Prayer is a central practice in every religion, serving various purposes. People pray to express gratitude, offer praise, seek forgiveness, and make requests.
Petitionary prayer, where individuals ask God for something, has been a subject of significant philosophical inquiry, particularly among Farsi-speaking communities. To delve deeper into this topic, the Islamic Cultural Center of Northern California (ICCNC) hosted a debate (in Farsi) on August 10, 2024, between Dr. Arash Naraghi and Dr. Amir Akrami. However, time constraints limited the discussion, leaving many audience questions unanswered.
To address these questions, ICCNC has invited two prominent Muslim philosophers, Dr. Arash Naraghi and Dr. Abdolkarim Soroush, for follow-up conversations. These discussions will be streamed on the ICCNC YouTube Channel on January 4th and 11th, 2025, at 10:30 AM (LA Time).
January 4th: Dr. Hassan Masoud will converse with Dr. Naraghi (in Farsi).
January 11th: Dr. Yaser Mirdamadi will discuss the topic with Dr. Soroush (in Farsi).
To better understand the nuances of petitionary prayer, Dr. Masoud has prepared a concise introduction with links to other resources, available here.
ICCNC encourages you to join these insightful conversations to deepen your understanding of this important aspect of our faith and our relationship with God.
Biographies
Dr. Arash Naraghi is a Professor of Philosophy and Religion at Moravian University. He holds two Ph.D. degrees: one in Philosophy (Ethics and Philosophy of Religion) from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and another in Pharmacology from Tehran University, Iran.
His research interests span a wide range, including:
Applied Ethics: Social Ethics, Ethics of Human Rights, Ethics of Gender and Sexuality
Meta-Ethics: The Logic of Moral Dilemmas
Philosophy of Religion: God's Foreknowledge, Arguments for the Existence of God, the Problem of Evil
Islamic Philosophy: Reformist Movements in Contemporary Islam, Models of Reconstruction/Reform of Islamic Thought
Islamic Mysticism (with a focus on the Khurassan School: Al-Ghazali, Rumi, Abu Saeed Abul-Khayr)
Dr. Abdolkarim Soroush has received numerous accolades, including the prestigious Erasmus Prize in 2004. He has been recognized globally for his intellectual impact, appearing on lists such as Time Magazine's "100 Most Influential People" (2005) and Prospect Magazine's "World's Top 100 Public Intellectuals" (2008). Foreign Policy Magazine further solidified his standing, ranking him 45th among the world's elite intellectuals in a 2009 public poll.
A distinguished academic, Dr. Soroush has held visiting professorships at esteemed institutions including Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Columbia, and the International Institute for the Study of Islam in the Netherlands. He currently resides in Northern California, where he continues to engage in scholarly pursuits and deliver lectures on Islam, Sufism (particularly the work of Rumi), philosophy, and contemporary issues.
Dr. Hassan Masoud teaches philosophy and logic at the University of Alberta, Canada. Dr. Hassan Masoud has a Ph.D. in Philosophy from the University of Alberta, Canada, with a focus on logic and theory of knowledge. He also has a MA in Logic from Tarbiat Modares University in Tehran, Iran, and a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, Iran.
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 a MA in Muslim Cultures from Aga Khan University, Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilizations (AKU-ISMC) London, UK, and a 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.