Seventh Debate on Belief and Unbelief: "Should a practicing Muslim follow (taqlid) in the branches of religion (furu' al-din)?"

The Islamic Cultural Center of Northern California (ICCNC) will hold its seventh debate titled "Should a practicing Muslim follow (taqlid) in the branches of religion (furu' al-din)?" on Saturday, February 22, 2025 at 10:30 AM (Los Angeles Time). Mr. Massoud Adib and Mr. Ali Tabiatpour 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

Massoud Adib is a member of the Philosophy Department faculty at Mofid University, Qum, Iran. He has a master's degree in Islamic Philosophy and Theology from Qom University and formal seminary education at Qom seminaries. He has taught courses in Islamic theology and philosophy at Mofid University for many years. He is a regular speaker at Kanoon Towhid, Canada.

Ali Tabiatpour is a graduate of Electrical Engineering from Sharif University of Technology, holding a master’s and a Ph.D. in Jurisprudence and Principles of Law from the University of Tehran. He has also studied Islamic seminary courses. He is the author of the book “ The Role of Custom in the Inference of Jurisprudential Rulings by Mujtahids” and the article “ The Application of Probability Calculations in the Validation of Hadiths”, both of which are pending publication.

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.