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H.E. Prof. Mohamed Othman Elkhosht President of Cairo University
18 Nov 2022
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H.E. Prof. Mohamed Othman Elkhosht
President of Cairo University
His Excellency Dr. Mohamed Othman Elkhosht is a professor of philosophy of religion and contemporary philosophy at the Faculty of Arts, Cairo University. He has held several positions:
• President of Cairo University (since August 2017 – now).
• Vice President of Cairo University for Education and Students Affairs (2016 - July 2017).
• Egypt’s Cultural Attaché in Saudi Arabia and the head of the biggest educational mission abroad in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (2013-2015).
• Member of the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs.
• Member of the Supreme Scientific Council of Mohammed Bin Zayed University for Humanities.
• Member of the Board of Trustees of the Egyptian Awqaf Academy for the training of imams.
• Member of the Supreme Council of Naif Arab University for Security Sciences (League of Arab States).
• Member of the Board of Directors of the Interfaith Dialogue Center in Al-Azhar.
• Permanent member of the Science and Innovation Committee of Shanghai Jiao Tong University (ranked 56th worldwide).
His Excellency Professor Elkhosht is a leading authority on modern Islam. He has delved into both Islamic heritage and Western thought. He has 41 published books, and some of his works have been translated into English, German, and Indonesian. He has written 27 research papers.
His writings are characterized by combining the rational approach and his faith background.
His writings are references to the fundamentals of religion, modern and contemporary doctrines, and political science, in a sense that has to do with civil society and its role, the global state and the nation state.
His Most important publications are: Towards the Establishment of a New Religious Era, Encyclopedia of World Religions, Development of Religions, Introduction to the Philosophy of Religion, The Revelation Has Other Meanings, Islam and Positivism in the Age of Ideology, The Reasonable and Unreasonable in Religions, Ethics of Progress, The Foundations of the Modern State, The Conflict between the Soul and the Substance in the Age of Reason, The Mind and the Metaphysical, Keys to the Science of Hadith, and A Guide to Fiqh.
H.E. Prof. Elkhosht has edited 24 Islamic heritage books. He has also rewritten the studies of Hadith in a modern way and re-interpreted the position of Sharia’ (Islamic Law) on women's issues since the eighties of the twentieth century.
H.E. Prof. Elkhosht has also established philosophical tolerance in his books Common Minimum and Rationality and Intolerance in which he criticizes those closed, lifeless and dogmatic doctrines.
H.E. Professor Elkhosht’s works offer a new vision of the history of western philosophy that goes beyond the traditional conflict, since the beginning of modern times, between rationality and emotions, idealism and realism, and formalism and materialism.
Realizing the importance of his books, Arab and international researchers have written more than five books about his scientific contributions in Arabic and English, such as The Intellectual and Methodological Bases in Contemporary Islamic Philosophy: Elkhosht as an Example and The Renewal of Religious Discourse in Elkhosht’s Project, written by professors at Egyptian and Arab universities, as well as international editors.
• Arab and international researchers have written more than 100 scientific research papers and MA and PhD theses on his works.
• He was elected by the UNESCO Chair of Philosophy to be among contemporary Arab philosophers in the Encyclopedia of Contemporary Arab Philosophers published in 2017.
• UNESCO has released a full volume about his philosophy in 2020.
• He was chosen the Personality of the year 2014 at the Egyptian Embassy in Saudi Arabia.
• Received six scientific prizes and awards in the fields of humanities and social sciences.
• Received several awards for international publishing.
• Received the Ideal Professor Award from the Faculty of Arts in 2010.
• Received the Ideal Professor from Cairo University Staff Club as a result of winning the Ideal Professor Award from the Department of Philosophy, Faculty of Arts, in 2010.
• Awarded dozens of certificates of appreciation and plaques from national, regional, and international universities and institutes.