Mouhanad Khorchide

Mouhanad Khorchide (born September 6, 1971 in Beirut) is an Austrian Sociologist and Islamic theologian, teaching as a Professor at the University of Münster in Germany.

Khorchide was raised in Saudi-Arabia where his Palestinian family had fled to. At the age of 18 he emigrated to Vienna, Austria. There, he studied Sociology and soon became citizen of Austria. Parallel to his studies in Austria, Khorchide made Islamic studies in Beirut.

2006-2010 he worked at the University of Vienna in the fields of Islamic studies and Islamic pedagogy. Parallel to this he was Imam of a mosque near Vienna.

In 2010 Khorchide became Professor at the University of Münster in Germany, at the Centre for Islamic Theology (CIT).

The central tenet of Khorchide's teachings is that at the heart of Islam there is mercy, not blind obedience to traditions or even violence. For Khorchide, true Islam has no contradiction to the ideals of humanism as known in the Western world. He reads the Quran as a text from the 7th century and rejects to transfer its moral teachings directly to the 21st century. Khorchide wants to read Quran and Hadith by applying the historical-critical method. According to him, this will not harm the real message of Islam but will support a better understanding of Islam.

With his approach, Khorchide attracted international attention. The New York Times wrote about him, and delegations from Islamic countries visit Münster in order to get to know more about his approach of Islamic theology. In 2016, the Grand Imam of al-Azhar Ahmed el-Tayeb, who is considered by some Muslims to be the highest authority in Sunni Islam, came to Münster and talked with Mouhanad Khorchide.

The big Muslim associations in Germany reject Khorchide's approach, or at least look at it with much suspicion. Khorchide received death threats which is why he is living under the protection of the police.

Mouhanad Khorchide is one of the founders of the Muslimisches Forum Deutschland, i.e. Muslim Forum Germany of liberal Muslims and non-Muslims.

• Islam is Mercy: Essential Features of a Modern Religion 2014. ISBN 978-3-451-80286-7
  • German: Islam ist Barmherzigkeit. Grundzüge einer modernen Religion 2012.
• Scharia – der missverstandene Gott. Der Weg zu einer modernen islamischen Ethik 2013.
• Gott glaubt an den Menschen: Mit dem Islam zu einem neuen Humanismus 2015.

As editor:

• with Klaus von Stosch: Herausforderungen an die islamische Theologie in Europa. Challenges for Islamic theology in Europe 2012.
• with Marco Schöller: Das Verhältnis zwischen Islamwissenschaft und islamischer Theologie. Beiträge der Konferenz Münster, 1.-2. Juli 2011 2012.