Louay Safi

Louay Safi is professor of political science and Islamic thought at Hamad bin Khalifa University (HBKU) in Qatar, and senior fellow with the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding (ISPU), Washington DC. Dr. Safi has taught at several universities, including Wayne State University (WSU), Michigan, (1988-92), the International Islamic University of Malaysia (1994-99), George Washington University (2001-2002), Indiana University and Purdue University at Indianapolis (IUPUI) (2009-2010), and Georgetown University (2010-2011).

Dr. Safi is the author of twenty books, including Islam and the Drive to Global Justice (Rowman &Littlefield 2024), Islam and the Trajectory of Globalization (Routledge, 2021), The Foundation of Knowledge (IIIT, 2014), The Qur’anic Narrative (Praeger 2008), and Tensions and Transitions in the Muslim World, (University Press of America, 2003). He has served as Dean of Research and member of the University Senate at the International Islamic University of Malaysia (IIUM) (1997-99), Executive Director (1995-97) and Director of Research (1999-2003) of the International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT), Editor of the American Journal of Islam and Society (1999-2003), and President of the Association of Muslim Social Scientists (1999-2003). His works have been translated into many languages including Albanian, Indonesian, Bosnian, Croatian، Persian, Russian, and Turkish.

Dr. Safi has been active in defending human rights, encouraging political involvement and participation, and promoting intercultural and intercommunal dialogue for over two decades. He is a founding member of the Syrian National Council (SNC) and the Syrian National Coalition (2011-14). He is also co-founder and first chair of the Syrian American Council (2005-2011), and co-founder and former board member of the Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy (1999-2007).