Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na'im, born in 1950 in Sudan, is an internationally recognized scholar of Islam and human rights, and of human rights in cross-cultural perspectives.
While a law student at the University of Khartoum in 1968, An-Na’im joined the Islamic reform movement of Ustadh Mahmoud Mohamed Taha, and continued to participate in its work there until the movement was suppressed in December 1984.
As Islamic fundamentalism was taking a stronger hold of society and politics, An-Na’im left Sudan in April 1985. Hoping to be able to return to his country, he held a series of short-term positions until the early 1990s, when it became clear that the Islamic fundamentalist regime that seized power in a military coup in 1989 was consolidating its position. As a result, An-Na’im accepted the position of Executive Director of Africa Watch, now part of Human Rights Watch in Washington DC, before joining the Faculty of Emory Law School in June 1995 where in 1999 he took up his current position as Charles Howard Candler Professor of Law.
An-Na’im has published numerous book, including Islam and the Secular State: Negotiating the Future of Shari’a (2008), African Constitutionalism and the Role of Islam (2006), Toward an Islamic Reformation: Civil Liberties, Human Rights and International Law, (1990). He has also edited and co-edited numerous publications such as The Politics of Memory: Truth, Healing & Social Justice (with Ifi Amadiume, 2000) and translated works such as The Second Message of Islam by Ustadh Mahmoud Mohamed Taha (into English, 1987).
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