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Acknowledgments
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Acknowledgments THIS BOOK began as a lecture series, delivered at John Carroll University , spring , under the sponsorship of the Walter and Mary Tuohy Chair of Interreligious Studies. I thank the benefactors of the fund and authorities of the university, in particular David Mason, director of the fund, for warmly supporting me during the lectureship. I also acknowledge the kindly welcome of the Department of Religious Studies, its then chair, Joseph Kelly, and the organizational support of Kathryn Merhar. Tom Schubeck was instrumental in the process, and Zeki Sariptoprak, Nursi Chair in Islamic Studies, extended his warm intellectual companionship to me on many occasions. I also thank Claude Pavur for his willingness to read advance drafts of my lectures and the many conversations that helped me to think more deeply about the relation of religion to the humanities. Since giving the lectures, a number of people have given me opportunity to refine my thinking on religious pluralism. Tom Banchoff, director of the Berkley Center at Georgetown University, provided the support for a symposium on martyrdom in comparative perspective, November . Diana Chou of the Department of Art History at John Carroll University graciously enabled me to present a lecture on the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem as site of religiously pluralistic encounter , February . Mohammad Ja‘far Mahallati and David Kamitsuka of the Department of Religion at Oberlin College invited me to their ix x ACKNOWLEDGMENTS beautiful campus to speak on the concept of friendship in Islam, March . Gap Lo Biondo, director of the Woodstock Theological Center at Georgetown University, provided the opportunity for me to present my thinking on prophecy to the center’s fellows. Todd Breyfogle of the Aspen Institute kindly invited me to participate in a workshop of ideas on the good society, June . Finally, but by no means least, the Fulbright Program gave me the chance to teach courses on religious pluralism during the – academic year at Muhammad V University in Rabat, Morocco. I also thank Abderrahim Benhadda, dean of the Humanities Faculty, and Muhammad Amin al-Isma‘ili, chair of the Department of Islamic Studies, both at Muhammad V. In this respect, I also mention Georgetown University, in particular Terry Reynolds, chair of the Theology Department, and Jane McAullife, then dean of the College, for enabling me to go on leave to pursue this kind of engagement with the Muslim world. Last, I extend my gratitude to my students, both past and present, at Georgetown, Princeton, John Carroll, and Muhammad V. Over the last years, it is they who have provided the primary forum for me to develop my thinking on Islam, Christianity, and religious pluralism. If they have a chance to pick up this book, they will see in it echoes of past discussions and, I hope, evidence that they have had a hand in shaping the ideas at play herein. To them the book is dedicated. ...