The Ismaili: Passing of influential professor of Islamic Studies leaves “a gap that will be impossible to fill”

Earlier this week, the world lost one of the most influential minds in contemporary Islamic Studies.

Professor Mohamed Arkoun passed away in Paris on 14 September 2010 at the age of 82. An outstanding research scholar and a rigorous critic of the theoretical tensions embedded in the field of Islamic Studies, he was a courageous public intellectual and a powerful voice in the frequently contentious debates on Islamic modernism and humanism.

“Mohammed Arkoun was not only a great scholar, but a public intellectual, committed to rethinking contemporary issues related to Islam and modernity,” says Dr Shafique Virani, Professor of Islamic Studies at the University of Toronto. “He will be dearly missed, but the freshness and innovation of his approach lives on through the many students and colleagues whom he impacted.”

via The Ismaili: Passing of influential professor of Islamic Studies leaves “a gap that will be impossible to fill”.