Category: Lectures

The US-Israel War Against Iran and Iran’s Internal Conflicts

Keynote Address — 2026 South Carolina Political Science Association Annual Conference: This illegal, unconstitutional, and unjust war must end immediately — with a non-aggression agreement that includes adequate guarantees against any renewed aggression toward Iran. Iranians stand firmly opposed to religious despotism, yet simultaneously support their Army in defending their homeland against foreign aggression. Popular solidarity in defense of the nation — including a broad willingness to defer domestic opposition to the Islamic Republic — has increased markedly. Ultimately, this military aggression has weakened and set back Iran’s freedom-seeking, democracy-demanding movement.

Stop the War Immediately!

This conflict is an absolute evil. It neither brings democracy nor security and well-being for the people. It has been launched in accordance with the interests of the United States and Israel. We highlight the Iranian people’s right to shape their own future and achieve political change within Iran, rather than through foreign intervention. Only through the immediate cessation of war from both sides, adherence to international rules, a return to diplomacy and political solutions, and the adoption of humane approaches can the current deadly cycle be overcome.

Iran at a Crossroads: Protests and Political Futures

The Islamic Republic bears direct responsibility for the bloodshed, and its Supreme Leader is the principal accused. Opponents of the Islamic Republic can be divided into two groups. The national opposition adheres to three core principles: non-intervention by foreign powers, rejection of domestic tyranny, and a peaceful, democratic transition away from the Islamic Republic. According to the second type of opposition, the Islamic Republic must be overthrown at any cost—even through foreign intervention, and internal armed conflict. A referendum on the constitution of the future system must be held.

Professor Nasr: A Tribute and a Reflection

Professor Seyyed Hossein Nasr is among the most influential interpreters of Islam in the Western academy. Through dozens of books and hundreds of scholarly articles and lectures, he has conveyed a compelling, compassionate, and intellectually vibrant vision of Islam. I regard Professor Nasr as one of the foremost exponents of “Rahmani Islam”—the Islam of Compassion. Professor Nasr is a source of pride for Iran, Islam, and Shiʿism in the contemporary world. His many virtues far outweigh his few shortcomings—and who among us is free from error?

The Expectations from Islam

This lecture, The Expectations from Islam, examines how reformist Muslims define the scope and limits of religion today. Moving beyond traditional accounts of prophecy’s benefits, it asks what Muslims can legitimately expect from Islam. Reformist thought distinguishes enduring, transhistorical teachings from historically contingent rulings, identifying eight permanent domains: meaning to life, knowledge of God, the Hereafter, the unseen realm, morality, ritual, quasi-ritual, and limited social guidance. While Islam offers lasting principles of meaning, faith, ethics, and salvation, reformists emphasize that secular sciences and human reason address most worldly affairs.

The Genealogy of the Death Penalty for Apostasy and Blasphemy in Islam

This talk examines the historic invention and spreads reports attributed to the Prophet in support of a criminal penalty for apostasy in Islamic law. The texts are weak, have no known chain of transmitters, and were often isolated. Furthermore, these texts directly contradict the Quran, which condemns but never mentions any criminal punishment for blasphemy, apostasy, or leaving Islam. This talk explores the process of the creation and dissemination of a serious criminal penalty that seems to be based on authentic Islamic texts, but a close review reveals was not.

Shari’a, Fiqh, and the possibility/impossibility of Islamic Law

Shari’a (the Islamic style of life) will continue strongly. Fiqh will continue in worship and rituals, quasi-rituals, the principle of human interactions, and many parts of civil fiqh, including fiqh of the family, with observing gender equality and religious equality. Islamic law may be used in civil law and commercial law by observing four criteria (reasonability, justice, morality, and functionality). Other branches of law are counted as impossible. The cost of Islamizing them is much greater than leaving them to secular law while respecting Islamic ethics in these areas.