This talk was jointly organised by the Centre for Social Markets (CSM) and the Young Foundation to promote inter-cultural dialogue on one of the most important issues of our day.

There are few people as well qualified as Dr Engineer to speak on this subject. One of India’s leading Islamic scholars, he has also played a prominent role in national efforts to promote religious reform (including advancing women’s rights) and inter-cultural harmony.

Dr Asghar Ali Engineer is one of India’s most distinguished scholars of Islam and a prominent religious reformer and human rights activist. He has played a key role in combating communal violence, promoting inter-religious understanding and the rights of women - often at considerable personal risk.

Born into a priestly family in the Bohra community he benefited from both a religious as well as a secular education. Trained as a civil engineer, Dr Engineer served for 20 years as an engineer in the Bombay Municipal Corporation before taking voluntary retirement to devote himself to the cause of religious reform and communal harmony.

Dr. Engineer has received several awards on his work on inter-religious understanding. He believes in showing equal respect to all religions and considers faith in religion as most vital for a meaningful life. However, he does not believe in blindly accepting dogmas inherited from the past. He believes in re-thinking issues and re-interpreting Islam in keeping with the changed times.

Dr. Engineer’s over 40 publications include: “Islam: Challenges in Twenty-First Century” (2004), “Gujarat Carnage” (2003) which examines the riots in Gujarat in 2002, “Islam, Women and Gender Justice” (2001), “Rethinking Issues in Islam” (1998), “Communalism and Communal Violence” (1985), and “The Politics of Confrontation” (1990).

In 1997, The Government of India honoured Dr. Engineer with its prestigious Communal Harmony Award in recognition of his efforts to promote civic harmony and protection of human rights. Dr Engineer also has been granted an honorary Doctor of Literature degree from Calcutta University. Dr Engineer was honoured with a festschrift, “Competing Nationalisms in South Asia: Essays for Asghar Ali Engineer” (Orient Longman, 2002) edited by Paul R Brass and Achin Vanaik.

More information can be found at the Centre for Study of Society and Secularism and from Dr Engineer’s portfolio.