Pashtuns are Millennium and charisma among Pathans (1976) and his wideranging study The Thistle and the Drone (2013) that focuses on Muslim hill peoples in Pakistan, Yemen, North Africa and afar as the Philippines which examines US drone operations in the Muslim world, its subsequent consequences and reputation of the USA being considered synonymous with the drone.^[2][10] Ahmed has criticized some anthropologists for studying "Muslim groups without reference to the Islamic framework".^[11] Other areas of research interest include Modernity and Muslims along with Islam and the concept of postmodernism in relation to Muslim societies, cultures, media and the West.^[12]

Ahmed has co-edited several books with other academics.^[3] He has authored many articles and more than a dozen books that have won awards such as Discovering Islam which became the basis for a six-part BBC TV series called Living Islam.^[7][3] Other books are Postmodernism and Islam: Predicament and Promise which was nominated for an Amalfi Award and Islam Today: A short Introduction to the Muslim world was awarded by the Los Angeles Times as the best non-fiction book of the year.^[3] Ahmed has written a biography of Muhammad Jinnah, Pakistan's first Governor General.^[13] and a study Journey into America: The challenge of Islam based on fieldwork with American Muslims.^[7] He has also written plays like Noor and The trial of Dara Shikoh which have been published and staged for audiences.^[7] Ahmed's publications have been translated into other languages such as Indonesian and Chinese.^[7] Functioning between both worlds, through his writing and broadcasting Ahmed has attempted to bridge the Muslim-West world divide and encourage communication between both groups.^[8] He has expressed admiration of English translations of Islamic classics in assisting him to "discover the riches" of "Islamic cultural legacy" and "appreciate critically the beneficial impact of the West".^[8]

Interfaith dialogue

In the aftermath of 9/11, Ahmed initiated a series of studies that were published by the Brookings Institution Press covering issues regarding relations between Islam and the West.^[14] Ahmed has been engaged in a series of public interfaith dialogues across the US and abroad with Professor Judea Pearl, father of deceased reporter Daniel Pearl focusing on divisions between Muslims and the West and between Jews and Muslims.^[5][15] For their efforts, he and Pearl were awarded the first Purpose Prize by the Interfaith Conference of Metropolitan Washington at the National Cathedral and Ahmed received the Herschel-King award for Interfaith Activism.^[7] He has also been appointed as a Trustee of the World Faiths Development Dialogue by the Archbishop of Canterbury and has received the 2002 Free Speech Award from the Muslim Public Affairs Council based in Washington DC.^[16] Ahmed has received accusations of being "a Zionist conspirator" and close to the West however he has felt that "dialogue, harmony, communication and debate" are for Islam and the West the key issues of engagement.^[17]

Media appearances and advisory roles

Ahmed has been interviewed by the BBC, PBS, NPR, MSNBC, "Think Tank," NBC Nightly News, CNN, CBS, Fox News, and other media organisations.^[18][5] In addition to The Daily Show and The O'Reilly Factor, he has made several appearances on the Oprah Winfrey Show.^[18][5]

He has also served as an advisor to President George W. Bush and Prince Charles on Islam.^[5] Ahmed has given lectures worldwide in places such as the US Congressional retreat in Greenbrier, West Virginia, the National Defense University in Washington DC, the State Department and the House of Lords in London.^[19]

Books

• Journey Into Europe: Islam, Immigration, and Identity (Brookings Press, 2018).
• The Thistle and the Drone: How America's War on Terror Became a Global War on Tribal Islam (Brookings Press, 2013).
• Suspended Somewhere Between: A Book of Verse (Busboys and Poets, 2011).
• Journey into America: The Challenge of Islam (Brookings Press, 2010; Winner of the American Book Award).
• Journey into Islam: The Crisis of Globalization (Brookings Press, 2007).
• After Terror: Promoting Dialogue Among Civilizations Co-Edited by Brian Forst, (Polity Press, 2005).
• Islam Under Siege: Living Dangerously in a Post-Honor World (Polity Press, 2003).
• The Future of Anthropology: Its Relevance to the Contemporary World; Co-Edited by Chris Shore, (Athlone Press, 1999).
• Islam Today: A Short Introduction to The Muslim World; (I.B. Tauris, 1998).
• Jinnah, Pakistan and Islamic Identity: The Search for Saladin; (Routledge, 1997).
• Islam, Globalization and Postmodernity with Hastings Donnan; (Routledge, 1994).
• Living Islam: From Samarkand and Stornoway (BBC Books, 1993).
• Discovering Islam: Making Sense of Muslim History and Society; (Routledge, 1988).
• Postmodernism and Islam: Predicament and Promise; (Routledge, 1992).
• Resistance and Control in Pakistan; (Routledge, 1991).
• Pakistan: The Social Sciences' Perspective; (Oxford University Press, 1990).
• Toward Islamic Anthropology: Definition, Dogma, and Directions; (Vanguard Books, 1987).
• Religion and Politics in Muslim Society: Order and Conflict in Pakistan; (Royal Book Co., 1987).
• Pukhtun Economy and Society: Traditional structure and economic development in a tribal society (Routledge, 1980).
• Pieces of Green, the Sociology of Change in Pakistan, 1964–1974; (Royal Book Co., 1977).
• Social and Economic change in the Tribal Areas, 1972–1976; (Oxford University Press, 1977).
• Millennium and Charisma Among Pathans: A Critical Essay in Social Anthropology (Routledge, 1976)
• Mataloona: Pukhto Proverbs, (Oxford University Press, 1975).
• Mansehra: A Journey, (Ferozsons, 1973).

Plays

• The Trial of Dara Shikoh (Saqi Books, 2009)
• Noor (Saqi Books, 2009)

Films

• Journey into Europe (Documentary, 2015)
• Journey into America (Documentary, 2009)
• Jinnah (Feature Film, 1998)
• Mr. Jinnah: The Making of Pakistan (Documentary, 1997)
• Living Islam (BBC Six-Part Series, 1993)

See also

• Contemporary Islamic philosophy
• Anthropology
• International Relations
• Islamic studies

References

External links

• Akbar Ahmed at the Huffington Post
• Faculty Biography at American University
• Articles on Islam by Professor Akbar S. Ahmad
• Interview with Professor Ahmed from the Foreign Correspondent, 19 September 2001
• [https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/was-jinnah-a-saint-or-sinner-1184528.html The Independent on release of Jinnah, Nov. 1998]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20020802052117/http://www.islamfortoday.org/akbar04.htm "Islam and Freedom of Thought" by Akbar Ahmed and Lawrence Rosen]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20090504190656/http://pewforum.org/events/index.php?EventID=124 "Five Years After 9/11, 'Dialogue' with Islam Cause for Hope": Q&A with Akbar Ahmed by Mark O'Keefe]
• "Globalization in our Public Schools" by Akbar Ahmed posted 10/16/08
• {{IMDb name|0014137}}
• {{C-SPAN|Akbar Ahmed}}

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