Muhammad Legenhausen

BeFunky_Muhammad Legenhausen 2.jpgDr. Muhammad Legenhausen has kindly consented to having his Poetry and Writings presented on The Mancebo Mosaic. It has been our wish for many years to introduce him to the general public. We are honoured that he accepted our invitation and has given us his permission.

In order to present Dr. Legenhausen properly the Mancebo Mosaic staff feel the necessity to present his biography and a few introductory papers to set the stage for his Poetry and Philosophical Papers. Translations of his poetry in several languages are now underway. We anticipate Spanish translations to be added soon.

Biography (taken from Wikipedia)

Gary Carl (Muhammad) Legenhausen (born 1953, New York) is an American philosopher who teaches at the Imam Khomeini Education and Research Institute, which is directed by Mohammad Taghi Mesbah Yazdi.

He converted to Islam in 1983. He wrote a book entitled Islam and Religious Pluralism in which he advocates “non-reductive religious pluralism”. He has been an advocate of interfaith dialogue, and serves on the advisory board of the Society for Religious Studies in Qom. He holds a Ph.D. in philosophy from Rice University (1983).

He taught philosophy of religion, ethics and epistemology at the Islamic Iranian Academy of Philosophy from 1990 until 1994. Since 1996, he has been studying Islam and teaching Western philosophy and Christianity at the Imam Khomeini Education and Research Institute in Iran. He is also a founding member of the advisory board of the Shi`ite Studies Center in Qom, and serves on the scientific board of the Human Rights Center of Mofid University, Qom.

Brought up as a Catholic, he abandoned religion shortly after beginning his academic studies at the State University of New York at Albany. In 1979, he became acquainted with Islam through Muslim students at Texas Southern University, where he taught from 1979 to 1989.

Read some of Dr Legenhausens work:

From an Existentialist to a Muslim

In a Quatrain of Imam Khomeini

Teapot Sestina

Islam and Religious Pluralism from Al-Islam.org

The Relationship between Philosophy and Theology in the Postmodern Age from Al-Islam.org