Khaleel Mohammed

Khaleel Mohammed is a Guyanese-born professor of Religion at San Diego State University (SDSU), in San Diego, California, and a core faculty member of SDSU's Center for Islamic and Arabic Studies. In 2004, he was one of the founders of the Center for Islamic Pluralism.

Khaleel Mohammed was born in Guyana, South America. He studied classical Islamic theology at Imam Muhammad ibn Saud Islamic University in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. After completing an MA in Judaisma and Islam, he pursued a Ph.D. in Islamic law at McGill University in Montreal.

Mohammed's specialties are Islam, Islamic Law, and Comparative Religion. His research interests include Islamic and Arabic studies, Islamic law (classical and modern), comparative religion, Jewish/Christian/Islamic encounter, Qur'anic exegesis (classical and modern), hadith, gender/sex issues and sexuality in Islam, terrorism, antisemitism in Islam, Arab-Israeli relations, and reform in Islam. He is a proponent of inter-faith marriage without the traditionally required conversion of the non-Muslim spouse, and is a registered marriage-officiant.

Mohammed teaches courses on World Religions, The Qur'an, Religious Violence and Non-Violence, Sex and Gender in Islam, and Abrahamic Religions.[1]

Mohammed has testified as an "expert witness" for the prosecution in cases involving allegations of terrorism-related activities.

Mohammed attracted attention for a 2004 interview in which he stated that Sura 5 verse 21 of the Qur'an, and the medieval exegetes of the Qur'an, say that Israel belongs to the Jews. He translates it thus:

"[Moses said]: O my people! Enter the Holy Land which God has written for you, and do not turn tail, otherwise you will be losers."

Mohammed said that the Quran never mentions Jerusalem as a holy city, and added, "It's in the Muslim consciousness that the land first belonged to the Jews. It doesn't matter if the Jews were exiled 500 years or 2000 years, the Holy Land, as mentioned in Quran belongs to Moses and his people, the Jews."

Mohammed says he has convinced many of his Muslim students to see things his way, but they tell him they are afraid of speaking up at their mosque.

He states that he was once accused of being racist, for having stated that "95% of contemporary Muslims are exposed to anti-Semitic teachings". He has received hate mail for his statements.

"David in the Muslim Tradition: A study of the Bathsheba Affair" Lexington Press, 2014. "Introduction to World Religions," Polymath Learning, 2014. "Coming to Terms with the Qur'an," IPI, 2008. Co-edited with Andrew Rippin

• "Assessing English Translations of the Qur’an", Middle East Quarterly, Spring 2005, Volume XII (2): 59-72.
• "Revisiting Tyan on the issue of the Early Islamic Judicature" Islamic Studies, Autumn 2004 (3): 447-55.
• "Muslim Exegesis, the Hadith and the Jews" Judaism, #209/210 (53) Winter-Spring 2004: 3-11.
• "A Muslim Perspective on Human Rights", Social Science and Modern Society (Volume 41, #2), January/February 2004: 29-35.
• "Probing the Identity of the Sacrificial Son in the Qur’an", Journal of Religion and Culture (13), 1999, Concordia University: 125-38.
• "The Foundations of the Muslim Prayer". Medieval Encounters (5), March 1999, E.J.Brill: 17-28.
• "Demonizing the Jew: Examining the Antichrist Traditions in the Sahihayn". Co-author: Professor Kadir Baksh. Journal of Religion and Culture (12) 1998, Concordia University: 151-64.
• "Abraham Geiger and Heinrich Graetz: A Comparison of their Different Perspectives on Jewish History", Journal of Religion and Culture (11) 1997, Concordia University: 141-60.
• "The Concept of Abrogation in the Qur’an". Published under the culturally arabized version of his name, Allama Dr. Abu Yusuf Khaleel Al-Corentini. Journal of Religion and Culture (10) 1996, Concordia University: 63-76.
• The Jewish and Christian Influences in the Eschatological Imagery of Sahih Muslim, published Concordia University Montreal, Quebec, Canada, 1997, under his full name: Khaleelul Iqbal Mohammed".
• "The Art of Heeding" in Interfaith Dialogue at the Grass Roots Level. Ecumenical Press. 2008
• "The Identity of the Qur’an’s Ahl al-Dhikr", in Coming to Terms with the Qur’an. Ed. by Andrew Rippin and Khaleel Mohammed. Islamic Publications INternational. 2008.
• "Islam and Human Rights", in Religion and Human Rights, ed. Adam Seligman. Interreligious Center on Public Life, Hollis Publishing: 2004: 55-68.
• "Al-Rida's Argumentation Against the Leaders of the People of the Book, the Magians, the Sabeans and Others" (excerpted from Al-Istibsar). Translated as chapter for Theology of Shi‘ism: A Debate Between Imam Ali Rida and People of Other Beliefs. Ed. By Saeed Argomand. Global Publications, State University of New York, Binghamton, 1999.

Translations

• World of Our Youth. Translation of Husayn Fadlallah’s Duniya al-Shabab. Montreal, Damascus and Beirut: Organization for Advancement of Islamic Knowledge, Montreal, 1998.

Book reviews and encyclopedia entries

• "Sex, Sexuality and Family in the Qur’an", Encyclopedia article for Blackwell Encyclopedia of the Qur’an. Ed. Andrew Rippin. 2006.
• "A New Introduction to Islam", by Daniel Brown. Middle Eastern Studies Bulletin, 38 (1), June 2004: 78-79.
• "An Introduction to Islam". by David Waines. Middle East Quarterly, XI (3), Summer 2004: 86.
• "Islam Under Siege", by Akbar Ahmed. In Islamic Studies, Spring 2004 (Volume 43/1): 132-35.
• "Excellence and Precedence", by Asma Afsaruddin. H-Mideast-Medieval, H-Net Reviews, 2004. Available online on the H-Net Web site.
• "The Qur’an-A Contemporary Translation", by Ahmed Ali. Middle East Studies Association Bulletin, Volume. XXXVI (1) Summer 2002: 47. Article also available online at on the Arizona.edu Web site.
• "The Koran: A Very Short Introduction", by Michael Cook. H-Mideast-Medieval, H-Net Reviews, February 2003. Available also available online on the H-Net Web site. Electronically Accessible Publications
• "Produce your proof: Muslim exegesis, the Hadith, and the Jews", Published: Spring 2004.