The Islamic Cultural Center of Northern California (ICCNC) will hold its sixth debate titled “Does God Answer Petitioners' Prayers?” on Saturday, August 10, 2024 at 10:00 AM (Los Angeles Time). Dr. Arash Naraghi and Dr. Amir Akrami will participate in the debate. Dr. Yaser Mirdamadi moderates this debate.

The purpose of these debates is to broaden and deepen the general public’s understanding of religion in the 21st century. The general theme of the debate series is Belief and Unbelief in a “Post-Secular Era.”

The debate will be live-streamed on Zoom and on ICCNC's YouTube Channel.

Biographies

Dr. Arash Naraghi is a Professor of Philosophy and Religion at Moravian University. He received his Ph. D. in Philosophy (focusing on Ethics and Philosophy of Religion) from the University of California, Santa Barbara. He also has a Ph.D. in Pharmacology from Tehran University, Iran. His area of interest and research are:

• Applied Ethics: Social Ethics, Ethics of Human Rights, Ethics of Gender and Sexuality.

• Meta-Ethics: The Logic of Moral Dilemmas.

• Philosophy of Religion and Islamic Philosophy: God’s Foreknowledge, Arguments for the Existence of God, the Problem of Evil.

• Reformist Movements in Contemporary Islam: Models of Reconstruction/Reform of Islamic Thought.

• Contemporary Shi’i Theology: Shi’i Political Theories- The Theory of Velayat-e Faqih.

• Islamic Mysticism: The School of Khurassan: Al-Ghazali, Rumi, Abu Saeed Abul-Khayr.

For more information about Dr. Naraghi, please click here.

Dr. Amir Akrami is an Iranian scholar with research interests that include​Islamic philosophy and interreligious relations. Currently based at the Institute for Humanities and Cultural Studies, Tehran, Iran, he was a visiting professor at the Eastern Mennonite University Center for Interfaith Engagement from 2012 to 2015. He has also been a lecturer at the Al-Mahdi Institute in Birmingham, United Kingdom, and a member of the Iranian Institute of Philosophy. Akrami holds a B.A. in Islamic studies, M.A. in Religion and Mysticism, and Ph.D. in the Philosophy of Religion.

Dr. Yaser Mirdamadi is a researcher in medical ethics at the Institute of Ismaili Studies, London. In 2019, he received Ph.D. in Islamic and Middle East Studies from the University of Edinborough. He has an MA in Muslim Cultures from Aga Khan University, Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilizations (AKU-ISMC) London, UK, and an MA in Islamic Theology from Ferdowsi University Mashhad, Iran. Also, Dr. Mirdamadi completed a Level 3 Diploma (equivalent to a Master’s degree) in Classical Islamic studies from Hawza Ilmiyya (Islamic Seminary), Mashhad, Iran.