Omid Safi is one of the leading American Muslim public intellectuals. He is a professor of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina, and for the past seven years has led the Study of Islam Section at the American Academy of Religion. He is the author of Memories of Muhammad: Why the Prophet Matters, as well as Politics of Knowledge in Premodern Islam. In addition, he edited the Progressive Muslims: On Gender, Justice, and Pluralism collection. Omid draws on the Sufi tradition of Islam, connected to social justice traditions of liberation to articulate a dynamic vision of Islam rooted in mysticism and striving for a life of dignity for all.
