#DEFININGISLAMICPSYCH
Speakers
Theories of the Soul
Dr. Khaled Abou El Fadl
​
Abou el Fadl is the Omar and Azmeralda Alfi Distinguished Professor of Law at the UCLA School of Law where he has taught courses on International Human Rights, Islamic jurisprudence, National Security Law, Law and Terrorism, Islam and Human Rights, Political Asylum, and Political Crimes and Legal Systems. He is also the Chair of the Islamic Studies Program at the University of California, Los Angeles. He has lectured on and taught Islamic law in the United States and Europe in academic and non-academic environments since approximately 1990.
Abou El Fadl is the author of numerous books and articles on topics in Islam and Islamic law. He has appeared on national and international television and radio, and published in such publications as The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The Los Angeles Times, and The Boston Review. His work has been translated into several languages including Arabic, Persian, French, Norwegian, Dutch, Russian, Vietnamese and Japanese.
Dr. Sherman A. Jackson
​
Theory of Mind (ToM)
Jackson is the King Faisal Chair of Islamic Thought and Culture and Professor of Religion and American Studies and Ethnicity at the University of Southern California. He has been named as one of the 500 Most Influential Muslims by The Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre for several years consistently. Jackson was formerly the Arthur F. Thurnau Professor of Near Eastern Studies, Visiting Professor of Law and Professor of Afro-American Studies at the University of Michigan.
Jackson received his Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania and has taught at the University of Texas at Austin, Indiana University, Wayne State University and the University of Michigan. From 1987 to 1989, he served as Executive Director of the Center of Arabic Study Abroad in Cairo, Egypt. He is author of several books, including Islamic Law and the State: The Constitutional Jurisprudence of Shihâb al-Dîn al-Qarâfî (E.J. Brill, 1996), On the Boundaries of Theological Tolerance in Islam: Abû Hâmid al-Ghazâlî's Faysal al-Tafriqa (Oxford, 2002), Islam and the Blackamerican: Looking Towards the Third Resurrection (Oxford, 2005) and Islam and the Problem of Black Suffering (Oxford, 2009).
Jackson has been featured on the Washington Post-Newsweek blog, "On Faith," as well as the Huffington Post. In 2009 and 2012.
Theories of the Soul
Dr. Sayed Moustafa al-Qazwini is the Founding Imam of the Islamic Educational Center of Orange County and President of the Shia Muslim Council of Southern California. He is a graduate of the Islamic seminary of Qum, holds a PhD in Islamic Studies from UK and is the author of a number of books.
Shortly after his arrival in California in 1994, Dr. Sayed Moustafa al-Qazwini became the founder and imam of the Islamic Cultural Center of San Diego, California. This center was the first Shia mosque established in San Diego County for religious and social events. His success in San Diego paved the way for his next mission—a mosque in Orange County, California.
In September 1996, he founded the Islamic Educational Center of Orange County (IECOC). Drawing on his experience in Islamic studies, he has maturated the center for educational, religious and social events. As the founder and imam of IECOC, he serves as a mentor for the Muslim community.
Dr. al-Qazwini’s associations are also founding member of the council of Shia Muslim Scholars of North America, Co-chair of the West Coast Dialogue of Muslims and Catholics, a senior advisor for the United Muslim American Association and the founder of Ahlulbayt Islamic Seminary of California. Dr. al-Qazwini spends much of his time lecturing across the United States and the world, and participating in interfaith and intrafaith dialogues and various panels at churches and universities.
Imam Zaid Shakir
What is theory of community, family and the individual in Islam?
Shakir is a Muslim American scholar and co-founder of Zaytuna College in Berkeley, California. He teaches courses on Arabic, law, history, and Islamic spirituality.
He is co-founder and chairman of United For Change, whose stated goal is to leverage the diversity of the Muslim and interfaith community and address divisive obstacles. In 2015, he signed the official Memorandum of Understanding between Zaytuna College and Hartford Seminary in Connecticut.
He is one of the signatories of A Common Word Between Us and You, an open letter by Islamic scholars to Christian leaders, calling for peace and understanding. Imam Zaid is a signatory along with religious and spiritual Leaders from around the world who presented the UN Secretary General with a declaration. in support of the Paris Climate Agreement under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, marking the largest number of nations ever signing an international agreement.
Brown is an American scholar of Islamic studies. Since 2012, he has been associate professor at Georgetown University's Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service. In 2014, he was appointed Chair of Islamic Civilization.
He has authored several books including Misquoting Muhammad: The Challenges and Choices of Interpreting the Prophet’s Legacy, Hadith: Muhammad's Legacy in the Medieval and Modern World, Muhammad: A Very Short Introduction, and The Canonization of al-Bukhari and Muslim. He has also published articles in the fields of Hadith, Islamic law, Salafism, Sufism, and Arabic language.
Dr. Sawssan Ahmed
How does Islam view the Couple? What are the boundaries of the feminine and masculine in Islam?
Dr. Sawssan Ahmed is an assistant professor in the Department of Psychology at Cal State Fullerton. She received her doctorate in clinical psychology with specializations in quantitative methods and community psychology from Wayne State University. She completed her postdoctoral training in developmental issues and health disparities. During her doctoral studies at Wayne State, Dr. Ahmed was a co-investigator on a NIH-funded study focused on the relationship between racism, behavioral factors and psychological and physical health in Arab-American adults. Dr. Ahmed's current research focuses on the relationship between sociocultural risk and protective factors and physical and mental health in people of color. She has a continued interest in the area of health disparities, particularly in Arab Americans and adolescents, as well as an interest in refugee physical and mental health after trauma exposure
And so many more...
The Speakers at this conference are Islamic Scholars, Mental Health Professionals and upcoming students in these professions.