Hamed Abdel-Samad

At a time when fanaticism, terrorism and ideological blindness are once again shaking the world, Hamed Abel-Samad reminds us in his lecture of the other tradition of Islam – one that is characterized by freedom and tolerance.

He talks about Omar Khayyam (1048-1131), one of the most fascinating personalities in Islamic intellectual history. As a poet, mathematician, astronomer and philosopher, Khayyam combined rationality with a deep mystical zest for life and a critical distance to dogmatic world views and religious narrow-mindedness.

The political scientist and journalist Hamed Abdel-Samad is one of the most prominent Islamic intellectuals in the German-speaking world. A fatwa was issued against him in 2013 for breaking taboos and he has lived under permanent police protection ever since.

After the lecture, listen to some of Khayyam’s verses interpreted by Abdelhadi Deb (oud and vocals).