Dr. Saritoprak’s talk will examine the place of Jesus in the Qu’ran and Hadiths. He will explore Islamic theological perspectives on Jesus, including classical and contemporary theologians’ views of Jesus. Muslims, like Christians, believe in the second coming of Jesus (in Islam, known as the descent of Jesus). Dr. Saritoprak will also discuss the different theological views of the descent. Finally, he will address the important role that Jesus can play in interfaith dialogue.

Speaker/Author:

Zeki Saritoprak, Ph.D., is Professor and the Bediüzzaman Nursi Chair in Islamic Studies at John Carroll University. He holds a Ph.D. in Islamic Theology from the University of Marmara in Turkey. Professor Saritoprak is the author of Islam’s Jesus (University Press of Florida, 2014) and over thirty academic articles and encyclopedia entries on topics in Islam. He has served as guest editor for issues of the journals Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations and the Muslim World. He is editor and co-translator of Fundamentals of Rumi’s Thought: A Mevlevi Sufi Perspective (in English; New Jersey: The Light, 2004) and the editor of a critical edition of al-Sarakhsi’s Sifat Ashrat al-Sa’a (in Arabic; Cairo, 1993). His He is currently preparing a book on Islamic spirituality tentatively titled Islamic Spirituality: Theology and Practice for the Modern World.